By Sister Elaine Kisinko, OSBM
Secretary to the Archbishop
When I was a teenager many years ago, my sweet immigrant grandmother and I enacted a ritual before every Christmas and Easter holiday time. Since she spoke little English and could not effectively read or write it, it was my task to address her cards.
We sat at the dining room table with the 12 cards which she had ordered and received in a box from the Sisters of Saint Basil in Uniontown, Pa. spread out before us. Her first question always was, “Hktora naj krasa?’ (Which one is the most beautiful?) Then began the task of examining each picture and reading the verse to her. This could take a while as we went back and forth to determine that perfect card.
Finally, she made her important choice, and I could address the envelope, of course, to Father, whoever was the pastor at our church at that time. The procedure never varied no matter who the pastor was.
The memory of this came into my mind because our Archeparchy is so significantly blessed with a number or ordinations to the priesthood this year. This has not happened for quite some time. As we pray in thanksgiving for these newly ordained priests, we welcome them as they will begin their pastoral ministries in service to God and His Church.
My sweet, uneducated in our ways, grandmother, had her priorities in correct order. Her simple insistence that the best card be sent to Father really reflected her deep faith and her unwavering respect and appreciation for the priesthood.
So as we attend or read about each special ordination, let us too reflect and pray with gratitude on the inestimably great gift of the priesthood of Jesus Christ and the tremendous blessing of those who have responded to His call to ordination. Let us remember the newly ordained, and all those priests who now serve us or who have served us in the past as well. And may we also pray for those who are discerning their call and for all vocations for the future.
