The Cathedral Close

On an ordinary day, the parish priest has to be pretty darned adept at multitasking. This is particularly true from about Thursday through Sunday evening for reasons that run from the sublime to…well…the ridiculous. Indeed, in one case, I was called out to perform “an emergency house blessing”. Needless to say, the furniture and household appliances were not floating in midair.  In fact, the queer noises that were causing so much concern came from a family of squirrels that had chewed their way into the attic and were given to gamboling and such at odd hours of the day and night. The “roof rabbits” were blessed along with the rest of the house. (Note to brother clergy: do keep a flashlight in your Mass kit for those hard-to-reach parts of the house to be blessed.)

Over time, there have been many “call-outs” at all hours for reasons awful, grave, not-so-grave, ordinary and even downright humorous.  One learns, though, that something that may be seem trivial can have great weight.   That’s the reason that putting on the dog collar involves going when called, often in several directions at once.  It means blessing each individual holy card for an hundred school children while trying to pray in a shrine church.  I watched a friend do this at a Franciscan Monastery while suffering a bout of malaria.  He never complained and had a smile for each little World Youth Day pilgrim, every one of whom seemed to have dozens of holy cards, rosaries and statues of obscure saints in their back packs.  It had a profound effect one me, and is a picture I try to keep in mind whenever I deem myself to be “overworked” or put upon

Today, however, has surpassed many others for weekend excitement. We had an early meeting of the Virginia Army Cadet staff to prepare for summer camp. We got an enormous amount of administrative work done in a short time, and the advanced team went out to the site where we will hold our August mini-camp: three days of ropes course, land navigation, hiking, swimming and marksmanship training. The “confirmed” arrangements were, in fact, not. The camp had never heard from us.

Following a flurry of e-mails, phone calls and some perhaps un-priestly discourse, We got that buttoned down, and I was able to move on to producing tomorrow’s service bulletin, our parish secretary having left several weeks ago in a huff over “substandard printer cartridges”. This hurdle was overcome amidst a parade of visitors-all very, very welcome, mind you, but the clock tiketh. In the meantime, several ladies of the church were cooking chili to be sold tomorrow and at synod. The aroma is extraordinary, especially since lunchtime had slipped by unnoticed.

Readjusting, I somehow have come up with noted for an homily on I St. John 4:16. No warranties express or implied, particularly now that I have read it. I am now “in production” on the class handouts for tomorrow’s class on Revelation, and praying that the thunderstorm that has just moved in doesn’t knock out the power before I can get them copied. Otherwise, it is a 6:00 a.m. special tomorrow.

So it is that I remembered that I was ordained priest fifteen years ago on St. Columba’s Day, June 9, 2002, by the late Archbishop Robert Sherwood Morse.  On June 23rd, the opening day of our diocesan synod, I will mark 16 years in Holy Orders, having been “deaconized” on that date in 2001 by the very same Abp. Morse.

To be sure, it has been a busy stretch with parish work, a decade in military chaplaincy, graduate theological studies and weekends just as busy or busier than this.  Sometimes, on long nights at the hospital, those missed holiday dinners, birthdays and anniversaries, and in the midst of tragedy great and small, one wonders how to keep all of the balls in the air.  Prayer of course.  But, in addition to more grace than any man deserves,  I have had the unfailing love and support of family, especially my wife Elizabeth.

Even on the days when multitasking stretches me thin, it is a joy to be able to serve the people of God and to be an “advance man” for our Lord.   I do have two small requests, though.

First, pray daily for your parish priest.  We need it.

Secondly, on Sunday morning after Mass, please don’t ask, “What do you do the other days of the week.”

It’s just not nice to annoy the priest.