I slept in four different places over the course of sixteen days. That’s going to be my excuse for not figuring out what day it is and whether I’ve put up a post. Also, WordPress has done something to me, so that I have to reset the font every single time I start a new paragraph. It takes me four clicks to get the font I want and the default is an ugly san serif. Guess that means I need to do some studying.

I went to the Arlington Diocese ordinations today (research for two years from now) and the readings were very wonderful and slightly unfamiliar. The First Reading was from Jeremiah, Chapter 1:4-9. I was basically unacquainted with Jeremiah before doing the Catechism in a Year. Then, wow! I discovered that Jeremiah was sent to tell the people of Israel that there would be trouble. When they didn’t listen, after forty years, his last job was to tell them to stop fighting Nebuchadnezzar and give themselves into his power. What a horrifying message to have to transmit.

There were three deportations to Babylon over the course of several years, (ten?) and the Bible makes it clear that the first people to go were treated much better than those at the end. Ezekiel was a prophet for the people who were originally deported, and one of the shocking moments in that book of the Bible is Chapter 33:21. No-one had wanted to believe that it would happen, that Jerusalem would fall, even though Jeremiah had been warning about it for years. There was a rebellion even after the first set of exiles left and then the city was destroyed.

In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me [Ezekiel] and said, “The city has fallen.” 

Ez. 33/21

At any rate Jeremiah did not really enjoy being a prophet. But here is the place where he was called.

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you you shall go,
and whatever I command you you shall speak.
Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.”

The Second Reading was Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Bishop Burbidge’s homily was about the challenges this will present for the newly ordained. The Gospel was John 15:16.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide…

There are a lot of special moments besides the part where the Elect lie prostrate on the floor. They are vested, their hands are anointed and then all the priests of the diocese who wish, give them a fraternal greeting. That took a LONG time. And I didn’t have a seat, so I stood for two and a half hours, offering it up, but I didn’t want that part shortened. Being a priest is hard. Best if all your brother priests are as close to friend as possible, given that difficult personalities still exist. As a matter of fact, the church was full and past full, but during that part there was total silence where I was standing in the back. Everyone thought it was important.

Some general information. John will be in Guatemala for the next nine weeks doing Spanish immersion. I don’t have his address but, like his aunt Lucy, you can contact him, but not with mail. In the fall, the faculty at the seminary will vote on whether he should be allowed to advance to the priesthood. If they vote yes, then he writes a letter to the bishop petitioning to be ordained. If the bishop says yes, then he will be ordained a deacon, shortly after Easter next year. The following year he would be ordained as a priest.

This year, diaconate ordination was on April 16, one week after Easter. Next year, Easter is very early (March 31) so I don’t know if the deacon ordinations will still be one week later. The following year, 2025, Easter is very late (April 20) and Pentecost is June 8. The priestly ordinations are nearly always one week after Pentecost, but that would be VERY late. We will see. Since all these guys are still taking classes it gets complicated. I think John has to write a fifty page paper before he graduates. His cousin will be making more vows that same summer under current conditions.

Hopefully, I will be returning to regular programming this week. That would be Catholic writing…