The Wedding

So this week, I considered writing about Thanksgiving or Work Days or some other facet of Seminary life...and then I returned home this weekend to read The Long Island Catholic to find an article about my "mock" wedding that so many participted in.  Take some time to read the article
http://www.licatholic.org/news/2010/11/112410/DoingtheritethingSeminarianpracticesweddingwithparishhelp.html
as I hope it reveals a lot about the formation process and the need for the community of support to be invovled in the process.

Have a great week!

This a picture of the wedding reception the parish hosted after the "mock" wedding! What a great community!

Hall of Fame

This past Saturday, I was inducted into the St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School Hall of Fame along Mrs. Barbara Maher, The Ferraro Family and Rev. Msgr. James Kissane. It was a tremendous honor - one that was both very affirming and humbling, most especially when I consider this year's inductees and previous honorees.  Even more humbling was the tremendous visible support offered by family, the St. John's, Our Lady of Lourdes and Hope House communities and the members of the Seminary community who attended the dinner.





The Inductees: Mr. Walter D. Lace and Msgr. James Vlaun



 Below are the words I shared after being inducted into the Hall of Fame by Msgr. James Vlaun, past Chaplain and Mr. Walter D. Lace, Principal:

"I come tonight with three reactions – shock – humility – gratitude.

Shock. First, and those of you who know me already know this – I hate this stuff. And I want you to know how it happened. Last January Mr. Lace mentioned, “You know, Johnny, we need to honor you at the Hall of Fame….” and I said, “No, no, I don’t think so” and never heard about it again until during my pastoral work this summer at Good Samaritan Hospital came to me and said, “Congratulations you’re being honored at St. John the Baptist”. I replied, “What?” and she showed me the SJB Family News with my picture on it…so lesson learned – in the future be definitive.

Family Picture!



 Humility. Truthfully, I come here tonight very humbled and truthfully one does not feel worthy of this for two reasons. First I see who has been inducted into the Hall of Fame and who is being inducted this night. The wall in the South Lobby is filled with women and men, families and communities who have in some way – directly or indirectly –given more to me than I could ever hope to offer to St. John’s. For this community accepted an awkward, uncomfortable fourteen year old freshman in 1989 and molded and formed him. This community through the actions and support of Dr. Joanne O’Brien, Msgr. Vlaun and Mr. Lace gave an opportunity of a lifetime to a 20 year old to serve as a teacher and campus minister and eventually social worker, It is this community that encouraged me to continue to learn and go to school and to develop. It is this community – of students, alumni, teachers, family, friends and so many others – who in large part sent me to the Seminary. And even to this night, a community that continues to pray for, support and encourage me in so many ways.

Some members of the Seminary Community: Sr. Mary Louise Brink, SC, Collins Adwutum, Lawrence Onyegu, Jacob Onyumbe, Msgr. Joseph DeGrocco, Paschal Choi, Daniel Opaku-Mensah, and John Kwon.

   Gratitude. You see it’s because I have been given so much that I come with gratitude….gratitude I suppose for those circles that Fr. Jim spoke about. Grateful for family….who has constantly provided support and encouragement and space – I can’t tell you how many family events I’ve had to be late or to miss for something involving work or parish. Grateful for this community of course as well as parish who is here tonight – a parish where I was born and raised and again given the opportunity to minister and serve…Grateful for the community of health care ministry and Hope House…again given more opportunities to discover more about myself and the limited way I can God’s gifts for the better. And grateful for the perhaps the “newest” community on the block –the men and women here from the Seminary. I’m honored that administrators, faculty and staff have come tonight – for while St. John’s accepted a 14 year old freshmen, this community accepted a 34 year old awkward freshman last year. You will see a number of men I live with here tonight. In most cases they have traveled the world to come to this place and in coming to know them, I’ve come to know what true sacrifice, humility and service are about – again another opportunity and experience I’ve been given. 


Good friends from parish and beyond who attended the dinner.



In that spirit of shock, humility and gratitude – I thank you for doing what good community – what good family – does so well: surprises you again and again, gives you opportunities to recognize how God might in some way work through and time and time again – give you reasons to give thanks again and again for a lifetime of support, empowerment, strength and support. For that I am most grateful."





All Saints Day Homily

This morning, I preached and presided at our Morning Prayer for All Saints' Day. Attached is the text of my homily.

When you work in a place for thirteen years some would say you develop a legacy, a history…I would say you develop a “trail”. So when I left a place where I worked and actually went to school all of the history comes out….and hence this picture (not shown on blog!) This picture is from my Freshman year in high school at the annual Halloween Dance….yes I’m in clerical garb. And a note – that “big glasses” were in the late 80s and early 90s – I was not a nerd! And I actually have the collar buttoned and am wearing a jacket. Those of you who have come to know me here are probably shocked.

Yet, I find some comedy – well actually – humiliation in this picture. When I received this picture and came across it a few weeks ago I thought of today’s feast day and the cultural celebration of Halloween.. All Saints’ Day and Halloween - a day of great masks compared to a day of authenticity. A day when we dress up and perhaps seek to become who we want to be or dream to be – balanced against a day of utter authenticity.

This challenges me and maybe you – because if I’m honest the person standing in front of you is a bigger phony than the kid in the picture. And with great honesty, I wonder if each one of us might say the same about ourselves.

There are three qualities that I’d like to suggest we need to look at this morning. There are many we could look but perhaps these three can focus our prayer and reflection this day.

The saints show us insecurity and vulnerability. When we encounter the writings and lives of the saints, we encounter women and men who were not necessarily the most confident in their abilities and talents. They questioned, in many cases, why God choose them or how God would use them. Their acknowledgement of their weakness, of their vulnerability, attracts us to them. I don’t know a person – who is sitting in this Chapel today or not – who does not struggle with insecurity. Yet we’re not as good as facing it. We hide ourselves in work, in relationships, statuses. The saint embraced their brokenness and used it as a means to embrace those they were called to serve and to embrace the Lord.

The saints teach us about intimacy. In their brokenness, their vulnerability, they seek to grow closer to the Lord. It’s one thing in our lives to know about God – to study, debate, publicly worship. We do that well and it’s good. However, it is all a waste of time unless its based in our ongoing relationship with and desire to know God – to be willing to fall more deeply in love with him each and every day. What prevents us from falling more deeply in love with God?

Finally, the saints teach us integrity, they teach us about authenticity. They are most clearly who God has called them to be – in some cases entirely undaunted by what those around them might think. I have to admit something else to you today. I am a “Parrotthead”. That’s a name given to Jimmy Buffett fans. That’s another homily. He wrote and sang a song about culture and when it came to religion, he says, “There is a fine line between Saturday night and Sunday morning”. For the saints, there was no fine line. They were who they were. Can the same be said be about us? We sit here this morning most holy and prayerful – will the same spirit reside in us in a few minutes at breakfast? We’ll pray beautifully and prayerfully at Mass this afternoon. Will have that same spirit this evening in B-wing or in conversations with one another today. We can lack integrity and authenticity more often then we want to admit or acknowledge. What is preventing us from become our true and best selves?

So truthfully, there are times, more than I’d like to admit that the man standing here is more a phony than they guy in the picture. Yet, I pray, and I hope you do, too, that we might seek the “wisdom and insight” of the saints. With that wisdom and insight, let’s pray we can recognize our vulnerabilities and weaknesses, grow closer to our God and in so doing more authentically live the life God has called us to be - men (and women) of holiness.


Scripture Text:
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians.
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes
of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit.

The Word of the Lord.