HOLINESS AND MISSION

Twenty years ago, on December 9, 1996, I received the Sacrament of Holy Orders for the first time when I was ordained a transitional deacon by Bishop John R. McGann, the second Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.  On the day of my ordination I wrote the following, in a journal I was keeping:

Everything is new.  All of life is different now.  God let me enter into this awe and wonder more and more.  Let me let go and experience the mystery of your presence.Thank you. I love you and love what you have done for me.  Thank you for this sacrament, this grace, this love.  Keep me from being jaded, arrogant.  Let me always be the servant that I am called to today.

It was good to read these words again today as I reflected on these twenty years.  They renew me in the fervor that I had and remind me of the mission I understood myself being called to by God. The sixth months between that day and my ordination to priesthood were an opportunity for me to "fall in love," with my identity as clergy - one who is ordained to serve.

It was with particular joy that on this the 20th anniversary of my ordination to the Diaconate, Pope Francis announced his appointment of our new diocesan bishop, Bishop Joseph O. Barres. Bishop Barres episcopal motto is "Holiness and Mission," derived from a phrase from the final section of the encyclical Redemptoris Missio written by Pope Saint John Paul II.  In the document, His Holiness identified the Church’s missionary spirituality as "a journey towards holiness.”  In Bishop Barres appointment today I am reminded that my mission of service to the church is intimately tided to my own journey toward holiness.  

May I ask all who read this blog to pray that I may be faithful to his mission and that our new bishop will lead the church on Long Island to holiness through his own personal journey to holiness.