“Share with all the Word of God you have received with joy. Believe what you read. Teach what you believe. Practice what you teach.”
- Rite of Ordination
Recently, after the Noon Mass on Mother's Day, I was speaking with grandparents who flew almost 1400 miles from Manitoba, Winnipeg to attend the First Holy Communion and celebration of their grandson. The grandfather said to me, “Father, keep feeding your sheep with His Word and continue to teach them by His example - guiding them to follow His way of life, with kindness, compassion and love.”
Traditionally the 4th Sunday of Easter is called “Good Shepherd Sunday." I am humbly grateful for the tremendous trust and call of Christ, the Good Shepherd, to serve as priest to His people. At the entrance of our church there hangs three pictures: Pope Benedict XVI (265th successor of St. Peter, universal pastor and father to Catholics around the globe -- 25% of the earth’s population), Bishop David Zubik (the 12th Bishop of Pittsburgh), and myself (the 12th pastor of St. Joseph Parish). Should you see these pictures in the narthex of the church, please say a prayer for pope, bishop and priest, that we can serve God’s people faithfully, joyfully and lovingly, in imitation of Christ the Good Shepherd. After all, our vocation as priests is a vocation of great love. May Christ the Good Shepherd, with St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests, assist all priests to never fail in leading the flock to Christ.
Sometimes I just want to shout that priesthood has to be kept the best-kept secret in the world! As a priest we must never lose sight of our priestly character and must not forget that we are not “laborers for hire” or “professionals pursuing a career” but that we are sharers in the very priesthood of Jesus Christ. In this third millennium of Christianity, I like how the recently beatified Blessed Pope John Paul II, in looking at the landscape of our world, called for a new springtime of evangelization with new tools and new instruments to fashion the mission of Christ. It is our duty to bring our world to Christ and Christ to our world.
At the start of Chrism Mass on April 20 of this year, Bishop Zubik invited those present to think of one priest in our journey of faith who has graced and blessed their lives. Immediately I thought of my long-time pastor of SS Simon and Jude, Fr. Thomas F. Carey, who baptized me, heard my first confession and was present for my first Mass (May 22, 1988, Pentecost), and who was called home to God on September 9, 1999. Fr. Carey was a faith-hero in my life. His style was unique. He was a paratrooper in the US Army and a chaplain for Mary’s Blue Army. He had his own vocabulary and characteristic way of expressing himself. Some of his favorite phrases were: “You birds better fly right!”, “Now dry up”, “I don’t want to hear from your trap when you’re in God’s house”, “When I’m at the pulpit, I roar like a lion, but when you meet me in the confessional, I’m as gentle as a lamb” and “Don’t forget to bring your children to confession; I’ll be looking for them!”
Fr. Carey walked the parish grounds and entered the classrooms, but his passion was looking out for the sick, the suffering and the dying. Every Tuesday, Mom and I attended the St. Jude Novena together and he would often then remark that the real “treasures” of the parish are the poor, those in difficulty, those suffering, the sick and all in whom the Holy Spirit has poured out His gifts. When Fr. Carey died, there were over a thousand people in attendance for his funeral. Fr. Carmen D’Amico delivered the homily and remarked that Fr. Carey was a God-fearing man, a dedicated and faithful priest, and a disciple who changed the world in which we live as he gave his heart to Christ the Good Shepherd each new day of the journey. So when Bishop Zubik asked us to think of that one special priest at the Mass of Chrism of 2011, Fr. Carey easily came to my mind. How appropriate to remember him at the Chrism Mass because during my eight years in the seminary, he would always pick me up to go with him to get the sacred chrism oils that would be used throughout the year as a sacramental sign to make God’s people holy.
I’m sure many of you have your own memories of priests in your walk of life. Below is a list of all the priests who have served St. Joseph Parish the past 120 years as pastor or parochial vicar/assistant. I feel as one small link in a small town with a long history for carrying the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ to God’s people. Last Sunday on Fr. Ron Lengwin’s “Amplify” radio show hosted on KDKA AM 1020, Fr. Albert Hasse, OFM Cap, was interviewed. Fr. Hasse mentioned that in September 2012, he will be going to St. Joseph Parish in Coraopolis to give a parish mission. It never ceases to amaze me how small the world is when you come to know the big name, “Jesus," the Savior of it all!
