Silver Jubilee: Priesthood and Parish Family – We Need Each Other

Silver Jubilee: Priesthood and Parish Family – We Need Each Other

What a joy it is for me to get to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of my ordination as a priest with you – my “parish families” of St. Martha and St. Mary! I have been looking forward to this joyful time together since Cardinal Seán renewed my assignment as your pastor last year. Being able to celebrate this jubilee with parishes I know well and who know me well is especially important to how I live my life as a parish priest for several reasons.

First, my vocation was born and nurtured in the parish family where I belonged as a teenager. In addition to my family of relatives – especially my parents (who join us today) and grandparents – the parish family St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Acton-Boxborough really became my second family. As our home was going through the separation and divorce of our parents, my mother encouraged me to get involved in the parish. I found great support and joy in the youth group, Confirmation program, retreats, and Sunday Mass. Through our parish pastoral team and parishioners, I learned by word and example that the “family of God” is not just a concept but a lived reality. During this time, I remember asking God in prayer how I could ever thank Him for this support through my parish family, which is when I began to hear God’s response was for me to be a priest. I am grateful to help lead and nurture our parishes to be united as one Body in Christ.

Second, over half of my ministry as a priest has been involved with the sacrament of marriage: helping married couples present marriage preparation programs, celebrating weddings, and ministering in the church tribunal to those whose marriages have struggled or collapsed. Both the struggles and the strengths of marriages have taught me the importance of unity, perseverance, and choosing to love (even when we don’t feel like it)!  In my commitment to live celibate love for my “spouse”, the People of God entrusted to my care, I strive to live God’s sacrificial love by following this model faithful, married couples – the foundation of stable, life-giving families.

Finally, being in the family of these parishes for years, you have come to know both my strengths and weaknesses. When I worked in the archdiocesan offices and was just a weekend assistant in parishes, I could be like the “fun uncle,” who came to visit but did not have to get involved in the hard work of family life. As I grow to maturity (not quite there yet!) as a full-time parish priest and pastor, I am coming to accept my weaknesses to be as important a part of my life and ministry as my strengths. They keep me humble, in balance with your many kind words of praise and encouragement! “For when I am weak, then I am strong,” St. Paul teaches us, for our weakness prompts us to turn to Jesus and the Holy Spirit to be strong in us.

So, I am grateful for you being my family, as I am grateful to be able to serve as your pastor. I need you just as much as you need priests! You keep me grounded, inspire me by your faith in Christ, and help me to see God’s grace at work in the human realities of our faith-family. I could not be the priest I am today without the faith, encouragement, and love of the parish families I have belonged to over these twenty-five years.