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| Bishop Earl Fernandes at his ordination Mass in Columbus, Ohio |
Guess who just got back today?
Them wild-eyed boys that'd been away
The boys are back in town (The boys are back in town)
(as sung in 1976 by Thin Lizzy)
That’s the news this week; the boys are back. Father Santandreu rolled into town Saturday evening, fresh from a friend’s priestly ordination in Paterson, New Jersey, a stopover on the roundabout way back from Buffalo. Father Novajosky coasted in on Monday, having touched down here the weekend before for forty-eight hours of much-needed relief – of ME. He helped me through that weekend, then rolled back out to further adventure. They had their fun, they had their break. Now, it’s back to the salt mines – the intensive summer classes of their Canon Law studies at Catholic University of America. I’ve seen their schedule, and it looks brutal. But it will keep them here for June and July, and I am grateful for both the help, and the company.
Now, in an extra bonus add-on, returning here for the first time since July 2019, before so many things changed, is Father Jason Williams. He was here with us for June and July of that year for the first term of his Canon Law program, which we all expected to bring him here for four consecutive summers. But no, Covid happened; and there were no in-person classes at CUA for him to be in-person for in the summers of 2020 and 2021. Now he is back for his LAST semester, June and July again, and I for one am glad for his good company. I think the other guys will quickly come to agree.
Father Williams, remembered by some of you as Father Jeep for his distinctive mode of transport so conspicuous in front of the rectory, is a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He and I connected through another priest of that archdiocese, Fr. Earl Fernandes. Fr. Fernandes and I were friends from more than a decade earlier, when we were both in Rome, and we reconnected after he came to serve a tour in Washington for several years, working at the Papal Nunciature (the “embassy” of the Holy See). He knew Fr. Williams from home, and recommended that he live here with me while studying at CUA.
Father Fernandes himself helped out here more than once, too, and you may recall one of the times he offered Mass here; so much has happened in the past few years that I would not be surprised if you did not. But you most certainly will recall another priest who was here because of the connection with him. Fr. Fernandes is the one who put Fr. Brad Berhorst on a track to live here while he studied at CUA, and I know you remember him. So, Fr. Fernandes has been sneaky important to us here at St. Bernadette, and I mean that in a good way.
Well, one of the first advantages of having priests in the rectory with me again is that I can slip away for a few days, and I did just that this week as soon as they returned. You see, Father Fernandes was appointed by Pope Francis to be Bishop of Columbus, and on Tuesday, 31 May, he was consecrated there to be their successor to the Apostles. So, if you noticed my car was not in the carport for a few days in a row, it is because it was in Ohio, with me.
On the basis of his relationship with our parish, and the good things he has helped to happen here, I think I can say that we are grateful to God for his elevation to this sacred office, and promise a prayer of support and encouragement. It’s a tough time to be a bishop, and an even harder time to start at it. I can assure you that Bishop Fernandes is good news for Columbus, and the church – good news that Saint Bernadette has enjoyed for some years, in fact.
When other priests ask me how they can find a student priest to live with them in their rectories and help in their parishes, I can offer a few suggestions for things they can do, but I cannot explain the details of the complicated but beautiful web of relationships that bring to us here in our parish so many excellent priests who bless us with their gifts while developing their skills and knowledge at the university. Every one of these relationships is a story in itself, and sometimes the story can seem so contrived as to be hard to believe. But you believe it; so do I. Because once again, the evidence is right in front of us. Everybody sing:
The boys are back in town (The boys are back in town)!
Monsignor Smith
