While speaking to others about living at the Cathedral, one of the first things I comment on is the blessing of living in a full house. For just over a month, we have had one bishop, four priests, and two seminarians living at the Cathedral Rectory. It has been a source of great joy to have so many of us around, sharing in various ways in the ministry of the parish and enjoying some great fraternity with one another.

As they say, though, all good things come to an end. This weekend will be the last one for one of our seminarians, Ryan Kehoe, who has been with us here since the pandemic caused all of our seminaries to send their men home early. Wanting to make their abrupt transition away from the seminary more manageable, we attempted to put pairs of seminarians together at various parishes. With the room available, it made good sense to send one of our seminarians here, and Ryan was the lucky one to come to join Grant Wilson who has been with us the entire year.

The new priests in the house affectionately refer to our seminarians as “the kids” and we joke about sending them back to school at the end of the summer. But we all will miss them very much as they have been an absolute delight to have around the rectory and the parish. I hope that many of you have had the opportunity to meet and interact with these two fine men.

Since Grant will be with us a little longer, we can save our farewell for another time and I can write a few things about Ryan. He recently graduated from Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis. He is now moving on to theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. For the next four years, Ryan will dedicate himself to being formed in four dimensions: intellectual, spiritual, pastoral, and human. This formation will lead, God-willing, to a man who is more closely configured to Christ, the Good Shepherd, whom He will seek to imitate in ministry to the people of God in our diocese.

Now that he has become a part of our Cathedral Parish family, I invite you to add Ryan to the list of your daily prayers, asking the Lord to give Ryan the graces to be totally open to the work He wants to do in his heart as he prepares for the priesthood. And please pray for all of our seminarians, for the chances are very good (almost guaranteed) that some of these men will serve here at the Cathedral as priests one day. Our prayers for them now will be for their benefit and ours.

Father Alford is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in the diocesan curia as the Vicar for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations. 

I continue to marvel at how the living Word of God in Sacred Scripture continues to speak to us with wisdom and relevance to our daily lives. In particular, the Second Readings we have been hearing from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans have provided some much-needed encouragement for us during these challenging times. This week is no different, as we hear these words:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)

A few months ago, I remember mentally inserting the word “coronavirus” into the list of those things that could not separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. At the time, there was so much uncertainty and fear, and these words rang out like a bell to break me out of my negative thinking and returned me to a place of hope.

If we are honest with ourselves, there is still a great deal of fear in our world about the coronavirus, not to mention the many other concerns that affect our lives. And when we are faced with these fears, we do well to hear these words of St. Paul and to bring this question to prayer: “Am I really convinced that nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus?” Bring to the Lord whatever your anxiety is and insert it into the list above and be encouraged to move forward in hope.

It is important to note, however, that there actually is one thing that can ever separate us from the love of Christ – ourselves. Our unwillingness to accept His love by turning away from Him and freely choosing to sin pushes us away from His love, and in the case of mortal sin, we separate ourselves completely from His love. We can sometimes point to things outside of ourselves and claim that they are pulling us away from God, or that He is pulling Himself away from us, neither of which is true. He never stops offering His love to us and nothing that happens to us can break that bond.

Therefore, in addition to praying with the above passage, ask yourself: “When was the last time I went to confession?” Maybe I am in need of being drawn closer to His love (or restored to it in the case of mortal sin) which will have the effect of bolstering our faith in the belief that when we abide in His love in the state of grace, absolutely nothing can separate us from His love. His love has already won the victory, and that love promises us a share in His victory of eternal life for those who persevere in remaining in His love through grace.

Father Alford is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in the diocesan curia as the Vicar for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations.

“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)

These words from the Second Reading for this 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time are wonderfully encouraging words for us as Christians to hear. They remind us of the beautiful truth that the Lord is always working for our good, even when the circumstances of our lives seem to contradict that truth.

I do not intend to try to explain the theology of God’s unchanging providential will and how our free will relates to that plan. Just thinking about that can drive even the most astute theologian crazy! Rather, I would like to propose that we reflect on this truth as it has unfolded in our lives. Every one of us has encountered struggles, and while we may have not enjoyed them at the time, we usually come away from those experiences having learned some valuable lessons, lessons which help us as we move on in our lives. This is a basic proof for the validity of the words I referenced above from St. Paul.

As Christians, we are invited to have this belief not just after the fact, but before and during the events of our lives. In other words, when we anticipate something difficult that lies ahead for us, we should be reminded of this promise and know that no matter how difficult the future may be, God can use that in our lives for our good. And when we are in the midst of trials, we can face them with that supernatural perspective that we who love God believe that He has not abandoned us and that He can and will lead us to a place of good.

In all of this, we must remember that the good the Lord brings about is not necessarily according to our definition of good. The good of which St. Paul speaks is the good of our growing in holiness, which sometimes requires purification of our sinfulness. That can be painful, but it is always directed toward helping us to be more like Christ. Even when our trails mean suffering and possibly even death, our faith invites us to be reminded that our greatest good is not to be found here in this life, but it awaits us in the glory of Heaven. It was from that supernatural outlook that led St. Paul to write earlier in this same chapter of his Letter to the Romans: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” (Rom 8:18)

So as we face the ups and downs of life this week, maybe we could have these words in our hearts: “All things work for the good…omnia in bonum”, serving as an act of faith that helps us to be reminded that God our loving Father is always aware of our circumstances and is preparing good gifts for us, His beloved children.

Father Alford is the Rector of the Cathedral and serves in the diocesan curia as the Vicar for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations.