6th Sunday of Easter – B 

When it comes to preaching, I sincerely do my best to try to live by the Golden Rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. For me, this means trying to put myself in the position of those of you who have to listen to the homily, and since I myself have listened to long-winded, rambling, and sometimes, it would seem, never-ending, homilies, I try my best to avoid these pitfalls.

One of my pet peeves when it comes to preaching is an irritation when preachers talk too often about themselves, or their families, or their pets, or what they ate for dinner last night, or whatever to me seems to be too much about themselves and not quite enough about Jesus. The words of John the Baptist always seem appropriate to keep in mind when preaching – I must decrease, and He must increase.

But today, I feel almost impelled to violate my own personal norm of avoiding making the homily a monologue about my own personal adventures. Today is the twelfth anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood, and I would like to say just two things about the priesthood on this day which is certainly a very happy occasion for me.

First, I would like to say a word of gratitude.

On this anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood, I am very grateful

•  to God, for the gift of my vocation;

•  to Bishop Keating and Bishop Loverde who have been Good Shepherds to me, supporting me and encouraging me in a number of different ways throughout the past twelve years;

•  to my parents, my brothers and sisters, to all of my relatives and friends, to all who have been with me in good times and in bad, in successes and struggles, and triumphs and in trials;

•  to parishioners and St. Bernadette's and St. Luke's Church where I have also served;

•  and to all of you here at St.Thomas à Becket Church who make it possible for me to say that there is no other place that I would rather be or no other assignment I would rather have.

I often like to reflect on the wisdom of famous sayings by the great American sage, Yogi Berra, but today I think I could make my own the sentiments of another New York Yankee, the great Lou Gerhig: today, as I reflect on the gift I have been given to serve in the Church as a priest, and now at St. Thomas à Becket Church as your Pastor, I feel like I am the luckiest man on the face of this earth.

Today, I would also like to ask for your prayers. Obviously, I ask you to pray for me as I continue to pray so often each day for all of you. As each day and each year passes by, I become convinced more and more of the truth of the saying, “A priest is, above all, a man of prayer.” We all know that each day life presents us with new and often unexpected experiences of both joy and hope as well as fear, sorrow, and anxiety. Please know that your joys and hopes, your fears, and sorrows, and anxieties are truly mine as well, and I am praying so often for you to God who is the source of consolation and hope and peace for all of us.

I also ask for your prayers today for the members of our parish who are currently in formation programs as they respond to the calling to the priesthood and the religious life. We are truly blessed as a parish to be able to say that from among our family of faith, Deacon Tony Marques will be ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Richmond next month, Brother Jonathan St. Andre, a Third Order Franciscan, will be ordained a Deacon next Saturday, and Sister Mary Rose Fleig continues to prepare to make her religious profession as a member of the Discalced Carmelite Order. In addition to these three parishioners, we continue to pray for the two Nigerian seminarians, now Deacons, who will soon be ordained priests, whom we have helped support in their education through our Support Our Seminarian collections for the past seven years.

Finally, I ask for your prayers for the young men and women and the boys and girls of our parish whom God is calling to the priesthood and the religious life today. From my own experience, I know that God can inspire the idea of becoming a priest or a brother or a sister from a very early age – as early as first or second grade. It may not be the most popular thing to admit in elementary school or middle school or high school, but God is calling members of our parish today to consider becoming priests, brothers, and sisters whether these potential candidates be in elementary, middle, or high school, college, graduate school, or already in the workforce. There are numerous reasons we could give as excuses why young people could resist or ignore these vocations. But God is calling young men and women to the priesthood and religious life from among the families in our parish, and perhaps today we might recall the most important reason why we ought to pray and even take a more active role in talking to young people about vocations to the priesthood and religious life – and that is love.

The Word of God teaches us today that God is love, and that we are called to love one another as Jesus has loves us.

Perhaps there is no greater love than to pray that we will do our part to recognize that every vocation in the Church is important, and that we will do our part to embrace our own vocation and support and encourage those whose vocation is to the priesthood or the religious life.

I am truly grateful for the gift of being called to serve among you as a priest, and I ask you to pray for me and for all whom God is calling to the priesthood and religious life from among us today. Together, let us pray that we may all live lives worthy of the callings we have received to build up the Body of Christ, the Church, in love.

Thomas P. Ferguson
May 21, 2006