I arrived in Salt Lake City on the Solemnity of our Holy Father St. Dominic one week ago. However, on the first of August, by the grace of His Excellency Oscar Solis, I became the new Pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Newman Center here in Salt Lake City. My charge? To serve the Students, Faculty, and Staff of the University of Utah. Yesterday, on the eve of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary I was formally installed as the Pastor of this parish by Bishop Solis. It was a simple, yet dignified Mass offered by His Excellecy for this very purpose.
I couldn't help but be struck by the meaning of the event. There, in the presence of one of the Successors to the Apostles, surrounded by my brother priests, close lay collaborators, and all the faithful people who were there present, there was a very real sense of unity and diversity at the service of building up the Body of Christ in this little portion of the People of God. The ceremony itself calls to mind the fraternity among all of Christ's collaborators for continuining his Mission through time, until the end of time itself, in union with the Deposit of Faith and the Magisterium of Holy Mother Church.
Being the object of these sacred rites were deeply humbling and somewhat terrifying. I kept recalling the feelings that my Godfather had when he was assigned as the Pastor of a parish for the first time. He was terrified. But while at adoration he distinctly heard in his heart Christ reminding him that he was just his priest, his tool, and that the parish itself belonged to Christ and that Christ himself would guide and shepherd it in spite of anything that his priest did poorly. I also knelt in adoration for a time prior to my installation and a similar peace overshadowed me draining me of the fear and trepidation I was feeling due to my own pride. Those same words resonated in my heart. "Have no fear, it's my church, not your church."
But this also got me thinking about the very process that is involved in becoming a Pastor as a Dominican Friar in our province. If you know anything about how this works for Secular Clergy it may interest you to know that things work a little different for us. You see, normally for a Secular Priest the Bishop just appoints his choice in consultation with those he's appointed to help him make these appointments. However, with us our Ordinary, the Provincial, can't just appoint a Pastor to those parishes we serve, even the ones we own. Instead he has to gain permission to propose a friar to the Local Ordinary, the Diocesan Bishop, with a majorty vote of the Provincial Council. Then after a positive vote is given the Provincial proposes the friar to the Bishop who is free to accept or reject the proposal in consultation with those who help him make these decisions. All this is to say that it's quite a process. But to me, the meaning of the process is what's both edifying and humbling. The meaning is that the brothers who we elect to make decisions for us, our peers, literally make a vote of confidence in the ability of the proposed brother to exercise the ministry and office of a pastor. It's overwhelming and touching to receive that confidence. I hope to do justice by it.
