The Crossing

On Monday of this week, I left home for New Bedford. After attending Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. James Church, where I was stationed last summer, and after saying hello to some old friends there, I went down to the Marina and boarded the fast ferry to Martha's Vineyard. Leaving southern New Bedford, with its poverty and crime, but also with so many big hearts that I had grown to love last summer, I set out for a different world--the Island. As we left New Beford Harbor I prayed a Rosary for all those who travelled by sea most especially for the Fishermen of New Bedford who continue to do one of the most dangerous job's around.

I love the sea, its power and beauty remind me always that we are weak creatures in the hands of God. Water, is a sign of life and of death, of rebirth and of the Chaos from which the world was created, and so I have always found water a powerful focal point for prayer.

As we passed Fort Tabor, the boat leaped forward at full speed and the wind, from which we had been protected in the harbor, started to whip across the deck. The moderate seas with waves about three feet high rocked the boat gently.

I felt anxious and at the same time excited by the trip, by the adventure of it all, not just the cruise across the Vineyard Sound, but by the sense of the unknown, and by the opportunities this summer would offer. I wondered as I made the passage if this was how St. Paul or St. Peter felt as they made their passage to the four corners of the ancient world and eventually to Rome. Coming to a new parish, a new town and community, is always a precarious occasion in the life of a seminarian or priest, because each parish is so different and unique from each other. We desire to bring Christ to our new parishes, and to help the image of Christ inscribed in each of our hearts at Baptism grow, but will I be effective, will I be accepted.

It is our love for our friend and master Jesus Christ that compels each of us to live our vocation, to go out to all the world and proclaim the Gospel, but in the face of all the obstacles of the world this task can be daunting. Thus, each new Parish assignment is like the sea, it is chaotic and a mystery, a moment for great growth for the Church and at the same time a occasion for shipwreck. This is the great burden of the priesthood, the responsibility to spread the message of Jesus in a world that so often doesn't want it.

As I caught glimpse of the Island, I prayed in my heart that my ministry and the ministry of the Church on the Island be fruitful, because I know that without God I will surely fail.

Ave Maria, Stella Maris, Ora Pro Nobis.
Ut Digni Efficiamur Promissionibus Christi.