Ever wonder what our thirty+ seminarians do in the summer? Hopefully after reading this you will have some appreciation that even the beginning of a vocation to the priesthood can easily lead to 24/7/365 while still in formation. Well almost, some episcopal hyperbole to be sure but recalling that old maxim that “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” we do try to keep our seminarians busy and accounted for.

The college seminarians mostly work in their home parishes during the summers, painting, mowing, sprucing up buildings and grounds. Two of our seminarians are working at Good Counsel Camp in Floral City this summer as counsellors. A stint at Good Counsel at one time was almost a prerequisite for ordination to the priesthood but now they volunteer if they wish to work there. Two of our college men are also working in Omaha, Nebraska at Creighton University for the Institute for Priestly Formation (more about this program in a few seconds).These two seminarians are at the service of those older seminarians who are in the IPF program and they drive cards, make airport pickups, serve meals, etc. And there are two seminarians working with CRS in Africa for eight weeks.

Those in theology have longer commitments. This year there are four men on what is called the Pastoral Year. We interrupt the theological education program of the seminary at the exact midpoint, between second and third year to allow those approaching ordination to have two experiences which we feel will either confirm their vocation or suggest priesthood is not for them. The first component which is currently taking place is something called “Clinical Pastoral Education” or CPE. Three of our seminarians are taking CPE at Tampa General Hospital and one is doing the same at Woodside Nursing Home in Pinellas Park. During this quite labor intensive experience, the men learn a lot about themselves and their ability to deal with the sick and dying. Under close supervision and sometimes very challenging evaluation, CPE students get an immersion course in death and dying, sickness and health, and their own capacity to listen closely, minister appropriately, and evaluate with others in the program their experiences. The three men in CPE at Tampa General spend their nights and week-ends at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ybor City (not much sleep at night on week-ends for these men) and they live and assist a wonderful pastor, Father Thomas Stokes who welcomes them annually with great Irish hospitality and priestly kindness. The fourth is living at the rector of Sacred Heart parish in Pinellas Park with Fathers Anthony Coppola and Tom Tobin. At the conclusion of CPE they will be assigned from Sept. 1, 2011 to May 2012 at four parishs in the diocese learning the art of the possible and sometimes the impossible in parish life. These four men can be found at St. Ignatius of Antioch parish in Tarpon Springs, St. Lawrence parish in Tampa, Christ the King parish in Tampa, and Nativity in Brandon.

Four other seminarians are also involved in an immersion experience, this time in the Dominican Republic learning Spanish. The program is required by our seminary and I would wish it anyway even if the seminary did not. Within fifteen years, the majority of Catholics in many areas of this diocese will be Spanish speaking and we need men able to function in Spanish. Thus, the six to eight week program in the Dominican Republic.

Two seminarians are actually enrolled in a nine week program of spiritual formation and direction at the Institute for Priestly Formation, held each year at Creighton University in Omaha. A mixture of classes on ascetical theology (how those who have gone before us have become saints), spiritual direction and a rather lengthy silent retreat, these men who will begin their theology studies this August are experiencing a much deeper engagement with the spiritual life than would be possible even in a five year program of formation such as we have in our seminaries.

Finally, nine of our theologians are assigned to parishes during the summer and while admittedly some things slow down, most find their summer experience to be enlightening at a minimum and challenging at a maximum. Of the nine, two men are deacons, having been ordained in the Spring and they are baptizing, preaching and witnessing marriages in addition to conducting inquiry classes and RCIA, etc.

So there you have it. Gainfully employed, hands not idle at all, learning the ropes and the “tricks” of the trade during their summer vacation. They all have some time to themselves to travel, relax and rest but no more than a typical working father or mother would likely have. Most are compensated for their summer in a small way but that helps pay for gas, haircuts and an occasional movie during the school year. Come August our college men will return to Saint John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, and our theology students to St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts and the North American College in Rome. They have a three day convocation at the Bethany Center coming up the second week in August where they will surely share stories of their summer experiences.

I conclude by using this moment to thank those pastors who welcome our seminarians for their summer assignments. Their hospitality to those studying for the priesthood is only outdone by their witness to their own happiness and fulfillment in priestly ministry. So, our seminarians are not “kids” but we still know where they are most midnights.

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May is the month when most of our priests celebrate the anniversaries of their priestly ordination. Now that I am on the “giving” side of ordinations as opposed to the “receiving” side (as pictured on the left), each year I ordain I  realize even more the grace of God in the moment and the joy and hope each ordination brings not just to the ordinand but to the whole Church. Sadly this year we have no ordinations but I can reasonably assure you that this is the last year for that phenomena. If God gives me the strength of days and good health, there is just the possibility that I will ordain just about as many to the priesthood in my final four years as in the sixteen years since my episcopal ordination. That thought alone is exciting and much of the future joy goes not just to the Holy Spirit but to Father Len Plazewski who worked the vineyard very hard searching for and cultivating vocations both to the priesthood and religious life. I think the Vocation Director(s) get about as amped at ordinations as the ordaining bishop. I know that Fathers Blum and Melchior await that moment with great expectation as do I.

Many priests allow their ordination anniversary to pass generally unnoticed. I realize that many married couples do the same, leaving the feelings, memories, joys and struggles to one another and moving on in their marriage without pausing to pay too much attention to the day they were married. Servant leaders usually take their cue from the Lord Himself who came to serve and not to be served and therefore any major acknowledgement or recognition of an anniversary day is the farthest thing from their mind. Sometimes priests will quietly acknowledge the day with a classmate in ordination, having dinner together and telling robust and raucous stories often centering on or about their bishops (just kidding). But I think every priest I know on the anniversary of their priestly ordination approaches the celebration of Mass on that day with a profound sense of thanksgiving and gratitude for the gift of priesthood. Some struggle, some rejoice, some are tired, some are renewed, some are worried, some are serene, some count the years until retirement and some fear the thought of retirement. But at the end of the Eucharist, perhaps in those few moments between communion and the closing prayer most priests thank God for the gift of serving as a priest. In my two rounds of overnights with the priests of this diocese over the last three years, many have in some way or another said, “if I had it to do all over again, I would do the same thing.”

Serving the people of God lies near the heart of our happiness, but making Christ present in the Eucharist and the other sacraments reserved to priestly ordination is the true epicenter of our joy and sense of satisfaction. For a priest, a day goes downhill from the moment he leaves Mass which is understandable in the light of our recent Eucharistic initiative where we clearly affirmed that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith and life in Christ. That certainly does not mean the day is not without its highlights, it means simply that particular moment of a priest’s life is likely not to be recaptured that day.

You can pretty much go to the bank that at least most of the diocesan priests at your service will be celebrating anniversaries of ordination in the next ten days and a  few in June as well. Except for the major milestones of 25,40 and 50 years of ordination, the day will pass with little notice and no attention. That’s the way we want it – just between us and Christ. But prayers for your priests this month are most welcome. I know each day of this season who was ordained on that date and check the list every morning with the intention of offering Mass for them for a bishop without priests is worse than a day without sunshine. Happy anniversary my brothers in priesthood! God’s people love you and so do I.

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I thought you might be interested in how we look for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. There are many approaches, which can be taken to vocation recruitment, but the most important ingredient is a happy priesthood and religious life in the diocese. Priesthood can only seem attractive if the men who serve the young are themselves happy. Happiness and contentment in the priesthood is constitutive for recruiting good candidates for the seminary and for religious life.

In this diocese we have been blessed with a great number of vocations, which will in a few years begin to pay off with more ordinations. For almost thirteen years, Father Len Plazewski pursued anyone who showed even the slightest interest, never taking their name from his Rolodex of candidates until they contracted marriage. Using a variety of methods of contact, our Vocation Directors stay in touch with those who seem to be searching for priesthood. They meet them in their schools, on college campuses, invite them to discernment retreat week-ends, evenings of prayer and discussion throughout the year, and even twice a year take them to the college seminary for a week-end experience.

Once a year we hold something called FOCUS ELEVEN. All of the sixth graders  in our elementary schools are invited to come to one spot for an entire day which focuses on vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Using skits, games, and many other ways to connect with eleven year olds, the matter of a possible religious vocation is brought up. Why eleven year olds, one may ask? Sociologists and child psychologists agree that it is about age eleven when children begin to think about what they want to be with they grow up so the moment is right in the maturing process and we take advantage of it. Eleventh grade is also an important moment when the sixteen or seventeen year old is beginning to think about where to continue their education after high school. We used to bring all the eleventh graders together as well.

Priests, Sisters, Brothers all hold signs of their former occupations. Eleven year olds are challenged to match the job with the right person.

On Thursday, I hosted what are called Project Andrew dinners, after the Apostle who first followed Jesus and then invited his brothers and friends to do likewise. On these occasions, young men in junior year of high school and older, are invited to dinner with the bishop accompanied by their pastors or associate pastors. We don’t do a “hard sell” on these occasions but each priest present and I share our own vocation stories. We offer to receive and answer any questions, which they have and then send them forth with the promise that to the extent they wish, we will stay in touch with them during their discernment experience. This year we will have had four of these dinners and I personally have met about twenty-five or thirty young men who express an interest.

While we have a good number of seminarians (thirty-one at the beginning of the present school year) I also wish to acknowledge that religious communities in the diocese also have sought and received vocations from our young men and women. There are, I think, about an additional six men studying for priesthood in religious communities such as the Jesuits, Salesians, etc.

Finally, when a candidate decides to apply to the diocese, a rigorous assessment process is begun which includes interviews with at least three members of the Diocesan Vocations Admission Board, myself, a full battery of psychological tests and interviews, and recommendations from teachers and friends, including always the vote of the man’s pastor.

Eventually the nomination comes before the full Admissions Board containing lay women and men, religious women, and diocesan priests. So what may have begun with a chicken dinner at the house of the bishop ends with ordination to the priesthood or profession of vows in religious life. At the time of this writing, we have nine men in the application process for the coming year which almost guarantees a total of thirty-five for the seminary next Fall. But I will close with this thought. This is not a numbers game which we are playing but a search for fine candidates for the priesthood. We know that not all we accept will make it to the altar.

Probably one of the more boring moments - "The Bishop's Speech"

A little over 350 children attend each of two days

Recently, I spent some time with a brother bishop who had escaped his home diocese’s frigid climate for some of our Florida warmth (of sunshine and welcome). We were talking about the Church for which we were ordained and the Church we now serve. Both of us remembered the pre-Vatican Council liturgy, the excitement of “aggiornamento” or new birth that accompanied the papacies of Blessed John XXIII and Paul VI. They were heady days for us in which the seeds of our own vocations were sewn and our ministry begun. We recalled bishops who were either unknown to or to be feared by us. Pastors who locked the kitchen refrigerators so that a hungry assistant pastor could not “raid it at night” (in some of the northeastern (arch)dioceses, the whole Offertory collection went to the pastor who had the ‘duty’ to feed his assistants, if he wished). There was a lot about our early experience of Church which we liked and some which we found challenging. It was precisely the “opening” that in effect opened our hearts and minds to serve not a “new” Church but a “slightly different Church.” When I first began to study Scripture in the seminary, the professors were not even allowed to suggest that the Book of Genesis might have been the work of four distinct authors, that the first three Gospels could all trace their source to two ‘fountains’ and that the Evangelists may not have even known Jesus personally. But before we finished our studies, with the openness of the Council’s document Dei Verbum we were pondering all these possibilities, finally coming into harmony with other biblical scholars of other demoninations. I remember a wonderful Scripture professor at my seminary who one day came into class with a colorful book entitled Men and Message of the Old Testament by Peter Ellis, I believe, and he opened it to pages showing which verses of Genesis were likely written by which authors and with tears in his eyes said, “all my life what I have been teaching is not the truth, this book contains the truth.” That was in the field of Sacred Scripture.

Then we began to talk about the role of the bishop in today’s Church and particularly how it has evolved. We both shared common insights because I served as did my bishop friend an episcopate in this country which was markedly different than the one to which I belong today. The emphasis of the ’70′s and ’80′s was on collegiality and shared responsibility. Bishops focused their attention after implementing for the country the directives of the Second Vatican Council on issues of social justice and the Church in the Modern World. Speaking ill of another bishop was a violation of the “eleventh” commandment and public disagreements, even on matters like “communion in the hand” were done with deepest respect. I particularly remember a long discussion in a November General Meeting between the late Cardinal Cooke of New York, chair at the time of the Pro-Life Committee and Cardinal Medeiros of Boston over the Hyde Amendment. The Pro-Life Committee supported it even though it was imperfect legislation because it offered some protection against federal support for abortion but Cardinal Medeiros could not in conscience support it because it allowed for the exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother. Both men were kind to one another in the debate, recognizing the consciences of each, respecting one another. At the end of the discussion, the bishops voted overwhelmingly to support the Hyde Amendment’s adoption in Congress. I remember Cardinal Carberry of St. Louis who was unalterably opposed to the reception of communion in the hand. For a number of years he carried the day in the Assembly of Bishops, but then one November, “communion in the hand” was adopted and the Cardinal went back to St. Louis and allowed the practice. Were there differences of opinion in those days? Indeed. But there was a unity among the bishops which sometimes does not appear to exist today.

We commented at great length on how the theological and ecclesiological shift from a full embrace of collegiality as the driving force of working together began to shift in the mid-eighties to each bishop’s first obligation is to shepherd his own diocese and on occasion to break with or challenge collegial decisions. As an example of this I would point to the implementation of something as seemingly simple as women or girl altar servers where it is still not permitted in some dioceses and a good number of parishes. At least two of the dioceses in the United States refuse to allow outside auditors to examine their record on handling sexual abusers and even on whether or not they are complying with the strongly unanimous decision by the bishops to create a safe environment for children. I dare say these would likely have never occurred in the ’70′s and early ’80′s.

Bishops have lost credibility in the last decade. The sexual abuse of minors and how it was previously handled has contributed to it, and so have the liturgical wars. This loss of credibility in bishops extends also to some our priests and religious and to many lay people who  just don’t understand why so little time is spent by us on why people are leaving the Church in great numbers and what can be done about it. They do not understand how a hospital procedure in one local Church can be judged unacceptable yet be acceptable in many others. They do not understand why Catholic politicians can be denied the sacraments in one diocese but not in another. They do not understand why the President of the United States can be welcomed in some Catholic circles but not in others. The answer, of course, rests in the ecclesiologial truth that each bishop is the successor of the apostles in his diocese (or archdiocese) and can and must act as his conscience dictates but the danger rests in a growing sense of congregationalism, something every bishop fears in his diocese but can also occur in a national hierarchy and, I think is equally to be feared. I don’t foresee this changing unless and until it becomes so out-of-control that someone says, “stop”: we must face the future together and not divided.

My thoughts here are clearly in the minority among the bishops and I understand and accept that. And I do not bemoan the present though I think it has made the challenge of leadership of a local Church much more difficult. Most bishops, if they were truly honest, would speak of a tri-partite priesthood: there are those men  who experienced the enhilaration of the Council but who see retirement in the offing and simply say “all I want to do now is make it to retirement.” Then there is a second group who are dillusioned and unhappy with the direction in which they feel the  Church is going and do not know if they can make it to retirement or what retirement will be like for them.  And there is a third group who are quite satisfied, some of whom wish the “reform of the reforms” might continue. If a local Church is to ”make beautiful music unto the Lord,” then the bishop must be a skillful conductor, allowing each section to make its contribution but to see that we are playing from the same “score.” It is a real task of leading and guiding to see that the local Church progresses along the right path.

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Bishop Lynch with the Seminarians at the Bethany Center

Our seminarians are about to return to their respective seminaries for the coming academic year and I had the pleasure on Tuesday night to celebrate the Eucharist with them and have dinner as well, all at the Bethany Center. We again have thirty-two seminarians this year matching last year’s number. They attend three seminaries. All of our college seminarians attend St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami and most of our theology students attend the Regional Seminary of St. Vincent de Paul in Boynton Beach. We have one seminarian at Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston. 2011 will be the last time for a number of years in the future when we have no one to be ordained to the priesthood. Two men will be ordained deacons in 2011 and then priests, God-willing in 2012. After 2012 there will be a regular number of ordinations each year and in six years there may be a class with as many as nine to be ordained but that is too far off to begin ordering the invitations. I am impressed, however, by the quality, dedication and generosity of our men who feel called to priestly ministry.

Getting into the seminary at this moment in Church history is not that easy. A rather long application process includes three interviews with members of the Vocations Admissions Board, one with myself and a number with the Director of Vocations, a physical examination by a doctor and a whole battery of psychological tests by a psychologist. Of course, letters of recommendation are required as is promotion by one’s pastor of one’s parish church. A man beginning the path to priesthood entering as a freshman in college can expect a total of nine years of seminary formation. A man beginning his journey after completing college and earning a bachelors or masters degree can expect seven years. At a time when we desperately need priests, the universal Church has lengthened the time required prior to ordination. Each year of formation, the candidate receives an annual evaluation by the seminary formation faculty in which he is analyzed inside and out. Most of our men do very well academically so that is seldom an issue in advancing toward the altar.

I saw a parish bulletin from last Sunday and noted with great interest a reflection by the parish pastor on a seminarian who would be leaving soon to return to the seminary. I was deeply touched by this pastor’s words and reflection and I want to share it with you. “Our seminarian, Joe ______ leaves us on August 10. I have grown very fond of him and will miss him. The fact that he is leaving means that he is returning to the seminary for his final year of studies and priestly formation. We hope and pray for his ordination to the deaconate [sic] in June 2011 and to priesthood in December of 2011. The decision regarding these days is not final. Joe will make a fine priest, one that I can be proud of. He is a hard worker, energetic, and well motivated to serve the people of God. He has a rich prayer life and a solid spirituality. He instantly connects with anyone he meets. He is positive and he is likable. I look forward eagerly to his becoming my brother priest. Hopefully he has touched some lives in our young people to inspire them to look within for a possible vocation to the priesthood or religious life. The halls upstairs will be empty for me and Dusty. God bless you Joe, and thank you for listening to God’s call and responding.” My thanks to Father Dennis Stillwell, pastor of St. Francis Xavier parish in Petoskey, Michigan, for these wonderful thoughts and he did not even know he had a visiting bishop nosing around his parish.

I think most of our diocesan seminarians meet Father Stillwell’s standards and I know I would be proud to serve with almost all of them, if not all of them, were I to share a parish ministry. Each ordination finds me seriously asking myself this question: would you like to have this young man as an associate pastor and colleague and I have always been able to offer myself a resounding yes. So off they go to the seminary again. For those beginning first college, nine years seems like such a long time and it is, except it passes ever so quickly if they feel they are in the right place doing the right thing. In fairness, I would also like to add that there are about four other men from the diocese studying for religious orders, including one for the Society of Jesus (aka Jesuits) who will be ordained soon. God and the Holy Spirit is at work in our diocese planting seeds. Thank you, men, for giving God and priesthood a chance. I think they know how proud of and grateful for them I am.

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Update: Photograph with seminarians added.

For the last twelve  years here as bishop the diocese has had one single Vocation Director, Father Leonard Plazewski. The role and responsibility of the Vocation Director in the life of the local church is very significant. He or she devote all their waking energy to the pursuit of men for the priesthood or religious life as a priest or brother and of women for religious life as a sister. Theoretically, that is their job description but realistically, since religious communities have their own Vocation Directors, he or she spends most of their time searching for young men who think God is calling them to priesthood. Father Len has done that for us for a dozen years and today he and I are announcing that he will leave that position at the end of this calendar year. I am certain that all of my diocesan family know him because he has in all likelihood preached in your parish four times on vocations (he made the rounds of the 76 parishes and missions four times in twelve years). Since assuming the responsibility, he has put into place many dinners at my residence or occasionally some other place called PROJECT ANDREW dinners where pastors and associate pastors come with interested young men juniors in high school and above for a meal and to listen to our vocation stories. Annually he has gathered the eleven year olds of our elementary schools and for a long time juniors in high school for what is called FOCUS ELEVEN because sociologists tell us that their science has found that vocation decisions begin to be made first at eleven years old and then later during the eleventh grade. In the last few years he has gathered inquirers for a period of reflection and retreat just prior to Christmas.  He never gives up on his search for vocations and as a result, our diocese has been the best in the state in recent years in attracting men to the seminary.  The Church of St. Petersburg owes Father Plazewski a debt of gratitude as he winds down his work and begins in a yet-to-be determined assignment. Along the way, he has served the last several years as the president of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors and has visited many other dioceses to assist them in their Vocation promotion.

Today, I am announcing that Father John Blum, pastor of St. John Vianney parish on St. Petersburg Beach, will assume the role of Diocesan Director of Vocations on New Year’s Day. He will continue to serve as pastor of his parish so his appointment is part-time in Vocations where he will serve almost strictly as Supervisor of Seminarians. To assist Father Blum, I am also announcing that Father Carl Melchior, associate pastor of St. Catherine of Siena parish in Largo, will serve as Assistant Vocation Director while continuing in his present assignment. Father Carl’s task will focus on recruitment and when they are accepted by the Diocesan Vocation Board and admitted to the seminary, his work will be complete and they will become Father Blum’s responsibility. To give up a full-time Vocation Director for two part-time Vocation Directors is not the best idea but our current clergy personnel requirements do not allow me at this time to do otherwise. Hopefully and prayerfully in a couple of years, we will return to a single, full time Vocation Director.

When I arrived fourteen years ago, Father Michael O’Brien who is now serving as pastor of St. Justin the Martyr parish in Largo was serving in this capacity. He did a wonderful job also so I have known nothing but good Vocation Directors. And let me add that during my time as Rector-President of the College Seminary in Miami (1979-1984), the Diocese of St. Petersburg had splendid Vocation Directors (Fathers Arthur Proulx, Dennis Hughes, Robert Tabbert, James Johnson) who brought splendid candidates to the seminary for admission. Vocations for and from this diocese have always been a blessing and some who chose to leave and get married remain faithful, wonderful Catholic men. I have always emphasized that quality of candidate is far more important than quantity of candidates but I must confess to being proud that last school year and this coming we will again have 32 seminarians, a testimony to Father Plazewski’s labors.

These men in formation can be assured that the two men soon to split the responsibilities will be every much as supportive, grateful, present and wise as their predecessors. Finally, this is a good moment to offer my thanks to the Diocesan Vocation Committee which has advised Father Len along his way, to the members of the St. Petersburg chapter of Serra International (who pray for, work for, and support vocations to the priesthood and religious life) and to the Diocesan Seminary Admissions Committee which gives a great deal of time to meeting prospective applicants and judging their fitness for the journey to the altar. Today marks the beginning of a significant change in our Vocations Office but I believe it will be seamless.

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One of my priests has on several occasions pointed out to me that I am committing a “sin” of omission by not devoting some space in this blog to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He has reminded me of the Church’s concern for the environment and the protection of creation, God’s earliest gift to the planet. Of course he is right but it is hard when one’s car gets only 19-20 miles per gallon in the city as mine does to get too deep into the “muck” when part of the problem is my foolish consumption.

We have oil rigs in places where there is oil but there probably should be no rig because of our insatiable appetite of gasoline. We have oil rigs offshore in order to become less dependent on uncertain foreign sources of oil, some of whom are friendly, some of whom are hostile, and some of whom are whatever the prevailing winds in the Mideast suggest they be from one moment to the next. The nightly news talks incessantly these days about the warning signs of a potential disaster or meltdown which were ignored. I saw warning signs every time there was a hurricane anywhere in the Caribbean sea and the rigs in the Gulf would shut down, gas would increase dramatically in price, people would complain, the storm would pass, the workers w0uld return to their rigs and life went on. And therein, it seems to me, lies the fundamental problem – life goes on.

There is no question in my mind that large multinationals like BP and EXXON cut corners to keep up with the supply and demand and make huge profits in the meantime. Why should they not? We learned little, it seems, from the days several years ago and gas prices rose to about $4.00 per gallon. Everyone pointed the finger at the oil companies but we should never forget that when the index finger is pointed at someone else, the thumb points back to ourselves. We simply ignore the threats to the environment to satisfy our own needs for gas-guzzlers, lack of mass transit, etc. As for solar energy, we are still in the infancy of those possibilities but as long as heating oil and gasoline are around $2.50, who cares about alternate sources.

Before writing this today, I did an examination of conscience about how I waste precious resources, water, gasoline, electricity. Say what you will about the mega-corporations engaged in energy, it ultimately is the consumer like myself that drives the need for searching for more oil in precarious places. I hope they do not allow drilling off the Florida coast. The western Gulf is proving too close and perilous as it is. But until we rationally as a nation curb our appetite for energy and begin to pursue conservation, I think we can be faulted almost as much as the multinationals. I feel guilty in some ways and also responsible that the oystermen and musselmen and shrimpers and vacationers of the Gulf Coast are today at risk. But I need to end this reflection and drive to North Tampa for a cook-out for our seminarians and prospective seminarians. Of course, I also need to fill my gas tank! What would Saint Francis of Assisi say to me?

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Last Friday in this space I wrote about the ordination of our two new priests and I told the story of Father Dayan Machado’s journey from communism to Catholicism and finally to priesthood last Saturday. I mentioned that his parents were admitted to full communion in 2002 at St. Joseph’s Church in West Tampa by Father Felix Sanchez. The parents wrote a letter to their son which appeared in the parish bulletin this Sunday in time for the first Mass. It is edifying, touching and telling and I strongly encourage you to read it by clicking on the language which best suits your needs (English or Spanish). It was written by them to Father Dayan in Spanish, of course, and translated into English by their pastor, Father Sanchez. Please read it.

You can read it in the linked PDF Document (English and Español)

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Esta homilía también está disponible en español en un documento PDF.

If someone were to ask me, [and up to now no one ever has,] what my all-time favorite play/movie is, my answer would be the agnostic Robert Bolt’s A Man for all Seasons which recounts the final months and days of the life of St. Thomas More. In one particular scene, King Henry VIII is losing all patience with his Lord Chancellor’s support for the Pope in Rome, and More’s very nervous wife, Alice, warns her husband that he is on a sure and certain path to at least prison and maybe even death. More turns to her, points to himself and says, “Alice, there is no stuff of martyrdom here.” In that simple and humble declaration, Thomas More indicates what the Italians say in, “que sera, sera” (“what will be will be”). He will follow his conscience not seeking to die for his faith but open to the possibility.

The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles reminds me of that moment in the life of St. Thomas More. A new, renewed, reborn, courageous, committed, conscientious and fully conscious Peter recalls for his largely Jewish audience a summary of the life of Jesus. No longer concerned with “saving his own skin”, Peter aggressively pursues his own personal mission to preach the Gospel for the salvation of the world. Perhaps, like More,  Peter sensed the risk of his words and actions and did not seek or wish to be a martyr for the cause, but gave his life, finally, to our Lord in a martyr’s death.

Paul in Ephesians, the second reading, grasps the consequences of embracing the Gospel of Jesus and declares that he was a “prisoner for the Lord.” His bonds and bars, freely accepted, were the tasks of building up the body of Christ, unifying God’s people without discrimination between Jew or Greek, Gentile or Jew. His words to his audience are as true to this moment, 20 centuries later as they were when spoken;  we are to take upon ourselves humility and gentleness, patience and forbearance, and through a generous dose of love, to create a bond of peace among the believers. Beaten, tortured, imprisoned, and reviled in certain circles, Paul probably felt no “stuff of martyrdom” either, within himself even though like Peter and like More and like Christ Himself, he too would suffer a martyr’s death.

Peter, Paul, More, Dominic and Dayan, the five of you have at least one thing in common; they were chosen by God for the work of making Christ present and real in the Church and so are you. How did they and how are you two to make Christ present in the world: by loving one another. By loving those whom the Church will soon entrust to your care, regardless of nation of origin, language spoken, color of skin, gift of gender, holier-than-thou or the most despicable of sinners. They are precisely whom God has chosen for you to serve.

If I may one more time, [and come to think of it, who is to stop me?] return to my opening theme.  Like Peter, Paul and Sir Thomas More, risks in ministry must be taken. They are constitutive of who we are and what we do.  Preaching the Gospel in this moment of history, especially outside the relative safety of a Church, can be challenging. And while it will not likely lead to loss of life, a martyrdom of being ignored, mocked, reviled is quite possible. My dear brothers, I am confident that you enter this moment with the theological training you need but that is the safest part of the ministry you will be beginning. Theology did not get my three historical proto-types in trouble, shaking up the establishment of their time did. Preaching the value of every human life, in a womb of a pregnant mother or a cell at Raiford can get you in trouble. Challenging the establishment to care for the vulnerable elderly, the homeless, the illegal, through active engagement in the mission of social justice can at times make you feel like you are imprisoned by a society that just does not get it. You will make Christ present today not just by celebrating the sacraments, but by calmly, consistently and courageously proclaiming the Gospel with and for those who are most in need of it.

Dominic and Dayan, in a few moments you will answer a few final questions I will ask for the sake of the Church. As I look at you, I know More’s response to Alice would be yours to me: “there is no stuff of martyrdom here.” But in your “yes” you are assuring the Church that you are willing to be sent into ministry, chosen by Christ for this office, without fear or favor, to proclaim the good news in good times and bad. Hearing those affirmations, this Cathedral and this local Church will be filled with hope for you and for the future of the Church.  Wewill thereafter seek the help and protection of all the saints of God among whom will be Peter and Paul and Thomas More. Embrace the ministry, full of challenges but also full of joy. The rewards of a good priestly life, indeed a good life lived by anyone, are surely out of this world. But they begin with an acknowledgement that He has chosen for what only He knows but He assures you that you will have the grace you need. More than that, we cannot ask.

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