Exiit qui seminat
A witness and presence among the people
This past Saturday morning, unknowingly Deacon Rich and I (on my part, not Deacon Rich) were both scheduled to officiate over the same graveside service at Sacred Heart Cemetery. Deacon Rich, being much more punctual than myself, was already dutifully in the midst of his prayers as I drove by. So, I was freed up to do something that I sorely needed to do: go food shopping. Dressed in my clerics, I was more than pleasantly surprised to see so many other parishioners doing the same. I was able to stop and talk with so many of them, saying hello to some, asking them what they were shopping for and talking about more serious issues with others, about their loved ones who were sick or how they themselves were holding in up in their own difficulties. Just an ordinary day for a parish priest. I didn't think much of it until the priest convocation on Tuesday, the annual gathering of priests of the Diocese of Camden to bolster our spirituality and fellowship. The priest presenter, Msgr. Thomas Guarino, quoted a little-known theologian and saint, St. Maximus the Confessor. St. Maximus writes that the priest draws his people in order to present them to God. He makes visible the divine “mysteries” that the priest is most truly the bodily image of God on earth. In other words, a priest, by his witness and presence among the people becomes an icon of Christ Himself. The priest presents Christ to world, first and foremost in the Eucharist and the sacramental life of the Church, but also in the midst of ordinary life - at the doctor's office, on a plane, and yes, even in the middle of shopping for groceries. By seeing the priest do "normal" things, it is a reminder to us all that God truly is everywhere, that He is an integral part of everything we do, and by being mindful of His presence in the everyday can bring our entirety of our lives when we encounter Him at the altar of praise.
