It has been said that
variety is the spice of life. Well, get ready to spice up your life,
people! Summer is over and there is a
whole range of newness and difference here Soubirous Central.
First, I would like
to invite you to welcome our newest priest in residence, Fr. Greg Markey, from
Connecticut – the Diocese of Bridgeport.
Fr. Markey is beginning his
studies in Philosophy at Catholic University, much as Fr. McDonell did while he
was here. How fitting then that he live
in the same rooms!
Fr. Markey attended
Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, making him somewhat familiar with the
Washington area, and he knows a number of priests here. But he and I had never met before August, nor
ever even heard of one another. As we
have become acquainted over recent weeks, it has become clear that we have many
friends in common, so it is a happy fruit of providence that he should come and
live here. He has been a priest almost
as long as I have, and a pastor as well.
Shifting gears to get going academically will be his first
challenge. He also has made it clear
that he is eager to celebrate Mass with and for you, the people of the
parish. That is what puts spring in our
step, for us parish priest types.
Usually this week is
when I announce and introduce our new seminarian from the Mount. However, much to my surprise, I learned that
due the smaller-than-usual size of this year’s deacon class, we will not be assigned a deacon this
year. I know you have enjoyed helping a
promising pre-priest along the path to homiletic and pastoral proficiency for
the past eight years in a row, and you are good
at it. But maybe it is not a bad time to
take a year off; if only to sharpen your skills for the fellow we get next
year.
Not that you lack for
new homilists in your life. Father
Gallaugher moved in just two months ago, and while he is no rookie priest, he
is new to the mix here, so that makes two out of three of your possible celebrants
who are walking through the Scriptures for the first time in your hearing. That is a tremendous relief to me, who have
been through the three-year Sunday lectionary cycle four times with you! I do worry
about sounding like a broken record.
Speaking of
repetition, I cannot repeat it too often that the end of summer and the
beginning of the school year is the perfect and necessary time for the
Sacrament of Penance. My summer vacation
is already a distant memory, and most of the all-too-short season of summer is
already beginning to fade, perhaps due to too much exposure to bright sunlight.
I assume the same is true for you. So before you forget, get those sins of
omission and commission out there where Jesus can DO something with them. Make
a good confession and be done with it, ready to start the fall with a clear
conscience, fresh notebooks, and maybe even new school or office shoes.
It’s off to the races
here at Four Corners. Sunday starts a
ten-day countdown to Mass with Pope Francis just a few miles from our parish
home. Now that’s something that doesn’t
happen every Sunday, even in our cosmopolitan Archdiocese!
With all of the new
faces and voices here, if variety is indeed the spice of life, then beneath its
calm, orderly exterior, Saint Bernadette is one spicy place! This is the place for you if you are one of
those people about whom it has also been said, that some like it hot.
Monsignor
Smith
