May 16, 2007

The Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal invites you to praise God and rejoice with us as we proudly announce the ordination of seven of our friars to the holy priesthood:

Fr. Juan Diego Sutherland, CFR

Fr. Lawrence Joseph Schroedel, CFR

Fr. Emmanuel Mary Mansford, CFR

Fr. Gabriel Mary Bakkar, CFR

Fr. Paulus Maria Tautz, CFR

Fr. Pio Maria Hoffmann, CFR

Fr. Augustine Mary Conner, CFR

_________________________________ 

It was a whirlwind of a weekend. In fact, the wind will continue to swirl for the next seven weekends as our newly ordained priests will celebrate their first Masses in their home parishes. It will be impossible for us to attend all of them since the friars come from Canada, Florida, Louisiana, England, and Germany! This past Sunday, the day after the majestic ordination Mass held in New York’s SaintPatrick’s Cathedral, we had the opportunity to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving with all seven priest friars together with their family members and friends. My Lord, if I’m tired, I can only imagine how the newly ordained feel after a weekend packed with such “holy excitement!”

We all know you don’t have to dig a ditch or carry a backload of bricks in order to feel exhausted. Not only manual work, but also religious celebrations, can drain us to the point where at the day’s end we just want to drop backwards into bed! Yes, this past weekend was both very busy and very beautiful. Our bodies are drained, our souls filled to the brim—physically tired, yet spiritually energized. I remember some time ago after one of our CFR celebrations, a beaming young boy ran up to me, threw up his arms and screamed, “You guys really know how to party!”

Those of you who love SaintFrancis may not know that he himself was not ordained to the holy priesthood. The holy man of God never saw himself worthy to be a priest, a vocation to which he was not called, yet to which he expressed a most profound reverence. He lived in an era of Church history when renewal in the ranks of the clergy was sorely needed. Indeed, back then many members of the clergy were poorly educated and some unabashedly worldly. Yet, especially to these, Saint Francis told his friars to show respect—even to kiss the hooves of the horses they rode on, not because of the holiness they possessed, but the holiness of the office entrusted to them by Christ.

Yes, to the Church Christ entrusted the office of the priesthood, extending back to the beginning with the apostles, throughevery age, land, and culture, beginning in Jerusalem with Our Savior, Jesus Christ the High Priest. How much we must thank God for the holy priesthood, and beg Him to pour out His Holy Spirit upon His priests to make them holy. Some of you do too much complaining about priests and too little praying! We all know the saying, “if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” So, if you’re talking about a priest more on the phone than on your knees, you’re no friend of SaintFrancis!

Quite often people ask me if things are getting better in the Church. Especially those of us who are getting gray remember “the good ‘ol days” when kids knew their Catechism, convents and schools were being built, and families flocked to church every Sunday and Holy Day. Born in the early ‘50’s, I enjoyed more than a decade of the AmericanChurch’s crescendo; but I also caught the beginning of its collapse. When I say “collapse,” I don’t mean destruction, for the Church cannot be destroyed; but it can be, and is, disabled.

The Church has often been likened to a ship that continually suffers from storms; yet Christ, the Captain, assures its survival. Sad to say, some of the most destructive elements do not come from the east or west, but rather from within—storms outside and mutiny on board. In our times we certainly can see both: enemies on the horizon and in the hold. Yet, as God’s Word tells us, “When sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.”

Friends, I believe the storm which continues to batter the boat has not reached its peak. A new age of persecution lurks like a vulture all about us. In the past, Church property was seized and the faithful clergy subject to swift death—by sword, rack, and gallows. But not today; today it quietly creeps with two cleft feet: legislation and litigation. This will be the devil’s way of sinking our boat, yet even this sinister strategy will ultimately serve God’s plan. Yes, there’s another wind coming, mightier than any, and this weekend, we, the friars, caught but a breeze.

Fr. Glenn Sudano, CFR

Most Blessed Sacrament Friary, Newark, NJ

_____________________________________________

click here to view a slide show of the ordinations at St. Patrick's Cathedral