About a month ago friends from New York said a sad goodbye to the Legion's center in Thornwood, NY. At first I took it neutral. I hadn't spent much time there so it didn't really say anything to me. If anything, my memories of the Westchester area house were a bit depressing. We'd go "down" to Thornwood for our LC Get-togethers in those days when we were on edge, tense...really tense. For some time I sort of blocked those days out of my mind so as to sleep better at night.
"Moving Forward"
(Forest walkway in Thornwood LC Center)
Photo courtesy: Facebook: Fr. Jason Smith LC - photo link
This Christmas I began to see it differently. With another beautiful Ordinations Mass (Dec. 15, 2013) and the coming of Christmas I got to see something really beautiful happen - as every year - the Birth of the Christ-child. I followed the Ordinandi from the time they boarded the bus right to the Basilica of St. John Lateran for the imposition of hands snapping photos of them all along the way.
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Fr. Josef Hare and Fr. Jess ngel Lopez on the way to their Ordination
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A priestly ordination is like watching someone "be born anew". According to Fulton Sheen "a Priest is Not His Own" and emphasis on the is. The priest is a new born child and despite the appearances he is the Christ-child in Person.
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Prostration during the Litany of Saints during the Ordination Rite
For a nice selection of photos from the Ordinations click here |
With a gush of joy in our hearts there is no way not to be filled with hope. And hope is contagious. Some of the moments throughout Christmas were like living the Ordination Rite over and over again. The wait, the quiet, dizziness of movements, the Child in a Manger. Things brings me back to Thornwood
again. Forgotten memories uninterred,
I think Thornwood
was and is not a failure. It is sad to see the closing of a Religious formation house, very sad. Pope Francis recalled in his past conversation with heads of religious orders entitled, "Wake up the World!" he mentioned that despite the ephemeral "passing" of "works" the Charism
of an religious congregation "remains". The most important "works" of an order are its own houses of formation. Besides the Papal Fact - and this, most importantly - was that despite its closing Legionary Fathers and Brothers see same "grain of wheat" rise anew with hope towards the future.
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Manger scene at the Legion's Center for Higher Studies - Rome, Italy
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Being a Religious - and furthermore, as a priest - there is one great mission that we share - to bring hope in the midst of darkness.
On January 8th we began our General Chapter. God knows what He wants; and I know that God gets what He wants. I pray that each and every one of us can bring out the Joy of the Gospel in the midst of these days ahead and place our hope in the Child born for us.
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| Professions Mass - 6 Jan 2014 |
