What a down-to-earth guy! I was expecting the 20 questions
routine and some scrutiny about why I want to join the military. But there was
none of that. We had a nice breakfast and chatted with Bishop O’Connell and Fr.
Al, Bishop O’Connell’s secretary. Archbishop Broglio said that this meeting “counted”
as the interview I was to have with him. Nice. Thank you Bishop O’Connell for
taking me to meet Archbishop Broglio!
This was an important meeting. I realized how important the
conversation between my diocesan bishop and Archbishop Broglio is. As a chaplain,
the priest still belongs to his home diocese, however he is loaned on special
assignment to the Military Archdiocese. So their agreement is key.
I asked about how a priest chaplain keeps in touch with his
home diocese. I was told that priest chaplains send quarterly reports to
Archbishop Broglio. But a priest must be proactive in staying connected to his
home diocese. Also, the archbishop recommended getting in touch with the local
deanery of the diocese that I would be stationed in.
This seems a bit confusing:
dealing with three different dioceses. I guess I will have to plan to be
proactive, making sure to keep connected with Bishop O’Connell and
communicating with my brother priests in the Diocese of Trenton and trying to
visit for the Chrism Mass, etc. Also, I will send those reports to Archbishop
Broglio and figure out how the priests in the military relate to each other. Thirdly,
I will plan to reach out to the local priests of whatever diocese I find myself
in, whether it be in San Francisco or Djibouti. Deployment is a whole other situation.
Priest chaplains are usually the only priest around. So, reaching out to other
priests in port seems very important.
Priests need other priests: for confession, for counsel and
for support and fraternity. This will be a challenge. I definitely can take for
granted the fact that I have many priests around me. Fr. Joe Sheehan is a
retired priest in my parish. He comes to daily mass and I often go to him for
confession. There are two priests that are assigned to the parish I am
currently in. There are at least 10 priests at the parishes in Toms River and
the immediate area and many more within 15 minutes. I belong to a priests group
which meets monthly and we communicate regularly. Not to mention other priests
I know (e.g. I visited a classmate and a priest of my diocese while I was down
in DC.)
Overall, I found the conversation exciting. Asking some more
questions helped me visualize more of what a navy chaplain’s life looks like. I
pray that the Lord keeps opening this door that I may serve him as a chaplain
is the United States Navy.
No comments:
Post a Comment