Pope Benedict XVI will soon kick-off the Pauline Year. The year is dedicated to St. Paul, the great evangelist. This year marks another Pauline celebration. 2008 marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of The Paulist Fathers by Father Isaac Hecker.
When I was discerning a vocation to the priesthood, I was attracted to community life. Thus, I looked at life as a religious priest rather than a diocesan priest. I got a ton of information from various orders. The only two I gave strong consideration to were the Norbertines and the Paulists. I ended up entering the Norbertine novitiate. They had a definite advantage in that I was educated by Norbertines and the novitiate was close to my home community. As I have written in earlier posts, my decisions to enter and leave the novitiate were among the best decisions I have made.
Twenty years after my discernment, I remain very impressed with the Paulists. My life has been blessed directly and indirectly by members of the order. The vocation director for the Paulists at the time of my discernment is the current President of the community. We have maintained contact with each other for all of these years. A few days after my father passed away, he was remembered in a Mass in Rome - thanks to my Paulist friend. A few posts ago, I mentioned that I listen to satellite radio for several hours a day. One of my favorite programs is The Busted Halo Show hosted by Paulist Father Dave Dwyer. The show is geared to the twenty and thirty-somethings and is a perfect example of the Paulist charism. Father Dwyer does a remarkable job of sharing theological and spiritual issues in a manner that is very attractive to young adults (and people like me that pretend to be young adults). This is active evangelization in the modern world using modern means - a Paulist trademark. One of the most beautiful liturgical songs of modern times is an arrangement of Pange Lingua by Paulist Father Ricky Manalo. (Hear a sample at: http://www.ocp.org/songs/31118.) Several years ago, I was really looking forward to playing it on the organ surrounded by my parish choir on Holy Thursday. On the way to church, I was in a head-on collision. While both cars were total losses, nobody was hurt. My main concern was that I missed my chance to play Pange Lingua.
Thank God for St. Paul and The Paulist Fathers. I don't know that St. Paul had the opportunity to develop a website prior to his martydom. However, the Paulists do have a website. Go to: http://www.paulist.org/.
No comments:
Post a Comment