November 26, 2010
Personal Reflection
Vocation series I: Celebrating our gift
Joseph Healy ponders in telling the story of the priests who have been influential in his life. Click for a larger version.
By ZOE CANNON (Sacred Heart Church, Vincennes)
The Advent season is upon us, a time of anticipation and preparation for the birth of Jesus. Pope Leo the Great said “The birthday of the Lord is the birthday of peace: He is our peace, through him we have access in one Spirit to the Father. Every individual that is called has his own place, and all the sons of the Church are separated from one another by intervals of time.” The Advent Season is a great time to let our priests know how much they are appreciated for the ways they mediate God’s love to us. As we begin a new Liturgical year in the Church, we must realize that without them our celebrations are not as rich. In the next four weeks please follow this series honoring the vocation of priesthood as we celebrate our gifts this Advent Season.
Faith is a gift from God. The desire to cherish this gift was placed in our hearts the mo-ment we were created. When we listen, act, and reach out to others, our faith comes alive. Faith is a personal response, yet we experience hints of his majesty in creation and human love; therefore faith is also communal. When we are baptized we are supplied with God’s grace to strengthen us, which continues through our own prayer life, participation in the Eucharist, Sacraments, and our own Christian witness. We do not achieve this through our own merit. How do we remain vigilant in a world challenging us to seek material possessions for happiness? Who provides the opportunity for God’s Grace and brings the faith alive to all of us? Since the Last Supper of the Lord, that gift was commissioned to the ordained priest.
I am not alone in my desire to let these men know how much they are appreciated. In planning this series, I heard many stories of how a priest has blessed the lives of others. It is important to make sure these men know what heroes they have been and continue to be. One particular account had a tremendous impact on me. I was ministering Holy Communion to the nursing home one Friday morning. The visit turned into an amazing God moment as Joe began to share with me the importance of the priests who have influenced his life. With his permission I share his witness of the precious gift the priest is to all of us.
Joseph Healy was born in 1932, north of Montgomery. His mother named him after a priest, Father Joseph Somes. He shared that during the Depression when all were devastated by poverty, it was the parish priest, Father Raymond Marchino, who arrived on Christmas morning with toys for his brothers and sisters. He remembers as a young boy spending hours learning the Catechism on Saturdays with the parish priest. But it was when Joe became a Marine and was sent to Korea that he truly understood the value of the sacrifices a priest makes for each of us. He reminisced about the chaplain, a Catholic priest, who brought Holy Communion to them in the field. As they rushed to complete the Our Father Prayer and receive the Eucharist, flairs and bombs were blasting. Then one evening when things seemed quiet, as they camped out in the cold mountains, the priest was able to complete an entire Mass for them. He said he will never forget that Mass, as he added, there were no atheists in those war fields. Later in life as a member of the Holy Name Society of Sacred Heart Parish in Vincennes, he and Father Henry Doll coached a victorious 8th grade basketball team. When the boys needed new uniforms and the par-ish could not afford them, it was Father Doll who personally purchased a set of uniforms for each team member. He recalled stories of hunting with priests and returning with dressed quail and pheasant for the Benedictine Sisters. As a husband and father, he continued close relationships with several of the priests in our diocese. Father Jim Blessinger is one of his favorites. And before the days of air conditioning, he enjoyed when the priests would come to his home and sit out on the shaded patio for a cold beverage and just chat.
As I enjoyed Joe’s great memories, it made me realize how the duties of our priests have changed over the intervals of time. Caring for so many sheep with so few shepherds. The solution of course is more he-roes discerning the call to the vocation of priesthood. There is not so much a shortage of priests, as there is an absence of great men being encouraged to answer the call. It is also important for us to accept our own baptismal call to priesthood by partnering with them in ministry. Our prayers are essential, and we must support the value of this vocation in our own lives, or priests will not have time to be Santa Claus on Christmas morning, a coach to an 8th grade basketball team, a catechist to school children, a hunting partner, or a comforter in the depths and despair of war, in another country or in our own homes. Please let your priest know how much he is loved, because through him we have access in one spirit to the Father. Without him we have no Eucharist to celebrate, and with his ministry there is the opportunity for God’s Peace. Amen!