Archdeacon Evlogios Visits SJS

Archdeacon Evlogios, Archdeacon of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, was an honored guest at Holy Hour this past week.  Here he posed for a picture with some of the seminarians before returning to Holy Cross Orthodox Seminary. 

As the Leaves fall...

Well, it’s that time of year, again…do you think they know its just a little over a week until Thanksgiving?!

Have mercy on me, a sinner!

The door to the prison cell
of Saint Oliver Plunkett.

Here is my homily for Monday on Bartimaeus, the bigger by the side of the road.

The son of Timaeus, sprawled in the mud: hungry, blind and alone. Possessing nothing but the knowledge that Jesus was passing by and utterly dependent on his mercy. Blessed are the poor. For they shall know God.

I just had my annual physical last week and I’m happy to report I am healthy and content. In fact, I’m off that darned blood pressure medication. I love my work as your father and brother and God has chosen me to be his priest. I have good friends and look forward to each new day. It’s a very good life.

But each element which brings me happiness is there but for the grace of God. Tomorrow it could be Parkinson’s, or an incipient dementia. A friend could get Cancer, or worse, leave the Church. A member of my family could be indicted or my nephew die in a horrible accident. I’m just one stroke away from becoming a whimpering old man with the mind of a smouldering cinder sitting in the corner of a nursing home. A pleasant thought with which to start the day.

But when that happens, I hope I remember Oliver Plunkett, the 17th century saintly Archbishop of Armagh in the north of Ireland, whose entire priestly ministry was devoted to preserving the faith in an Ireland enslaved by the anti-Catholic fervor of Oliver Cromwell.

A half a dozen years after his ordination as a Bishop the persecutions seemed to have eased and Saint Oliver was able to establish a new Catholic College and was said to have confirmed 48,000 Catholics in four years. Thus did he speak frequently of a new springtime in the Church in Ireland and in his own life as a priest.

And then it all changed. The college was closed and demolished, Plunkett was forced to go into hiding, traveling only in disguise and soon false rumors were spread that he was colluding with the French in a plot against the British King. For a while he lived as a fugitive, a man with a price on his head, but eventually, captured and imprisoned, he was tried and sentenced to death for “promoting the Roman faith.”

And so there he stood on the gallows, stripped, beaten and dragged through the jeering crowds, waiting to be hung, drawn and quartered. He had lost everything, save the conviction that Jesus was still passing by and the sense of his utter dependence upon God and his mercy.

Which is why Oliver Plunkett’s last words from the gallows were a confession of his sins: “…I am sorry from the bottom of my heart; and if I should or could live a thousand years, I have a firm resolution, and a strong purpose, by your grace, My God, never to offend you…by the merits of Christ…forgive me my sins…”

He was just like the man at the side of the road, lying in the mud, blind and alone. But blessed is he who remembers the lesson of the son of Timaeus, that no matter what happens, there is but one thing that matters: that Jesus, the Son of David is ever passing by and all we need do is beg him to look upon us in his mercy.

A Prayer for America

Now that the election is over and we have a new President, we should all pray for him and for our country. You have probably seen the prayer of Archbishop John Carroll (about whom I preached a few weeks before the election), the first Bishop of the United States. He wrote it two-hundred and twenty-five years ago today to be recited in all the parishes throughout his Diocese. It is still a good prayer for us to pray from our hearts today.

Prayer for Government

We pray, Thee O Almighty and Eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name.

We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, Pope Francis, the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, Sean, all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise amongst us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation.

We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.

We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.

Finally, we pray to Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Community Work Day

Every once in a while we take a Saturday morning to clean and polish and arrange this Holy House.  Here are a few scenes from this morning's efforts.

Obedience....October Rector's Conference

Here is my October Rector's Conference on Obedience in the life of the Priest.

          

David Madejski's Vocation Video!

The Archdiocese of Hartford is posting videos on the vocation stories of many of their seminarians.  Here's one by our own David Madejski!