I understand that what colloquially we call schizophrenia should more accurately be
called dual personality disorder. I am not attempting to diagnose anyone in the
parish, much less in the rectory, but I am searching for a descriptor for this
week.
The first personality is summer. The weather is
terrific, and the campus is quiet. Since
our school finished last Friday, the phone has rung less, the traffic past my
window has dwindled to almost nothing, and I actually had weekday evenings when
I did not have a meeting, class, or appointment. Ahhh.
The other personality is jubilation. Last weekend,
the liturgies celebrating the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord were rich
and beautiful, suitably laden with joy and gratitude. And the cookout on the front lawn that our
men of Orate Fratres put together for
us was a superb way for all who stayed to enjoy the glories of a summer day
getting to know and enjoy the brothers and sisters who are nourished by Christ
into being His Body here in our parish. I
thank them for the delightful opportunity.
Add a few graduation parties, and it was a wild weekend.
Now, this
weekend we have the ordination of new priests for our Archdiocese, and the
first Mass of Father Patrick Lewis. The
momentous first Mass of a priest from our own midst is a time of unparalleled
joy and pride in our parish family. Like
last week, a great liturgy will be followed by a festive convivium, in this
case a reception in the school hall.
Another wild weekend, thanks be to God!
Between weekends, we welcomed our summer seminarian,
Christopher Seith, who will be here until early August to experience parish
life as we at Saint Bernadette know it.
I will let him tell you more about himself in his own voice. We want to encourage him to enter into the
mystery that is our parish life in Christ, since he is preparing to be a priest
of our Archdiocese. I hope he won’t think
our frenetic/relaxation or peaceful/rejoicing reflects a split personality!
Sort of like chocolate and peanut butter in the old
Reese’s add, I don’t see any conflict inherent in these two aspects of one
personality I am very much enjoying: summer jubilation. May God bless you and your families with an
abundance of it!
Monsignor Smith
