It pleases me to be
able to exhort you to welcome our new Parochial Vicar, Fr. Daniel Gallaugher. He moved in during the week, a few moments
earlier than mandated by the Archdiocesan appointment, and proceeded to throw
himself into the work at hand by offering the 6:30 Mass on his first day in
residence.
This is the
“flip-side” of the process we went through in May, when Fathers McDonell and
McCabe set out from us, one of them not having known that he would move so
soon, the other still not knowing to where he was moving. Their going forth from us was our loss, and
we had no idea of the needs and goals that led those responsible for deciding
when and where they would go.
Now arrives Fr.
Gallaugher, and his arrival is our gain.
That much we can easily agree without yet knowing precisely what it is
we shall gain. I shall ask him to write
for you a biographical sketch for next week, so I will not now go into details
that he shall better convey. We know
that simply having another priest dedicated to the spiritual health and growth
of our parish and parishioners will be a good thing. But what is it in particular that he will
bring?
Conversely we can be
confident that his being here with us will be good for him. This parish is recognized for treating very
well the priests who are assigned here and who live here.
By “treating well,” however,
I do not mean showering with gifts and privileges, asking very little in the
way of effort, or applauding every deed and utterance. That might seem to be good treatment by some
standard, but not by ours. No, by this I
mean that the members of this church respect and understand the Holy
Priesthood, and ask for the energetic exercise of precisely that office and the
divine gifts associated with it. In
other words, you ask your priests, to be your priests, all the while
recognizing that every priest is different, and at a different stage in his
vocational growth and development. This
is why our rectory is almost constantly chosen to host a seminarian still in
formation. I have told you before that
you are good teachers of priests.
So just what it is
that Fr. Gallaugher will learn while he is here, just what growth in wisdom and
holiness he will enjoy because of his relationship with you and all that will
happen here during his time, we do not know any more than he does.
Nonetheless, we can
be just as confident that learning and growth will occur in us because of his presence and ministry, without knowing
what shape that learning and growth will take.
This is part of the
great delight and anticipation that accompanies Fr. Gallaugher, for it is the
Holy Spirit at work in the Church that has brought him here to us. It balances the sadness and gratitude that marked
the sending forth of Frs. McDonell and McCabe when obedience spirited them from
out of our midst.
As if this were not sufficient
cause for rejoicing, I will share with you that this week I learned that
another priest, this one assigned to study at Catholic University, hopes to
live here this year. There are still
several practical steps between now and his arrival, so I will leave the
details for later, and commend to your prayers all (us) priests whom God sends
to bring you closer to Himself.
Monsignor
Smith
