Visit from a Priest and a true gift of Friendship

I have known a man who is a priest since he was between his junior and senior year of high school.  There is no human reason we should have remained friends - it is only because God knew we needed each other in our lives.  I like to say he's the little brother I never got and I am the older sister he doesn't need.  (He has four sister and no brothers!)  Here's how the story goes:

2002 - I am a camp counselor at a retreat center in a different diocese.  I drove 5 hours (driving through a couple diocese in the process) to volunteer at this camp because the director of the camp (my uncle) needed more counselors for his senior high school camp.  There I met this tall, mildly awkward kid with a funny name.  One of the first conversations we ever had included me asking him where he was thinking of applying to college (I was in college, he was going to be a senior - seemed like a logical question).  His response shocked me - with a big smile and excitement he said, "I am going into the seminary.  I am going to be a priest."  How could this kid be so certain when I didn't even know what I wanted to do with my life and I was older than he was?  My response was something like, "That's awesome.  I will pray for you."

2003 - Same camp, same senior week.  I only remembered 3 kids from the previous year.  The same kid with the funny name was there.  He was taller and less awkward.  Since he had graduated from high school, I wanted to know one thing, so I asked if he was still going to the seminary.  There was an excitement in his eyes when he said he was.  At the end of the week long camp we exchanged emails and instant messenger names (yes, this was the age of instant messenger).  I never knew if I was going to see this kid again or not, but everyone needs more friends.

Over the next two years we occasionally would "check in with each other."  Not often, but often enough.  He came down for my college graduation in 2005 - not a short drive from his college in Minnesota.  It was nice to see him again after not seeing him for two years.  A year later I got married to a wonderful man.  Since he was a seminarian, my husband and I asked him to be the petitioner at our wedding.  A married couple (my husband's aunt & uncle) did the readings.  We thought it would be appropriate for a married couple to read about the Bible's words on marriage and a seminarian to do the prayers.  I also gave him carte blanche on what the petitions should be to.  The note I handed him said something along the lines:  "You are a seminarian.  If I have to tell you how to pray your diocese has issues."  He did a great job.

We would not see each other until his deaconate ordination over four years later.  I had a little surprise up my sleeves for this.  A few weeks before his ordination I called him and asked him if I could bring someone with me, but I would take care of feeding this person, he didn't need to worry about it.  I had to laugh when he told me there would be more than enough food and I wouldn't need to worry about it - I could bring anyone I wanted.  After over five minutes of hinting around I had to just come out and say, "hey, you're not getting the hint - I AM PREGNANT!"  The only thing that could have made this story better would have been if I would have been able to see his face when I said it.  I could hear the excitement through the cell phone.  This excitement was continued at his ordination.  I couldn't have been more excited/proud of him.

This excitement came to a crashing halt three weeks later when I sent him a text asking him to pray for me and my unborn baby because I was going in for emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix.  My surgery was very early on a Sunday morning, which made me feel guilty because I missed mass.  So while my husband was at mass (I was out of surgery and in a room to recover by this point) my now deacon friend read the mass readings to me and gave me a blessing via the phone.  (I don't know the rules on long distance blessings, but we gave it a go)  On Tuesday my husband and my world was forever changed when our son was stillborn.  When my deacon friend found out he immediately booked a flight to come down for the funeral.  He even spoke with the priest that was set to preside over the funeral to make sure everything was in place.   He also helped with the funeral as a deacon.

The following year when he was set to be ordained a priest I was excited to witness it.  He even asked me to be the second reader at this event.  I was able to see him the weekend prior to his ordination at a different man's ordination and I had a little surprise for him.  He got an early ordination gift and letter from my unborn child.  Yes, I was pregnant again!   I got to see his face when he realized there was a little baby inside of me.  He was super happy for me.  I was the same place in this pregnancy as I was when our son was stillborn, so I was beginning to feel movement.  The following week at his ordination my daughter had a surprise for everyone.  She decided to be a part of the ordination.  Right in the middle of the reading, she kicked my bladder.  I stopped/paused reading to make sure I didn't wet myself.  It was very noticeable.  While up in his diocese I did some behind his back investigation chatting with his bishop.  You see my husband and I wanted him to be the Godfather of our baby, but we both knew that some diocese don't allow priests to be Godfathers.  (We didn't want to ask him and then find out it wasn't allowed - oh the disappointment that would have been for everyone involved)  I had already found out about our diocese.  His was a go!  So after we found out our little baby was going to be a girl (at Father's day weekend no less), we asked if he would be willing to agree to be the Godfather.  He was!  And five months later he baptized his own Goddaughter.

He came down to visit for a couple days recently.  He wanted to escape his parish (yes, priests need breaks from the stress of parish life sometimes) and to visit his Goddaughter and my husband and me.  It was nice to see him again and the little lady decided to celebrate by rolling over unaided for the first time with the three of us watching.  He also honored us by celebrating mass in our house a few times.  He also anointed the little lady with the same batch of chrism that was used at his ordination a few months prior.  Something that is nice and somewhat humbling.  Not to mention she smelled heavenly for a few days following his departure.