|
It was the summer of 1959. Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the third year of his second term as President of the United States. The jovial Pope, John XXIII, reigned as Supreme Pontiff. The Second Vatican Council was announced as a mere year-long gathering of bishops expecting to discuss some minor changes to the liturgy. Seminaries and Religious Houses of Studies were bursting with vocations. The Catholic Church appeared triumphant to many.
It was in this era of prospective change that a young, slender, red-bearded Capuchin cleric approached the high altar of Sacred Heart Church, Yonkers, New York. He knelt before the Most Rev. James H. Griffiths, Titular Bishop of Gaza, Auxiliary Bishop of New York, to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest in the Order of Friars Minor, Capuchins. His name to his confreres was Brother Benedict Joseph; to his intimates, “BJ”; to his family, Peter; but to those who know the full story, Robert. (You will need to ask a family member to get the full story.) The day was June 20, 1959, when Fr. Benedict Joseph Groeschel began his ministry of selfless service to those most in need as a priest of Jesus Christ.
Fr. Benedict Joseph was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on July 23, 1933. He was the oldest of six children born to Edward and Marjule (Smith) Groeschel. His Franciscan vocation had an early start when he was baptized on August 6, 1933, at the Church of St. Joseph in East Rutherford, New Jersey, by the Franciscan priest, Fr. Edgar Barrett, OFM.
Young “Fr. Benedict” completed his grammar school years at St. Aloysius School in Caldwell, New Jersey. Upon completion of high school in Montclair, he entered the Capuchin Order. Being a Jersey boy, Father first approached the Friars of the Stigmata Province (New Jersey). He was quickly advised to consider the Province of St. Mary (New York), since the New Jersey province was known as the Italian province. There was fear the young Alsatian applicant might starve to death for his lack of appreciation for Italian cooking.
Br. Benedict Joseph was solemnly professed as a Capuchin friar on September 1, 1955. His studies continued at Mary Immaculate Monastery in Garrison, New York, until this day of grace, his priestly ordination, June 20, 1959.
The custom at that time was for the newly ordained to complete another year of theological studies and then a pastoral year at a Capuchin parish. The young Fr. Benedict Joseph was assigned to the Capuchin parish of his ordination, Sacred Heart Church in Yonkers. Following this on-the-job training, he was assigned as chaplain to Children's Village, a state-run home for boys who were removed from their families for various reasons. Fr. Benedict was the Catholic chaplain and surrogate father to these boys for fourteen (happy!) years.
It was during these years of service to the boys of “C.V.” that Fr. Benedict was encouraged by his superiors to continue his studies, and in 1971 he received a Doctorate in Education in Psychology from Columbia University.
In 1974 Cardinal Terence Cooke requested that Fr. Benedict initiate a program for spiritual development in the Archdiocese of New York. This program included opening Trinity Retreat in Larchmont as a center for prayer and study for the clergy. Fr. Benedict quickly became widely known as an insightful spiritual director, an engaging retreat master, a mentor for priests, and an advocate for members of the clergy who may have become disoriented by the shifting values of society.
Although his time and efforts were more fully focused on the needs of the clergy, Fr. Benedict never forgot his favored apostolate to those in need. He organized generous benefactors and volunteers to assist him each year to provide Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving meals and gifts to the many he had come to know and love over the years at Children’s Village. This work continues to this day, thirty-five years after its initiation.
In addition to his many responsibilities for the Archdiocese of New York, Fr. Benedict was a lecturer in pastoral psychology at six seminaries and several universities over the years. Along with Christopher Bell, Fr. Benedict founded Good Counsel Homes, a safe haven for homeless pregnant girls and mothers particularly endangered by “the culture of death.” Fr. Benedict also initiated for Cardinal Cooke the Courage movement for homosexual persons seeking to lead a chaste life according to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. He obtained the services of the founder, Fr. John Harvey, OSFS, to lead and develop the program.
In 1987 Fr. Benedict, along with seven other Capuchin friars, initiated our new fraternity, the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Although none of our confreres would accept the title “Founder,” as this belongs to our Holy Father Saint Francis, Fr. Benedict is often tagged as “the Instigator.” It was the insistence of Fr. Benedict which led the founding friars, with the approbation and support of John Cardinal O’Connor, to consider a new establishment following the traditions of their Capuchin confreres to live a more intentional Franciscan life. By God’s grace this little group of eight has grown to well over a hundred and is situated now on two continents, in five countries, and with brothers who come from over seventeen countries.
As many are well aware, Fr. Benedict was involved in a near fatal accident in January 2004. While traveling to a priests’ retreat in Florida, he was struck by a car while crossing the street. At one point his medical attendants at the hospital all but gave him up for dead. His long path to recovery was filled with reports that Father might never speak, walk, or travel again. Those who are fans of EWTN know that Father has no trouble speaking. Those who live near Larchmont know that he is quite capable of getting around. And those friars who assist Father in his apostolic endeavors know that he still travels and travels and travels! Maybe not as much as before, but he can still wear out a few friars one third his age!
When times are difficult and circumstances of life seem to swirl, God in His mercy raises up men and women of faith and spiritual clarity who become beacons of hope and consolation. Through the ministry of mass media, television, and publishing, as well as countless hours of preaching and counseling, Fr. Benedict has been a great source of encouragement and wisdom to so many. His Jersey City wit, (I was once told by one of his close associates that he thought there was a little Jewish comedian trapped in his friar’s body!) his seemingly endless wealth of facts, as well as his spiritual insight and spot-on analysis of a pastorally difficult situation, have made Fr. Benedict a confidant of many prelates and priests.
We are delighted to celebrate these fifty years of service to the Holy Priesthood by our dear brother. He has been a faithful servant of the Church, eager to serve Her needs. He has ministered the sacraments faithfully to so many distanced from Her grace. He has reconciled those who may have lost their way or been overwhelmed by life, helping them to be productive and holy ministers of love once again. He has been a father to those who did not know the love, care, and protection of a true guardian. He has been an inspiration to many, young and old, who long to follow his lead in selfless service to others. We are honored to know him as a “founding friar,” a mentor, a director, a confessor, a brother, and a friend. But today we take particular delight in calling him “Father,” a priest of Jesus Christ these many years.
|
