Sunday, May 26, 2019

To Wade into Tomorrow's Call


To Wade into Tomorrow’s Call
He enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for "the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak...” Acts 1:4

We were told to wait
the promise
                      to stay cloaked
and still
                  for the days until
we would feel the fire
                                      He would
send

           And then send
                                     us into
a fire that could never consume
our souls   and dreams
                                      
                                        Now
after the whirlwind finally died
we would begin to walk
                                         one to Cana
or Capernaum   or sail  as far as Cyrene
or Carthage

But before
                    we would kiss our love
upon our brothers’ brows grown
smooth and unscarred by fear’s
vanishing    forever

                                    We stood at
the shore where we were first
called and fed
                         breaking our fast
by remembering
                              and by remembering

promising to wade
                               into tomorrow’s
call
                        -Luke
                                             26 May 2019

Ordination to the Priesthood
Norman A. Fischer, Jr.    27 May 2000
R. Tony Ricard            27 May 1995
Joseph A. Brown, SJ       27 May 1972

15 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joseph, as you celebrates the 47th Anniversary of your Ordination Day on 7 May 1972, I thank you for your loving and dedicated service to the people of God and to the Society of Jesus. May you be blessed always in your priestly ministry. George Quickley

    ReplyDelete
  3. We give thanks to God for leading you to the Priesthood and for the way He has used you to bring His message and challenge to others. We are especially grateful for you being a part of our family. Fr. Carroll Mizicko, OFM

    ReplyDelete
  4. A star, brightening and dimming as time & distance fluctuates but shining always for those of us in need of a guide and brotherly love. Thank you for being you, Joseph. And may your flame continue to blaze for those still on the path.
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dearest Joseph...so glad called your name...so glad you said, "Speak, Lord, I am listening!" Much love to you today and everyday

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just so you know...the last comment was from Eva! Love you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for sharing this Joseph :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fr. Brown, I will always be thankful for your vocation and being a part of the formation of my daughter. Even today, she quotes you and remembers being a student and you being the teacher. Likewise, I am blessed to know you. You are forever a part of my immersion into catechesis, liturgy and "many things" Catholic. It is comforting to know that we have your wisdom, writings and friendship.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mazel tov as we say in Brooklyn. I offer the following by Langston Hughes:

    “I stay cool, and dig all jive,
    That's the way I stay alive.

    My motto,
    as I live and learn,
    is

    Dig and be dug
    In return.”

    ― Langston Hughes

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wade in the baptismal waters (and others), indeed! So very lovely. Please read this at the LUC conference!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What else is there for us, but to wade in!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you Brother Joseph for the inspiration and your service!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you for your priesthoo, Joseph. Thanks for leading us younger men in formation.

    ReplyDelete
  14. As bright a star as I have seen! I am blessed to know you!

    ReplyDelete
  15. thanks for your teaching but most of all, for listening and in doing so, facilitating the hearing of my call, myself. empowering. you inspire confidence. your confidence makes me think of Rakim, "never taking shorts therefore i'm hard to beat / i ain't cheap / don't try to sell me a dream: i don't sleep / i'm paid in full, so save the bull / this ain't a stick up, so you don't have to wave no tool," and Ralph Ellison, who wrote about students what you knew and know, that "if you can show me how i can cling to that which is real to me, while teaching me a way into the larger society, then i will not only drop my defenses and my hostility, but i will sing your praises and help you to make the desert bear fruit." congratulations, God bless, and amen.

    ReplyDelete