Bishop Sullivan wrote about his first assignment as a parish priest in this column from the April 24, 2015, Catholic Star Herald.
My first assignment as a priest was to the parish of Saint Elizabeth in Washington Heights, New York City. The “Heights” is the neighborhood that surrounds the George Washington Bridge where the bridge crosses from New Jersey into Manhattan. The bridge dominates the area, which is the highest point on the island of Manhattan, hence “the Heights.”
I spent five wonderful years in that large urban parish. It was there that I learned a critical lesson about my vocation to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. That statement is not meant to dismiss my seminary years during which I received first-class intellectual, spiritual, pastoral, and human formation and was prepared for the priesthood. Additionally, the rigor of seminary life tested my vocation and saw the seed of the vocation to the priesthood that God planted in me grow. I knew that God was calling me to be a priest and I was awed by the mystery of the call to the priesthood which the Church confirmed in me on the day of ordination.
Yet, it was in the daily life, rhythm, and challenges of that parish in the Heights where my understanding of what it is to be a priest spiraled. In that parish over which loomed the bridge I learned that a priest must be a pontifex, one who builds bridges as the Latin root of that word suggests, pons (bridge), facere (to make). A priest bridges for the people this world with the unseen world of God. Who were my teachers? Let me mention just a few who taught me about the priest as pontifex.
The faithful at daily Mass, whose example of constancy and community at prayer taught me that I had to be a leader at the central prayer of our church, the Mass. Praying the Mass, leading the faithful through the prayer of the Holy Eucharist across to the Mystery of God. The variety of ethnic groups who populated the parish taught me that God speaks infinitesimal languages but that a priest who speaks the Word of God with a smile can be understood and can assist others, no matter what their language, to cross over to God. The children of the parish taught me that their need for a spiritual father is in their DNA. A priest must be comfortable in his fatherly role, safely leading children to God. The Religious women, Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, who staffed the parish school and the religious education programs, taught me that a priest must be a competent, knowledgeable and creative educator who guides others to discover the truth about God. The other parish priests taught me that I need priestly mentors to show me the ropes in order to guide people to God. Finally, the poor immigrants who were arriving in the neighborhood during those years taught me that a priest must be a father of the poor who allows the poor to lead him to know God.
In the Heights, the neighborhood of the bridge, I learned that a priest is a pontifex who bridges between God and men and women. For the past 44 years as a priest of Jesus Christ, I have tried with the help of God to do this. It is a wonderful rewarding vocation to which God still calls young men to build bridges.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
