Morning
Star College, 19th. 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 2nd.
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.
