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Reflecting on the past 6 years as a priest
On the eve of the start of my 6th year as a priest on August 15th, I ask myself “Am I being a good servant and disciple of
Christ.
I also have become more acutely aware of the blessed opportunity and the many challenges Almighty God has bestowed
upon me.
I ponder how well I have done in serving all those who have been made to feel unwelcome and rejected from some Religious
denominations and proclaiming to them how GOD LOVES THEM AS HE CREATED THEM.
I pray that I might have inspired them to claim their rightful place within the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church.
With the words “Your are a priest forever like Melchizedek of Old”, a person goes from being a simple follower of Jesus
Christ to an individual who is completely committed and responsible to serve God faithfully and proclaim His truth and
teachings faithfully to all of His children He sends you.
As a priest, I have been called to be the hands, feet, mouth, heart and human voice of Almighty God here on earth.
I need to be there to give solace and comfort to those in pain. I need to remember always to affirm God’s love, mercy and
forgiveness to all His children. I am called to be uplifting and positive toward all even when I do not feel that good myself.
These responsibilities are not limited just to those who are part of the Faith Community you serve but to every child of God
that you meet as you go about your daily life.
In a world that appears to be increasingly more self centered and absorbed in the material things of life and less interested in
the needs of others or in helping to support the work of the ministries that serve God’s children.
I often feel inadequate, troubled and disturbed because of my limitations and this has sometimes caused me occasionally to
be filled with anguish.
My heart becomes heavy when I see and hear of children of God being turned away from worshiping with a faith community
and being denied Baptism or God’s gift of the Eucharist because they were born out of wedlock, or the parents are divorced
or worse yet, God created them with a same sex orientation.
Sadness fills me when I see dedicated men and women being denied the opportunity to answer the call they hear from God
just because they are married or their gender is female.
Why should a person who is dedicated and has the necessary education and training be refused because of their marital
state or sexual orientation just as long as they are willing to live their lives in a manner that would not bring shame or
dishonor to Almighty God?
The Church had married priests as recently as 1139. In the fourteenth Century a Bishop Pelsgio complained that woman
were still being ordained and hearing confessions and in the 1970’s several women were ordained as priests in the Czech
Republic to serve the needs of women imprisoned by the Communists. In the 15th century it was estimated that 50% of
priests were married. 7 Popes were married and had children into the mid 1400's. 11 Popes were sons of previous popes.
Between 1484 and 1585 6 popes had illegitimate children.
Some priests and some of the hierarchy have forgotten their duty and responsibility to God and have done serious damage
to the universal church because they ignored their vows and sexually abused children and others that trusted them. The
church is having great difficulty healing the wounds that caused. Many good and faithful priests who have lived their vows
faithfully have been hurt by the actions of those who failed.
Many of God’s children have become disillusioned because the hierarchy failed to take action against those who committed
these heinous crimes.
In accepting God’s call to be His servant on earth a priest needs to put themselves last before the needs of those whom God
has sent him to serve.
All the wealth of the world cannot raise a person any higher in the eyes of God than being a good, faithful and humble
servant of God to His children sent to be shepherded.
Many people whom God has called to be His servants on earth have attempted to heal the divisions that have separated the
Christian church, established through the inspiration of Christ’s teachings and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Among them was a Protestant Brother, Roger of Taize, who found respect and was welcomed into the company of the
hierarchy of all religious denominations, including three popes, the patriarchs of the Orthodox churches, Anglican and other
denominations all of whom attended his funeral after he was murdered on August 14th 2005, the day before my ordination.
Brother Roger has been called “the male Mother Theresa and St. Francis of the 20th and 21st
centuries.” He was truly a man of God and a good and faithful servant of God. To me, Brother Roger is what I aspire to
emulate and a man who should be a model to all priests even though he himself , like St. Francis the seraphic father of our
Franciscan order, was never a priest.
To have been called to the priesthood is a tremendous and overwhelming responsibility which I pray daily I am able to live
up to.
I find His choice of me to be surprising and heady, filled with many roadblocks to overcome but I am fully willing to accept if
it is His will.
I ask God only that He provide me the energy, health, necessary means, tools and courage to accept all He sends me in
order for me to serve Him and those He sends my way as He would.
I constantly ask Almighty God to inspire me and guide my every action through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that I may
bring Him honor and Glory.
I pray constantly that I can make a difference in the lives of those who God sends my way and bring them into a closer
relationship with Almighty God.
I ask God to constantly lead me and constantly inspire me to know and do His will.
Please remember me and the work of the mission in your daily prayers and ask God to continue to lead me and guide me in
my daily service to Him as I begin the 5th year of my priesthood this Saturday.
On the eve of the start of my 6th year as a priest on August 15th, I ask myself “Am I being a good servant and disciple of
Christ.
I also have become more acutely aware of the blessed opportunity and the many challenges Almighty God has bestowed
upon me.
I ponder how well I have done in serving all those who have been made to feel unwelcome and rejected from some Religious
denominations and proclaiming to them how GOD LOVES THEM AS HE CREATED THEM.
I pray that I might have inspired them to claim their rightful place within the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church.
With the words “Your are a priest forever like Melchizedek of Old”, a person goes from being a simple follower of Jesus
Christ to an individual who is completely committed and responsible to serve God faithfully and proclaim His truth and
teachings faithfully to all of His children He sends you.
As a priest, I have been called to be the hands, feet, mouth, heart and human voice of Almighty God here on earth.
I need to be there to give solace and comfort to those in pain. I need to remember always to affirm God’s love, mercy and
forgiveness to all His children. I am called to be uplifting and positive toward all even when I do not feel that good myself.
These responsibilities are not limited just to those who are part of the Faith Community you serve but to every child of God
that you meet as you go about your daily life.
In a world that appears to be increasingly more self centered and absorbed in the material things of life and less interested in
the needs of others or in helping to support the work of the ministries that serve God’s children.
I often feel inadequate, troubled and disturbed because of my limitations and this has sometimes caused me occasionally to
be filled with anguish.
My heart becomes heavy when I see and hear of children of God being turned away from worshiping with a faith community
and being denied Baptism or God’s gift of the Eucharist because they were born out of wedlock, or the parents are divorced
or worse yet, God created them with a same sex orientation.
Sadness fills me when I see dedicated men and women being denied the opportunity to answer the call they hear from God
just because they are married or their gender is female.
Why should a person who is dedicated and has the necessary education and training be refused because of their marital
state or sexual orientation just as long as they are willing to live their lives in a manner that would not bring shame or
dishonor to Almighty God?
The Church had married priests as recently as 1139. In the fourteenth Century a Bishop Pelsgio complained that woman
were still being ordained and hearing confessions and in the 1970’s several women were ordained as priests in the Czech
Republic to serve the needs of women imprisoned by the Communists. In the 15th century it was estimated that 50% of
priests were married. 7 Popes were married and had children into the mid 1400's. 11 Popes were sons of previous popes.
Between 1484 and 1585 6 popes had illegitimate children.
Some priests and some of the hierarchy have forgotten their duty and responsibility to God and have done serious damage
to the universal church because they ignored their vows and sexually abused children and others that trusted them. The
church is having great difficulty healing the wounds that caused. Many good and faithful priests who have lived their vows
faithfully have been hurt by the actions of those who failed.
Many of God’s children have become disillusioned because the hierarchy failed to take action against those who committed
these heinous crimes.
In accepting God’s call to be His servant on earth a priest needs to put themselves last before the needs of those whom God
has sent him to serve.
All the wealth of the world cannot raise a person any higher in the eyes of God than being a good, faithful and humble
servant of God to His children sent to be shepherded.
Many people whom God has called to be His servants on earth have attempted to heal the divisions that have separated the
Christian church, established through the inspiration of Christ’s teachings and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Among them was a Protestant Brother, Roger of Taize, who found respect and was welcomed into the company of the
hierarchy of all religious denominations, including three popes, the patriarchs of the Orthodox churches, Anglican and other
denominations all of whom attended his funeral after he was murdered on August 14th 2005, the day before my ordination.
Brother Roger has been called “the male Mother Theresa and St. Francis of the 20th and 21st
centuries.” He was truly a man of God and a good and faithful servant of God. To me, Brother Roger is what I aspire to
emulate and a man who should be a model to all priests even though he himself , like St. Francis the seraphic father of our
Franciscan order, was never a priest.
To have been called to the priesthood is a tremendous and overwhelming responsibility which I pray daily I am able to live
up to.
I find His choice of me to be surprising and heady, filled with many roadblocks to overcome but I am fully willing to accept if
it is His will.
I ask God only that He provide me the energy, health, necessary means, tools and courage to accept all He sends me in
order for me to serve Him and those He sends my way as He would.
I constantly ask Almighty God to inspire me and guide my every action through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that I may
bring Him honor and Glory.
I pray constantly that I can make a difference in the lives of those who God sends my way and bring them into a closer
relationship with Almighty God.
I ask God to constantly lead me and constantly inspire me to know and do His will.
Please remember me and the work of the mission in your daily prayers and ask God to continue to lead me and guide me in
my daily service to Him as I begin the 5th year of my priesthood this Saturday.
On Being a Priest
“Your are a priest forever like Melchizedek of Old” with these words a person goes from being a
simple follower of Jesus Christ to an individual whose live is now dedicated to serve God as His
servant, shepherding God’s children. A priest becomes the hands, feet, mouth and human voice of
Almighty God here on earth to give solace and comfort, affirmation of God’s love and forgiveness to
all the children of God that he has been called to serve. The priest becomes the human instrument
through which Almighty God transforms the simple bread and wine offered by the faithful into the
body and blood of Jesus Christ. God does the transubstantiation the priest is the conduit.
Whether he is called by the title of Monsignor, Bishop, Cardinal or Pope, his first and primary calling
and responsibility is to serve simply as a servant of the Lord here on earth.
All the titles in the world can not raise a person any higher in the eyes of God than being a good and
faithful servant as a priest and caring for God‘s people as Christ would have cared for them.
I find it strange, when God has chosen to communicate with us here on earth either as himself or in
the person of our Blessed mother, He rarely makes himself known to the ones with titles. He
appears generally to the simple individual who truly believes and loves Him and has put their faith in
Him.
St. Francis was a soldier, St. Joan a simple maiden, Juan Diego a peasant Indian, Padre Pio a simple
priest, St. Bernadette a simple school girl. None of these were among the hierarchy and when they
told those in charge what God directed them to do, they were ridiculed and scorned.
Why is it that God did not go directly to those in the hierarchy? Could it be that they, with their lofty
titles and grandiose life styles had lost sight of God’s original intent? Could it be that they chose to
use their positions of power to decipher the word of God to their own self interests?
I find this worth pondering.
To be called to be a priest is an overwhelming responsibility and yet, knowing that God has called
you for a special mission in His name, is the most humbling experience an individual can ever
experience.
I am constantly asking Almighty God to inspire me and guide my every action so that I may only
bring honor and Glory to Him. I pray constantly that I can make a difference in the lives of those who
come to me and bring them to a closer relationship with Almighty God. That is my only desire.
I recently said in one of my reflections that we have to give ourselves over completely to the will of
God subverting our own personal desires and putting our total lives in God’s hands. I believe that
this is the only way that we can honestly and fully serve God. Even Jesus in the Garden of
Gethsemane cried out "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours
be done.". In this simple plea, Jesus showed us that we should give ourselves and our will over
totally to Almighty God. When I was called to be a priest, after many years of desiring to be so
called, and believing that though my heart felt I was being called it was not God’s will especially at
age 71, I made the commitment to accept the call with the full knowledge that my life, as I had lived
it, was over and I was to begin a new life whose only purpose was to serve God with all of my being.
I ask God to constantly lead me to where He wants me to go. I guess that is what the new cardinals
might feel, but I pray that they think about how they will live that calling and that they realize that
their first responsibility is to God and the people he has been given to shepherd. Not to achieving
honors for themselves. AMEN
“Your are a priest forever like Melchizedek of Old” with these words a person goes from being a
simple follower of Jesus Christ to an individual whose live is now dedicated to serve God as His
servant, shepherding God’s children. A priest becomes the hands, feet, mouth and human voice of
Almighty God here on earth to give solace and comfort, affirmation of God’s love and forgiveness to
all the children of God that he has been called to serve. The priest becomes the human instrument
through which Almighty God transforms the simple bread and wine offered by the faithful into the
body and blood of Jesus Christ. God does the transubstantiation the priest is the conduit.
Whether he is called by the title of Monsignor, Bishop, Cardinal or Pope, his first and primary calling
and responsibility is to serve simply as a servant of the Lord here on earth.
All the titles in the world can not raise a person any higher in the eyes of God than being a good and
faithful servant as a priest and caring for God‘s people as Christ would have cared for them.
I find it strange, when God has chosen to communicate with us here on earth either as himself or in
the person of our Blessed mother, He rarely makes himself known to the ones with titles. He
appears generally to the simple individual who truly believes and loves Him and has put their faith in
Him.
St. Francis was a soldier, St. Joan a simple maiden, Juan Diego a peasant Indian, Padre Pio a simple
priest, St. Bernadette a simple school girl. None of these were among the hierarchy and when they
told those in charge what God directed them to do, they were ridiculed and scorned.
Why is it that God did not go directly to those in the hierarchy? Could it be that they, with their lofty
titles and grandiose life styles had lost sight of God’s original intent? Could it be that they chose to
use their positions of power to decipher the word of God to their own self interests?
I find this worth pondering.
To be called to be a priest is an overwhelming responsibility and yet, knowing that God has called
you for a special mission in His name, is the most humbling experience an individual can ever
experience.
I am constantly asking Almighty God to inspire me and guide my every action so that I may only
bring honor and Glory to Him. I pray constantly that I can make a difference in the lives of those who
come to me and bring them to a closer relationship with Almighty God. That is my only desire.
I recently said in one of my reflections that we have to give ourselves over completely to the will of
God subverting our own personal desires and putting our total lives in God’s hands. I believe that
this is the only way that we can honestly and fully serve God. Even Jesus in the Garden of
Gethsemane cried out "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours
be done.". In this simple plea, Jesus showed us that we should give ourselves and our will over
totally to Almighty God. When I was called to be a priest, after many years of desiring to be so
called, and believing that though my heart felt I was being called it was not God’s will especially at
age 71, I made the commitment to accept the call with the full knowledge that my life, as I had lived
it, was over and I was to begin a new life whose only purpose was to serve God with all of my being.
I ask God to constantly lead me to where He wants me to go. I guess that is what the new cardinals
might feel, but I pray that they think about how they will live that calling and that they realize that
their first responsibility is to God and the people he has been given to shepherd. Not to achieving
honors for themselves. AMEN
