In twenty three days we will be in Boston, two weeks later in Portland, and two weeks after that in Fall River. Then, in two weeks, it’s Hartford, and then, on the last Sunday in June, in Springfield. On that last same weekend, 38 years ago, I knelt before Bishop Bernard Flanagan in Worcester, as he prayed:
Almighty Father,
Grant to these servants of yours
the dignity of the priesthood.
Renew within them the Spirit of holiness.
…
May they be worthy coworkers with our Order,
so that by their preaching
and through the grace of the Holy Spirit
the words of the Gospel may bear fruit in human hearts…
There’s a remarkable intimacy to that prayer, addressing three new relationships in your life.
The intimate relationship between the Priest and his Bishop. Respectful and obedient sons, co-workers and sharers in his ministry. Ordained by the laying on of his hands and sustained by his paternal care.
The intimate relationship between a Priest and the People he is called to sanctify, shepherd and teach. You don’t even know their town yet, never mind their names. But you dream of them, already you pray for them: the old ones and the young, the troubled and the enthusiastic, the pious and the not-so-certain, and even the ones yet unborn. They wait for you, my brothers, they wait to be touched by Christ through you. For soon they will call you Father.
All of which, is grounded in the most intimate relationship of all: the one between you and Christ, the great High priest, in whose name you will be Priest, with whose power you will sanctify and by whose example you will shepherd a People made holy by his Blood.
I can understand why it is hard to stop smiling these days. For how blessed you are, in a very new way, to be called to the Supper of the Lamb.
