US soldier to GW Catholics: "Be strong in the pursuit of Christ!"

I am working with several men at GW who are discerning a call to the Priesthood. Six of our upperclassmen and grad students are going on an Archdiocesan retreat this weekend with other men from the area. Cardinal Wuerl will spend some time with these men on retreat. Please pray for them! Here is what one of our men emailed last night…whoa, cool.


“I was googling some Christian prayers, and this is what I randomly found that was really intimidating(the last line to be precise) in relation with answering the call to Priesthood:

If the priest is a saint, his people will be holy.
If the priest is holy, his people will be good.
If the priest is good, his people will be fair.
If the priest is fair, his people will be mediocre.
If the priest is mediocre, his people will be bad.
-Anon.

------------------------------------

Last night, I read the following letter from a soldier in Iraq to our students at Tuesday dinner. It blew us all away. The soldier is a devout Catholic. He and his wife have been very generous financial, spiritual, and personal supporters of the Newman Center the past year. They have given a lot to the Center even though they don’t have a ton of money. They just believe so strongly in what we are doing here. It is completely humbling and edifying to come to know saintly people like them.

I gave this basic intro to the letter and then read it. As I read it aloud, the power of this man’s words took over the room. Twenty college students and I were in utter amazement at the spiritual depth of our friend and soldier. This is powerful stuff!


25 Dec 10

Fr. Greg,

Everyone at the Newman Center,

Thanks all! One of the greatest challenges of deployment is the solitude. My brothers in arms are here but my brothers in Christ are hard to find. I receive the body and blood of our Lord every other week thanks to the mercy of a priest from a base south of ours who flies to our base to celebrate Mass with us.

I was greatly encouraged by your letters. It was a good feeling to know that a community is praying for me by name in a more personal way than I have seen. I was also encouraged by hearing from students living the faith. I truly believe that the men and women who follow Christ in the university environment represent a unique hope for the Church. It is your ability to stand as a sign of contradiction to the world that makes your faith that much more powerful.

I am in the ancient city of Mosul, Iraq. It is the same city that was once known as Ninevah where the prophet Jonah spoke. There is a monastery from the 7th century here. At its height, the people were baffled by the men who went out into the desert to pray. These monks were a sign of contradiction. They confused people by their way of life. In the same way, I think of you. Be strong in the pursuit of Christ! You are in the middle of the desert! Pray!

Your courage to always be prepared to meet Christ in the Eucharist gives me, my wife, and the whole Church joy.

Finally, pray for the Christians in Iraq. As you know, they are a persecuted Church.

Thanks for the letters.