Sunday, July 25, 2021

On Sunday, July 25, I celebrate my first-year anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. I hope this past year will remain unlike any other. Between the evolving uncertainty of the COVID pandemic and the ongoing projects on our parish campus, I could use some stability in the years ahead.

I am thankful that the priests, staff, and parishioners here at St. Austin have remained generally healthy and well through the fall and winter surges with the COVID pandemic. Despite the limited opportunities for in-person interactions this past year, I am so grateful for the many ways that people have reached out to me with kind notes of gratitude and encouragement during my first year of priesthood. I always enjoy hearing if a particular homily resonated with someone and helped them discover God’s presence in new ways.

I have been fully vaccinated since Easter weekend, so I have enjoyed many dinner invitations since then to get to know our families here at St. Austin. I have discovered that so many parishioners have similar interests, and yet they have never met each other. Being invited into people’s lives has been one of my greatest joys as a new priest, and I am eager to share the message that this world is filled with so many compassionate, joyful, and Spirit-filled people. Goodness abounds, even if we tend to forget that with all the problems in this world.

I am in the midst of packing my bedroom for our move to a temporary house in Hyde Park during the parish campus redevelopment. This will be my fifth time moving bedrooms since the summer of 2016, so it feels natural at this point. In 2016, the Paulists sold our seminary that was built in 1913, so the seminarians had to clean out decades worth of items and downsize into a temporary space. Then, I moved back-and-forth to Grand Rapids for my pastoral year between 2017-2018, and I moved to Austin last summer.

Much like the St. Austin’s redevelopment, the Paulists have been undertaking a similar effort to build a facility that better fits our mission. The original seminary built in 1913 had become too expensive to maintain, so the Paulists sold it in order to construct a new seminary on land we retained. Zoning permission took longer than expected, but the new seminary should be ready for the fall of 2022, six years after we first moved to our temporary quarters. The new Paulist House of Mission & Studies (seminary) will be made with environmentally friendly materials that will lower our operating expenses. Most importantly, our rector will be able to spend less time worrying about ongoing maintenance projects and more time focused on the mission of guiding our seminarians.

This is an exciting time for both the Paulists and our St. Austin’s community. Between the pandemic and the demands of our parish move, I’ve been amazed by the support we have received. I pray that the labor and sacrifices we have put into this effort will pay dividends into the future. With better facilities, we will be able to focus more attention on new possibilities for ministry and service as Austin continues to grow.

Thank you again for all the ways you have made my first year special, and I can’t wait for the possibilities that the Holy Spirit has in store for us in the years ahead.