Dear Parishioners and Friends,
We are pleased to welcome Fr. Sam John as our guest preacher this weekend. Fr. Sam is in residence at St. Thomas & St. Timothy parish in West Hartford, and represents the Diocese of Pathanamthitta in southern India. As this new diocese continues to establish its ministries, please be generous in your financial support, especially in the promotion of new vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
Speaking of vocations to the priesthood, August 4 is also the feast of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. Known as the Curé of Ars, John spent 42 years in that French town, serving the people with zeal and dedication.
It is appropriate that we include a reflection this week on vocations from Fr. John Leonard, who has served at St. Patrick-St. Anthony since 2010, and who embodies in many ways the ministerial dedication of St. John Vianney. I hope you will find inspiration from our Fr. John!
“I had thought about a vocation to the priesthood or religious life at times earlier in my life but by the time I entered college any serious thought about such a vocation had more or less faded. After college I struggled in the midst of a difficult economy and wasn’t sure which career path to pursue. It felt so important in that period to ‘find’ myself. Finding myself was, in hindsight, personally crucial in terms of heightening my self-esteem and in furthering my sense of coming into my own as an adult.
There was a Franciscan church near where I worked for a time in the financial district of Boston known as St. Anthony’s Shrine. It’s still there today. Sometimes I would try to catch a weekday Mass there on my lunch hour before returning to work. After going to one such Mass while praying for a few minutes afterward, I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind. It was one of the friars and he asked to speak with me in a side parlor. He introduced himself as Father Alexander Wyse. He had been ‘watching’ me for a while, he said, and wished to know if I had ever considered a religious vocation.
Fr. Alexander’s tap on my shoulder rekindled an interest I realized still lay within me. In the following years I discerned the possibility of a religious vocation while keeping in contact with Fr. Alexander. In this same period, I also made a move professionally into the promising fields of computer programming and eventually consulting.
Things improved for me financially, but driving to work one day I came to the conclusion that a nicer paycheck, a new car and other trappings of success I was enjoying were all in the end just for me. Was there perhaps something more to life? Was there a greater purpose or meaning that might be experienced by traveling another path? I realized then that I wanted to apply to the Franciscans. I wasn’t sure if I’d be accepted. I wasn’t sure that, if accepted, I would feel that that life was right for me or if those overseeing my training would feel I was a good fit for the friars. One thing I did know as I drove to work that morning was that I didn’t want to end up asking myself ten years later: What if I had tried applying to the Franciscans? How might life be different?
Vocations come in many forms and have a dynamic, rather than static, quality involving not just one but potentially many moments of discerning the Spirit’s call. May the Lord help you discover which path or paths may be for you.”
Last Sunday we blessed and dedicated our new Atlas Cedar to the memory of Orville Russell after the 5:00 Mass. About 50 parishioners joined us for the brief ceremony and some light refreshments afterwards. We now have a quiet sitting area that you can enjoy when the gardens are open to visitors.
Please try to register for “Music Under the Stars” as soon as possible so that we can finalize our plan for food and beverages. “Music Under the Stars” will be on Saturday, August 24th, which will include an evening of entertainment by the “Evening Serenade” Jazz Band, delicious dinner from Saluté and drinks, special lighting, and a time for us to enjoy the summer’s breezes in the Friary Gardens. It promises to be a relaxing evening with good friends!
With less than a month left to the “official” summer season, I hope we will have good weather for all of us to enjoy whatever seasonal activities we enjoy the most. For me, a relaxing drive to Litchfield for lunch on my day off (followed by a quick side trip to Bantam for Arethusa mint chip ice cream) is all I need to make my day happy!
Blessings on your week ahead!
Fr. Tim Shreenan, O.F.M.
Pastor