Two-Thousand-Year-Old Footprints
Several months ago, we launched the Pittsburgh chapter of the Young Catholic Professionals. It turned out to be a very successful launch thanks to our Pittsburgh team. (You rock.) Over 400 attended. Close to 200 attended the second meeting!! So far, so good.
At the launch, I was privileged to stand at the entrance of the Pittsburgh History Center and greet the attendees with Fr. Gramc, the chapter’s chaplain. Fr. Gramc is a very interesting and personable guy. A marathoner. Good looking. And just a man that wanted to be a priest. He is a great role model for our young professionals. But it made me wonder. Why aren’t more men like this wanting to be priests?
Couple this with two other events. The installation of Pope Leo as successor to Pope Francis as the 267th pope; and, right here in Pittsburgh, the installation of Bishop Mark Eckman as successor to Bishop David Zubik as the thirteenth bishop of Pittsburgh. Think about that. Pope Leo has a direct line to St. Peter, from two thousand years ago, when Jesus named Simon, Peter, Cephas, the rock upon which the Church would be built. And likewise, Bishop Eckman, appointed by Pope Leo, the successor to Peter, also follows in a direct line from Christ. It is overwhelming to me to think about the magnitude of that.
Fr. Gramc, and indeed all priests, also have a direct line from Jesus who initiated the priesthood on the night of the Last Supper with the words “Do this in remembrance of me.” It is why, if you ask almost any priest, he will say that the best part of being a priest is saying Mass, standing in Jesus’ shoes, and invoking the Holy Spirit to transubstantiate the bread and wine into the Real Presence, Jesus himself, body, blood, soul, and divinity. Who else gets to do that? Who gets to stand in Jesus’ shoes? It’s mind-boggling and it is why, after my uncle retired from the priesthood and became unable to say mass for health reasons, he was devastated.
As I prayed the Joyous Mysteries for Bishops Zubic and Eckman on the evening before the installation, I couldn’t help wonder what was going through their minds. Did they sleep? Were they afraid? Did they ponder the historical weight of the moment? The sacred tradition? The “Jesus steps” they were following in? My guess is all of the above. And, much like the Joyous Mysteries, which have a tinge of sorrow in each mystery, I am sure both men felt much joy but some sorrow too.
Pondering this two-thousand-year path from Jesus to Peter to Leo to Eckman to Gramc should give everyone a new appreciation for the richness and the enormity of being a priest. And be grateful to these men for making the sacrifices necessary to do so. Maybe if the Church did a better job of pointing this out—the straight line to Jesus--more bright, talented, young men would want to follow more closely in these 2,000-year-old footsteps. There are no footsteps in this life remotely like it.
Show A Little Faith