FIFTY-TWO YEARS AND COUNTING

 Archbishop Thomas J. McDonough ordained me a priest on this day in 1970. This is the only photo I have of being ordained. In this photo, I believe I was making my Promise of Obedience before the Archbishop laid his hands on my head in ordination and before he anointed my hands with Sacred Chrism. 

Eight of us were ordained together for the Archdiocese of Louisville.  Three have died. One left the priesthood. Four of us are still hanging in there in various conditions. 

AN APPROPRIATE STORY FOR TODAY

Pope St. Pius X (1835-1914) was a very humble man who had a saintly mother, Margarita Sanson. Because they were so poor, she worked as a washer woman and a school janitor to earn enough money so that he could go to the seminary. (In those days, the family had to pay for the seminarian’s education.) When he was installed as Pope, his mother was present, and as was the custom, she kissed his large papal ring. She then presented her tiny hand with her wedding ring and said, “Now you kiss my ring—for without it, you never would have received yours!”

AMEN! HOW TRUE!

The next day, May 17, I celebrated my First Mass at Saint Theresa Church in Rhodelia, Kentucky. 

As a Presbyterate, we renewed our Promises of Obedience to Archbishop Kelly in June, 2012 at one of our Priest Assemblies in the Chapel at Saint Meinrad Seminary. 

Here is a photo of me renewing my Promise of Obedience to Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly forty-two years after I first made it to "Archbishop McDonough and his successors" on this day in 1970. 

My "Promise of Obedience" is not simply a solemn promise to "follow orders." It is a solemn promise to "not be overly attached to my own preferences and points of view for the sake of a unified ministry in the diocese."  In other words, it's a promise to be "flexible" when I am asked to take on an assignment in the diocese that I might not be excited about personally.