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| The Basilica of St. Josephat (for more photos visit this link) |
Heaven came down to earth this past weekend, of that I am certain. My friend, Fr. Paul Schneider, OFM Conv. was ordained to the priesthood at the Basilica of St. Josephat by Bishop William Callahan and it was one of the most perfect, magnificent, holy and beautiful experiences I have ever known. There is nothing more beautiful than watching a man lay down his life for the Lord, but to witness an ordination in the grandeur of the Basilica, with a choir of what sounded like angels accompanied by trumpets and strings and drums, praying in the company of the sweetest, most wonderful and most joyful of all nuns-The Handmaids of the Precious Blood, whose purpose is to pray for priests, and watching the new priest, in beautiful Marian vestments shed tears of joy while celebrating his first Mass and presenting his mother with a long-awaited maniturgia (Fr. Paul is a late vocation), all amounted to holy perfection, and I was so blessed to be a humble witness and participant of it all. I smiled until I thought my face would break and cried until I thought my heart would melt-it was all so incredibly wondrous.
Every single part of Fr. Paul's ordination-from the lovely image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the invitation, the order of worship and his holy card, the quiet prayerfulness of the holy hour on the eve of ordination (see Fr. Alejandro Castro's fabulous priestly reflection with personal stories of Fr. Paul's life based on Luke 9 below), having the opportunity to sit next to and pray with the Handmaids of the Precious Blood, who, although they are cloistered, were given special permission to attend his ordination, and the joyful smile and easy approachability of Bishop Callahan, who had formerly been the rector and pastor of the Basilica and who was the bishop who ordained Fr. Paul, to the choir resounding magnificent hymns of praise (a video follows-or visit this link- not of the actual choir but a perfect likeness in sound of the offertory song, Let All the World), to the sweet sight of Fr. Paul bringing flowers to the altar of Our Lady during the Ave Maria-every moment was a treasure I will never forget.
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| Fr. Paul with my husband and I from my Solemn Resolution of Love as an Oblate of the Precious Blood last October |
I praise God for Fr. Paul Schneider, OFM Conv. and I pray that the love and joy that filled his heart on his ordination day and during his beautiful first Mass will remain with him forever as he journeys to his first assignment in Peoria, Illinois, and wherever the Lord may call him to serve in the years to come.
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Enjoy this touching reflection on the priesthood based on Luke 9, graciously shared by Fr. Alejandro Lopez OFM Conv.:
Perhaps
it was the preaching
of a
particularly
inspiring, Cuban priest.
Or a documentary on Mother Teresa or
St. Maximilian Kolbe.
Or a rerun
on EWTN
of
some mutton-chop, side-burned fellow
on
fire for the Lord.
Or a pilgrimage
or two, to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe…
Whatever…the Lord uses the moment to
kick-started your vocation.
Kick
you in the rear.
And suddenly…all
those reasons why you’re “not enough”
don’t seem to amount to a
hill of beans.
And
you think maybe he does want me!
Maybe he
really does want me!
As incredible as that may seem!
And off
you go running…as if in love for the first time!
But then…there’s
a stumble.
A
trip up that comes…perhaps many years later.
When in the
midst of your studies. Or as a deacon.
After years of running well.
When the old,
familiar doubts creep back in
like
a homeless Gila monster.
“I’m not smart enough.”
“I
can’t sing well enough!”
“I’m certainly
not
holy enough.”
“I
tried before and it didn’t work out.”
“I’m
too
old, now.”
And you admit
to Jesus in prayer,
“Dismiss the crowds,
for
it’s a deserted place here.”
What
you’re saying is what you think you know:
“I don’t have enough
for so
many!
I barely have enough for
myself!”
But Jesus
challenges,
“Give
them some food, yourself.”
And
this will be your vocation.
As a
deacon, you already know this.
As a
deacon you’ve already been “preparing meals.”
Not from some
“five ingredient”
crockpot
cookbook!
But in
and through the Holy Spirit.
At work in and through your
life.
Helping
you to break open the Word.
And feed crowds at Mass!
To be
an instrument of peace in your friary.
To open
doors in the dark
and
be a brother to a stranger
whose
mind swims with his own alcohol-fed fears.
Tomorrow,
and for the rest of your life,
Jesus will encourage you to make him
present to others:
“Give
them some food yourself.”
And his command
may haunt you!
If you take your vocation seriously,
I
think it must scare you at some
time in your priesthood!
For you
will fear
that
God’s people will go hungry.
Because you failed to find them
some food!
“But five
loaves and two fish are all I have!”
Thankfully,
Jesus understands!
And
he has
a plan!
A
plan that includes poor priests and their poverty!
That takes
into account our pitiful and small humanity
and
makes it part of the Feast!
He
teaches us by example that life isn’t a solo act.
Insisting
that his disciples help.
And in
today’s Gospel, the Lord takes what they bring
and
gives it right back…to them…to us.
Tonight
I’m thinking how he gives us, priests,
the
Food that will nourish.
How
our consecrated lives are part of the meal.
As our
Lord takes us and blesses us.
And
allows even our doubts and fears to break us open.
And then gives our lives away.
All the
while letting us have the places of honor!
Letting us appear to be heroes!
Humbly
letting folk imagine
we walk a
tightrope gloriously without a net.
(The secret is we don’t!)
For each,
alone,
is
never enough to feed so many!
Yet neither
were we, priests, meant to be the meal!
Not by ourselves.
We’re
served, by the Grace of God,
with his Body and Blood!
And we must
never
forget that!
Father Paul, you must never
forget that!
Each and every day of your life, as a priest,
the Lord will
remind you
that
you are not the main course!
At this
altar…but also in the nursing home…
Or in
a parishioner’s
home…
Or in your
office…or friary.
Or
in the back of church after Mass.
As the
People of God, the Body of Christ,
lift
you up when you are down,
like
a consecrated Host!
Helping
make your priestly vocation holy!
And when
you are proud,
whenever
you imagine you can feed them by yourself,
the
People of God, the Body of Christ,
will
humble you, too.
Helping
make your priestly vocation holy!
Paul,
tonight we gather with the Lord,
to pray for you.
Not
because we know your musical skills.
Or how old you are.
Or how
much you like “Fiddle Faddle,”
or a
trip to Leon’s every now and then.
We pray
for you because we know you’re human.
And we know you are called
to a
special
role in his Church!
We know that
Christ plans to make of you
something
new and wonderful…and holy.
And we
pray for you because we know
God
answers every prayer.
And will help you…even in your fears.
Way back
in the beginning of Genesis
God beat back the first
fear.
The Lord
told Adam, wounded by sin,
“Who told you that you were naked?”
In
other words, “Enough with ‘not enough!’”
And maybe
that’s what he says to us.
As
we gaze upon him.
And adore him in the Eucharist.
Mysteriously appearing
in
his Glorified, Risen Body and Blood
as
something so lowly as a piece of bread.
Something
that to our senses seems
“not
enough” to satisfy even one little child!
By his
Grace…By the power of his Holy Spirit…
By
His Glorified, Risen and Ascended Body and Blood
present
in the Eucharist…
You, and every
other priest called to follow him,
will
be more
than enough!
Tonight
we gaze upon the Sacrament of the Mystery of God’s Love.
In the silence we pray that it will
transform you!
See what
you are…become what you receive!
Allow the Lord to consecrate you in
your priesthood
as his
Body and Blood for the salvation of all the World!
