ORDINATION GOLDEN JUBILEE

 Morning Star College, 19^th. March 2012
GOLDEN JUBILEE MASS

Introduction                      

Fr. Rector, Fathers, and my dear Seminarians, we are happy to be celebrating again, under the patronage of our dear friend, St. Joseph, the priesthood of our transcendent Lord Jesus Christ who, in his mercy, allows us to share in his mediatorship between the Father and humanity; a mediatorship that is sacramental, social and political, since we are zealous for that kingdom that Jesus came to establish. Permit to recall my dear classmates who have died since our ordination:        Frs. Stephen Fernandes, Paul Alumootil, Pat Rosario, Chacko Elavumparambil, Peter Thurairatnam, William Pattibandla, Thomas Kotharithil, Thomas Maruthoor and John Rozario and A. Anthony.“PRIESTS FOREVER IN JESUS”

Confident of God’s mercy, and thirsting for the joy that only he can give, we confess ourselves to him and to one another:                                                            “I confess.....

THE HOMILY:  Dear friends, I am delighted to celebrate the Eucharist under the patronage of St. Joseph. For two reasons I am glad about our dear Saint. The first: after two years in Loreto Primary I received my school/college education in St. Joseph’s College, where there were 90% Catholics, 10% Hindus, Muslim and Parsis, and 100% discipline. My teachers were Irish, British, Americans and Anglo-Indians. The Hindi master was the only “dhoti-wallah.”  The 2^nd. reason I am glad about St. Joseph the Worker is that I was a group leader in the Young Christian Workers Movement during the two years I was apprenticed to a British engineering firm, where I became skilled at the Cincinnati grinding machine. I cannot tell you what a great grace it was to rub shoulders with the working class and to be sustained by the Young Christian Workers. For me there was no minor seminary those days, no regency and no propaedeutic.        I was ordained aged 27, and considered a late vocation. To date, I have celebrated 18,250 Masses.

Turning to St. Joseph. St. Luke reveals that Joseph was a man of honour, and,    I would to add, a man of silence. Silence betokens recognition of the presence of mystery, a quality we need to cultivate in this era of cell phone radiation and break dances. I believe that Joseph went into a frenetic break dance when he learned of Mary’s condition, but went into contemplative repose on being assured of the Holy Spirit’s intervention. My theology tells me that the perplexity of Joseph was to serve as witness to the virginal conception of the Saviour. That’s how God works. He makes our confusion serve as witness to comfort; our silence witness to salvation; and our helplessness to Halleluiah.

I have two more points

-         my valedictory, and

-         the prayer to St. Joseph the Worker

 FAREWELL

It’s known as a Valedictory. A valedictory is a farewell discourse by a senior member, usually on the occasion of a final leave taking. You may be departing from a particular locale of Morning Star College, but in reality we are witnessing your entry into the mission of Jesus Christ, the One who was sent. Your life is not going to end; it’s about to begin.

Our life is always beginning as long as it shares in that mystery of newness, promised by Jesus who said, “Behold, I make all things new,” the freshness of the Paschal Mystery, the mystery that celebrates the mission that is always new, that never tires of starting again.

To dispose ourselves to divine renewal we must offer God a contrite spirit, the single love of a heart that is pure. We ask God’s pardon and of each other for the three to seven years marked by defections from grace, unfaithfulness to the basic pattern of prayer and study, and the works of charity.

We do not pray for easy lives,

We pray to be stronger men.

We do not pray for tasks equal to our powers,

We pray for powers equal to our tasks.

“Our paths drift widely apart; the Vineyard has so many plots in its vast acreage, and generally we do not have much of a chance of meeting once we take our flight from the Dear Old Home. But our Hearts and Minds are always keeping track of one another’s Trails and Trials, and we try to do with love and prayer what we are not able to do in other ways.” (Fr. Joe Rodrigues, Pune, 1957)

This beautiful prayer was composed by Blessed Pope John XXIII (1958-63). It places all workers under the patronage of St. Joseph the Worker, and asks for his intercession so that we may regard our work as a means of growing in holiness.

A Prayer for Workers                                              O glorious Joseph! Who concealed your incomparable and regal dignity of custodian of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary under the humble appearance of a craftsman and provided for them with your work, protect with loving power your sons, especially entrusted to you.                                                You know their anxieties and sufferings, because you yourself experienced them at the side of Jesus and of His Mother. Do not allow them, oppressed by so many worries, to forget the purpose for which they were created by God. Do not allow the seeds of distrust to take hold of their immortal souls. Remind all the workers that in the fields, in factories, in mines, and in scientific laboratories, they are not working, rejoicing, or suffering alone, but at their side is Jesus, with Mary, His Mother and ours, to sustain them, to dry the sweat of their brow, giving value to their toil. Teach them to turn work into a very high instrument of sanctification as you did.

Amen.