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| Bishop David E. Foley after Confirmation last week in Alabama, with the newly-confirmed Pierce Bolding and his sponsor. |
It is popular now to research one's ancestry, with services available
online and more data available than ever before. People can talk about which of their
forebears came over to this country, and when, and from where. Unfortunately, my family name, Smith, makes
it impossible to trace the line back any further than the boat over.
But when it comes to my lineage as pastor, that line is clear and
strong: Stricker, Foley, Krastel, Martin, Thompson, Smith. Since Saint Bernadette was erected a parish
in 1948, with Father WIlliam Stricker named as Pastor, there has been no room
for doubt as to my illustrious forebears.
Imagine my delight last week to find one of them, not on ancestry.com, but in the sanctuary with
me! I flew down to Birmingham for the
Confirmation of my nephew, Pierce Bolding.
Most Rev. Robert Baker, Bishop of Birmingham in Alabama, presided, but
the number of Confirmandi at Prince of Peace Church in Hoover was so large
(118!) that he asked his predecessor, Most Rev. David E. Foley, to assist him.
A long, long time ago, when the founding pastor of this parish retired
in 1975, the shoes to be filled were quite large, as was everything else of
that outsize man. Then-Archbishop
William Baum took a different approach in the man he chose to succeed him. Smaller in stature, but not in voice or any
other way, Monsignor Foley pastored this parish wisely and well for the next
eight years.
There are still many parishioners who remember him fondly. We still enjoy the maple trees planted out
front in his time, and the pipe organ that was his valedictory project. His influence on the parish is still felt in
our devotion to the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. When he moved on from Saint Bernadette in
1983, Msgr. Foley was less than three years from being named a Bishop by Saint
John Paul II.
By the providence of God, my nephew received the seal of the Holy Spirit
from Bishop Foley, and a shout out by name from Bishop Baker at the start of
the Mass. He mentioned the link between the
two of us there, the second and the sixth Pastors of Saint Bernadette in Silver
Spring.
It is good to know one's ancestry, but a true blessing to have good
reason to be proud of it.
Monsignor
Smith
