In welcoming and blessing a new seminarian for the Diocese of Camden, Bishop Dennis Sullivan preached on courage and listening to the Lord in the silence of one’s heart.
“Let each one of us hear, ‘Do not be afraid.’ Ben, especially you, about to enter the seminary, going into the unknown,” Bishop Sullivan said during the Aug. 13 Mass he celebrated in Saint Andrew the Apostle Church, Gibbsboro. “Let me assure you, Ben, you will very quickly experience a band of brothers,” he said, gesturing to his fellow priests and the Diocese’s seminarians in attendance. “They will help you navigate what is unknown to you now.”
PHOTO GALLERY: New Seminarian Mass
Indeed, clergy and laity alike packed into the church to support the Diocese’s newest seminarian, Benjamin Suarez III, a parishioner of Saint Andrew the Apostle who will be attending the College Seminary of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Andrew’s Hall, Seton Hall University, South Orange. Family and fellow seminarians took photos with Suarez after Mass, which was concelebrated by Msgr. Louis A. Marucci, parish pastor, Father Adam Cichoski, diocesan director of vocations, and numerous others.
During his homily, Bishop Sullivan referenced the day’s readings from Kings 19 and Matthew 14.
“On the run [from execution], Elijah took refuge in a cave and even considered suicide. That’s how desperate he was,” the Bishop said. “It was at that moment of panic, that moment of personal terror, that moment of personal fear, when Elijah experienced God.
“Peter in the boat, the boat is tossed about in a storm, and he fears for his life, as do the other apostles. And remember, they were fishermen, they knew about the dangers,” Bishop Sullivan continued. “He begins to walk on the water, as he was told, toward Jesus, until fear strikes his soul. He looks away from Jesus and begins to sink. ‘Lord save me,’ he cries out, and the Lord lifts Peter out of the stormy waters. He encounters Christ, the living God, as he’s about to drown.”
“When Peter walked by faith, he walked on water. When he did not walk by faith, he began to sink,” the Bishop said.
“There are lessons for us in these stories about God breaking through our most ordinary, usual circumstances … and through our experiences of worries, sickness, distress, trouble, difficulties,” he said.
“Faith is taking a risk. That’s what Elijah did … that’s when Peter did …. We all know what it is to be caught in stormy waters – every single one of us can tell stories and experiences that may have robbed us of life’s joys, and even the love of God or the certainty of God’s presence. We may have felt like Peter, at times, that we were drowning in the dangerous seas of life’s difficulties and problems.”
“It’s OK for us to be frightened by storms,” the Bishop said.
He asked those in attendance to think of faith as a bridge – “not a bridge constructed of steel, but a bridge constructed of rope. A bridge of rope swings back and forth in the winds. The bridge holds you as it sways, safely; you can navigate across it. Faith holds us steady when the storms arise … or when fear grabs us and begins to unravel us.”
He continued, “At the entrance to the cave, Elijah crossed a roped bridge, and he found God waiting on the other side. He realized that God was with him all along, not in the spectacular, but in the silence. Jesus’ outstretched hand to Peter is like a roped bridge. He held Peter and kept him from drowning. As we navigate the seas of life, faith can bear us safely over the rough waters. … God is with us in the turmoil. ‘Do not be afraid.’”
Similarly, he urged the crowd not to be afraid or shy to encourage young men to a priestly vocation. He also reiterated the dire need in the Church for priests and noted the responsibility of the laity.
“You have no idea what an encouraging word from you could do for [a young man],” Bishop Sullivan said. “He just might get the courage to walk on water and pursue a vocation to the diocesan priesthood. Your word might help him to hear, in the silence of himself, God calling him to what I know after almost 53 years: the joyful, satisfying, graceful life as a priest of Jesus Christ.”
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