Preparing

On Friday evening the seminary community gathered at 8:00 to pray with the deacons and their families on the eve of their ordination as priests. For me, the event had a particular poignancy. These are the men with whom I began my formation here at SPS, and now I will watch as five of them ascend to the altar as holy Priests of Jesus Christ. I am overjoyed for them. They have worked hard and struggled through all the same things that all of us struggle through, and now they have been found worthy for ordination as priests. Nevertheless, I am also a little sad. This will be the definitive moment whereby I must acknowledge that they are moving out into the world to serve God's people. I, on the other hand, will remain for one more year to complete my own preparations.

I have loved these men as brothers, and as such, I am already beginning to feel what I can only assume is something akin to the empty nest syndrome experienced by parents as their children leave home. As the oldest child, I have always been the first to move out. I'm not so sure I like having to wait. In the end, though, I recognize that now is not a time for sadness, but joy. I still have three weeks before I need to worry about goodbyes. And so, I can say with all sincerity, "Congratulations! Know of my prayers for you, brothers, as you walk into the ministry to which you have been called by God."