Lectionary: 290
Paul reached also Derbe and Lystra
where there was a disciple named Timothy,
the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,
but his father was a Greek.
The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him,
and Paul wanted him to come along with him.
where there was a disciple named Timothy,
the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,
but his father was a Greek.
The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him,
and Paul wanted him to come along with him.
On Saturday
May 24, 1975 Bishop Albert Ottenweller ordained my classmate Donald Adamski and
me to the Roman Catholic presbyterate. That was 39 years ago; sometimes it
seems like last year; more often it seems like a very long time ago.
There was
no Internet in those days nor were there personal computers. Cars came with
seat belts but few people wore them. Americans had only recently discovered fuel
shortages and how much the United States relied on foreign oil. Gasoline in those days cost less
than a dollar a gallon. Less than a month before my ordination Saigon had fallen to the North Vietnamese Army. The war was over; Nixon was out of the White House; the world was moving on.
At the time I used a state-of-the-art IBM Selectric typewriter with self-correcting tape. (I paid for that privilege by editing and typing the weekly parish bulletin.) In Carey one could call a neighbor with a five-digit number, but only from a stationary phone. Calling the chancery was long distance. Calling home before 11pm was out of the question. Most communication happened as it had for centuries, through the Postal Service.
At the time I used a state-of-the-art IBM Selectric typewriter with self-correcting tape. (I paid for that privilege by editing and typing the weekly parish bulletin.) In Carey one could call a neighbor with a five-digit number, but only from a stationary phone. Calling the chancery was long distance. Calling home before 11pm was out of the question. Most communication happened as it had for centuries, through the Postal Service.
There were a
hundred voices in the choir for our ordination on that Saturday afternoon, and a respectable crowd in church. They would return the
next day for the centenary celebration of Our Lady of Consolation.
In 1875 the wood-frame church in Carey was finished and the recently-purchased statue of Our Lady was brought in procession seven miles from Frenchtown to Carey. The marchers saw thunderstorms ahead and behind them, to the right and left; not one drop fell on the statue. However, no sooner had she entered the church than the clouds opened up on the people, drenching them. A hundred years later their descendants, recognizable from the familiar names on the roster, would recall that wonder. In the meanwhile many people had called upon Our Lady in that holy place and been richly blessed with cures, consolation and mercy.
In 1875 the wood-frame church in Carey was finished and the recently-purchased statue of Our Lady was brought in procession seven miles from Frenchtown to Carey. The marchers saw thunderstorms ahead and behind them, to the right and left; not one drop fell on the statue. However, no sooner had she entered the church than the clouds opened up on the people, drenching them. A hundred years later their descendants, recognizable from the familiar names on the roster, would recall that wonder. In the meanwhile many people had called upon Our Lady in that holy place and been richly blessed with cures, consolation and mercy.
On that
Sunday in 1975 my parents’ Pontiac van, used to tote our family of eleven, was
volunteered to carry the statue back to Frenchtown for a reenactment of the
event. My Dad thought that was an enormous privilege. Never had such a personage graced that pre-owned gas guzzler. Fortunately the sky was clear and the sun was hot as they walked back the same seven miles along paved highways.
In today’s
reading we hear about Saint Paul’s selection of the young Timothy. He would be
his protégé and successor, and the first bishop of Ephesus. At some point Saint
Paul “laid hands” on Timothy in the ceremony of ordination. That gesture
remains our way of investing deacons, priests and bishops with the Holy Spirit,
as Bishop Ottenweller ordained Donald and me.
In today's Gospel Jesus reminds us the world will often hate us and always misunderstand us. We are not a religion like other religions; there is no comparison to Judaism, Islam or the Buddha. Only the Holy Spirit knows why we are still here and the Blessings we bring to our world through Baptism, Eucharist, Marriage and Ordination.
Wow! Thirty- nine years. Congratulations.
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