Jesuit Ordinations

This morning five Jesuits of what in two years will be the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus were ordained in Milwaukee.  I was there in the Church of the Gesu where I was ordained almost 31 years ago.  Celebrating the ordinations there always brings back memories of my own, especially this year when Milwaukee’s emeritus auxiliary bishop, Richard Sklba, who ordained me, presided.  As I entered the church and greeted Bishop Sklba, he said that last night he went over the list of those he had ordained and he pointed to me, indicating that he had thought about and prayed for me. 

This year, in addition to the moment when I laid hands on each of the five Jesuits, I was moved by two other things. 

One was the instruction that Bishop Sklba gave when the newly ordained priests knelt before him to receive the paten and chalice which had just been brought up by family members at the Presentation of the Gifts. He said: “Receive from the Holy People of God the gifts to be offered to God. Know what you do, imitate what you celebrate, and conform your life to the cross.”

These words spoke to me of sacrifice. I was reminded of words from St. John XXIII’s encyclical “On the Priesthood,” written for the centenary of St. John Vianney’s death. He quoted Pope Pius XII: “Just as the entire life of Our Savior was ordered to the sacrifice of Himself, so likewise the life of the priest, who ought to bring out the image of Christ in himself, must be made a pleasing sacrifice with Him, in Him, and through Him…. For this reason he must not only celebrate the Eucharistic Sacrifice, but even in a certain intimate way live it. For thus he can obtain that heavenly strength by which it comes about that he is entirely transformed and shares in the expiatory life of the Divine Redeemer Himself.”  And, St. John added this further quote from Pope Pius XII: “Thus it is necessary that the priestly soul should strive to reproduce in itself whatever is accomplished on the altar of sacrifice.”

After Communion there was reflection song written by the Filipino Jesuit Manoling Francisco called “Your Heart Today.”  It spoke of having a heart like the Heart of Jesus, the priestly heart which all the baptized faithful—lay and ordained—are called to have.  That priestly heart is a heart that is willing to give all, to sacrifice all for others.  It is a heart that is broken as it commits itself to healing a broken world.  It is a heart conformed to the Pierced Heart of Jesus.  Here are the lyrics:

WHERE THERE IS FEAR, I CAN ALLAY
WHERE THERE IS PAIN, I CAN HEAL
WHERE THERE ARE WOUNDS, I CAN BIND
AND HUNGER, I CAN FILL

REFRAIN:

LORD, GRANT ME COURAGE
LORD, GRANT ME STRENGTH
GRANT ME COMPASSION
THAT I MAY BE YOUR HEART TODAY

WHERE THERE IS HATE, I CAN CONFRONT
WHERE THERE ARE YOKES, I CAN RELEASE
WHERE THERE ARE CAPTIVES, I CAN FREE
AND ANGER, I CAN APPEASE

REFRAIN

BRIDGE:

WHEN COMES THE DAY I DREAD
TO SEE A BROKEN WORLD
COMPEL ME FROM MY CELL GROWN COLD
THAT YOUR PEOPLE I MAY BEHOLD

WHERE THERE IS FEAR, I CAN ALLAY
WHERE THERE IS PAIN, I CAN HEAL
WHERE THERE ARE WOUNDS, I CAN BIND
AND HUNGER, I CAN FILL

REFRAIN

AND WHEN I’VE DONE, ALL THAT I COULD
YET THERE ARE HEARTS, I CANNOT MOVE
LORD GIVE ME HOPE
THAT I MAY BE YOUR HEART TODAY

A Heart on Fire

The other day, before my retreat in St. Louis started, I went to the Chancery and met with Archbishop Robert Carlson who is the episcopal member of the Apostleship of Prayer's board of directors. Afterwards, as I prepared to make a dash to my car through a thunderstorm that had quickly appeared during our meeting, I grabbed the most recent copy of the St. Louis Review, the archdiocesan newspaper. I always like to read about the local Church in the places I visit and the cover story was on the four men from the archdiocese who will be ordained on Saturday. There was a brief biography for each of the four men and then some quotes. What soon-to-be Fr. Anthony Gerber said really caught my attention for what I'm sure will be obvious reasons. He said:

"I've learned that every day is a chance for us to offer our hearts to the Lord, to receive His Sacred Heart, and then to give His love to others. In this way, our hearts are set on fire. This is what I hope to be as a priest: one whose heart is on fire for Jesus and His Church."

In those few words Fr. Gerber captured the essence of devotion to the Sacred Heart. It's all about being filled with the overflowing love of the Heart of Jesus and communicating that love to all we meet. We open our hearts to Christ who gives us His Heart to transform ours. His Heart is, as the Litany of the Sacred Heart goes, "a burning furnace of charity" which melts and molds our hearts, uniting them to His.

Over the past forty or so years some people in the Church came to think that Sacred Heart devotion is old fashioned and has nothing to say to young people. I haven't found that to be the case and Fr. Gerber's reflection is another example of that.

Fr. Gerber, may you and all who are ordained this year have hearts on fire, hearts that are conformed to the Heart of Jesus.

"You Know not the Hour..."

"You know not the hour...." These words of Jesus were spoken in relation to His Second Coming, but they can also apply to the hour of our passing from this life to the next. I thought of that this week because of Bob.

Bob was my step-brother-in-law. After my mother died the year after my ordination my father remarried. In fact, I presided at his wedding. One of the gifts of a priestly vocation is to be able to celebrate in a sacramental way the weddings, baptisms, and funerals in one's family. It's unusual, though, to preside at the wedding of one's own father. As a result of it, I've become part of another family and, though my father has since died, I remain a part of it.

Last weekend I got a call from Dan, one of my step-brothers. He informed me of Bob's death. I'd last seen him on New Year's Day when my step-family gathered for its annual Christmas celebration. Bob was 75 and was on his way to a health club to work out. According to witnesses, he put on the emergency flashers of his car and began pulling to the side of the road. Before he could finish, his car zoomed ahead out of control, took out several mailboxes, went through a culvert and hit a tree. Bob was dead on the scene. He must have felt the heart attack coming and tried to pull over.

I always enjoyed Bob. He had a beautiful combination of seriousness and humor. We played golf together with Dan and his son once a year. The emails I'd get periodically from Bob were either humorous, patriotic, political, or religious.

At his funeral on Wednesday, I talked about the pain of unexpected death. Though Bob went the way he'd hoped--suddenly and without a lingering illness--it's hard on family and friends who don't have the chance to say "good-bye." His family and many friends showed up at the wake and funeral Mass to do so, but it's not the same. One could say that his life was his farewell. I sensed that he was ready. He'd lived his life well. The love of Rita, his wife of almost 55 years; the love of his two daughters, their husbands, and children; the love of so many other relatives and friends--that love spoke of his love for them. While we didn't get the chance to say "good-bye" during his earthly life, Bob's love for us was his "good-bye." I think he left with no regrets and no unfinished business.

It strikes me: that's the way to live, since we know not the hour.

Mobile Archdiocesan Retreat

I just returned from giving a retreat to the priests, two archbishops (one of whom is retired), and two of the four transitional deacons (who will be ordained in a week) of the Mobile, Alabama Archdiocese. It's clear that the spiritual life is an emphasis for a diocese when all its priests and bishops gather for a few days of annual spiritual renewal. The retreat took place at the beautiful Manresa on the Mississippi Jesuit Retreat House in Convent, Louisiana, about an hour west of New Orleans.

The theme of the retreat was: "Having a Priestly Heart like the Heart of Jesus." I gave six talks and preached at the three Masses we celebrated. My talks were: 1) Go Deeper in the Spiritual Life; 2) The Sacred Heart: the True Love Story; 3) The Heart of Jesus in the Liturgy of the Eucharist; 4) The Heart of Jesus in the Liturgy of the Word; 5) Exercising the Virtues of the Heart of Jesus; and 6) Living the Eucharist with the Apostleship of Prayer.

Since before I became the U.S. Director of the Apostleship of Prayer, the Archdiocese of Mobile has been receiving our monthly leaflets and including them in their mailings to the priests. Several priests told me how much they appreciated the leaflets and use them both for their personal prayer as well as in the Sunday Prayers of the Faithful.

It was a blessed time: a good way to support some of my brother priests and to begin the month of June, the month of the Sacred Heart.

26th Anniversary

Today is the 26th anniversary of my ordination. I don't think it was a coincidence that I was ordained on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. For almost six years I have been serving Him as the U.S. director of the Apostleship of Prayer--the primary way in which Jesuits promote the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus.

Sometimes people ask me if I always wanted to be a priest. I grew up in a fairly religious family where we went to Mass every week and to confession once a month. My parents emphasized education and encouraged me to go to Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, a school which they thought was the best Catholic school for boys in the area. It was there that I met Jesuits for the first time. One of them had a particularly good influence on me at a time when I was struggling and a seed was planted: why not do for other young men, what he had done for me? Why not become a Jesuit? Becoming a priest was just part of the package. After one year of college I entered the Jesuit novitiate with the intention of someday working in an urban Jesuit high school. In the thirty-seven years since, I've never taught in an urban Jesuit high school. God had other plans.

Since I entered religious life primarily to be a Jesuit, I had to consider whether God was calling me to be a Jesuit brother or a priest. I followed the usual course of studies and formation and basically didn't see a call to be a brother so I stayed with the plan with which I entered. When the time came to write a letter asking for permission to begin the process of discernment and approval for ordination, I told my provincial superior that I wanted to be a priest in order to be a conduit or channel for God's grace. I praise and thank God that this desire has been fulfilled beyond my expectations.

I also thank God for all the people who have prayed for me and my vocation. I am convinced that I would not be a Jesuit priest today without the prayer support of many people--known and unknown--over the years. I look forward to meeting them all some day, God willing, in heaven where one of the great joys we will share is seeing how our prayers and sacrifices and daily offerings played a role in one another's lives and vocations.