Forty-seven years ago today, a twenty-five year old Boston seminarian entered the Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome with his forty-three (43) classmates and was ordained a priest and received the sacramental graces of Holy Orders. This morning the old priest who is the principal celebrant at Mass was that young seminarian. Today I ask for your prayers on this my 47th anniversary. Pray for me that I may more generously and more joyfully respond to the Gospel injunction to a continuous conversion of heart. May the purification of my whole being as God’s gift deepen my commitment and my affection for Christ and His Mystical Body the Church. Pray for me that I might alive generously and faithfully the motto of St. John the Baptist “He must increase while I must decrease.” May I totally and gratefully embrace and live out the gift and the discipline of chaste celibate pastoral love so that I may be an instrument of Christ’s love and presence to the people I am sent to serve; to each one of you. I apologize for insisting on your charity in your prayer for me. For me to serve you in the best possible way this morning I celebrate this anniversary Mass for each of you that this first semester of 2016-2017 will be most successful as we begin this period of exams.
May God bless you for all you have done for me. Buona Fortuna. Good luck! God Bless.
