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Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
3 June 2007
Where did seven months go? I left St. Mary’s for my sabbatical at the end of October, and now, in the blink of an eye, I’m back home—tanned, rested, and ready to work!
The sabbatical was a blessing beyond all telling, and for that I’m grateful to everyone who made it possible: Bishop Baker; Fathers Smith, Leon, and Longenecker; Deacons Ferro, Heuser, Karandisevsky, and Tierney; Bill Biediger; Mary Williams and the entire parish staff; Sr. Anna Grace, OP and all of our teachers and school staff; and the entire parish family. Thank you for your many kindnesses to me and everyone listed above during my absence.
Sabbaticals are meant to be times of rest, renewal, and professional development, and mine was. I lived in the residence for priests at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and the regular company of gifted scholars was a stimulus to my own study. The liberty to spend entire days reading and writing was a great gift, as was the chance to pray at the Dominican House of Studies and the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. I made much progress in my studies and, of greatest importance, found deep interior rededication to my work as a diocesan priest and the pastor of this parish. And after seven brief but wonderful months, it’s time to return to the life for which I was renewed: being your pastor. Serving St. Mary’s is my greatest joy, and I expect to have the privilege of being pastor here for many years to come.
Even as I return, Father Smith leaves for his next assignment at St. Peter’s, Beaufort, and I hope that you have taken the opportunity to express your gratitude for his extraordinary contribution to the life of the parish in these last two years. His departure is a great loss for all of us, not least because he will not be replaced, and St. Mary’s will not have a parochial vicar for at least a year or two. Instead, we will rely upon the generous help of Father Bart and Father Longenecker, but both of them also have full-time jobs apart from St. Mary’s. In addition, we will have the part-time assistance for our Spanish-speaking parishioners of Father Orlando Cheverria, a priest on loan to us from Colombia, but he will also be working at St. Mary Magdalene and Risen Savior, Spartanburg. All of which is to say that the shortage of priests about which you often hear will now be felt directly at St. Mary’s.
The first consequence of these changes is that on Saturday afternoons, we will have only one priest hearing Confessions, rather than the two who have been available before. To compensate for this loss, two priests will hear Confessions every Wednesday from 5 to 6 pm during the weekly Holy Hour of Adoration, and I ask that everyone who is able to do so begin to schedule your Confession time on Wednesdays rather than Saturdays. I regret that this change must be made, and as soon as possible, we will work to restore more confessors on Saturday. But the only permanent solution, of course, is to have more priests to serve the Church. Pray for priestly vocations!!
Father Newman