Sunday, April 3, 2011

“But Father George,” said the multi-Starred Admiral, “you’re not a hermit!”


“But Father George,” said the multi-Starred Admiral, “you’re not a hermit!”
“Hah!” quoth I, “Now I am!”

But why should the just now retired Head Chaplain for the entire U.S. Armed Forces be so convinced that I’m not a hermit? Well, because he said that I was so good with everything pastoral that being a hermit couldn’t possibly be my vocation!

As I told the seminarians at the Pontifical Seminary where I was a Confessor and Spiritual Director and Formation Advisor, where I taught Scripture and Theology, going off to be a hermit isn’t a step down from pastoral activity, it’s an intensification of all things pastoral;  it’s about being in the Heart of the Church.

My vocation has always been marked with a concern for the sanctification of priests, which is what led me to teach in seminaries right around the world...

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