Sharing a kneel with the future of the church

Joye Brown

April 20, 2008

It's dark outside and except for one lamp, the only illumination comes from votive candles, set side by side in the shape of two crosses. Incense hangs in the air; and on both sides of the altar, banners carry the Greek symbols for alpha and omega.

It's almost time for Night Prayer, and on this night, those gathered at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington will pray for more vocations to the clergy.

The floor where we are kneeling is cold, hard stone. My knees are killing me on the unforgiving surface. I look to the priests, seminarians and college students and realize the will it takes to kneel there.

"Come, now is the time to worship,

Joye Brown Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

"Come, now is the time to give your heart," a crowd of more than 100 prays. They are accompanied by musicians.

"Come, just as you are to worship. Come, just as you are before your God ... come."

In time, we sit and then the crowd triples, mostly with students and seminarians from a legion of local colleges, and across New York State. Yesterday, they joined Pope Benedict XVI at the Youth and Seminarian rally.

But Friday night, they prayed the rosary, sang and chanted together, in English and Latin and with considerable joy.

Students and seminarians, the future of the church.

The pope's visit reminds Sean Suckiel, 23, of the time he met Benedict in Rome last year.

"Your Holiness, I want to be a priest!" the young man had shouted across a crowded plaza in Rome. The pope turned, walked over and clasped both of his hands.

First-year Mike Duffy, 22, said he had been honored to share the chapel Friday with "the 80 guys from around the state who are thinking about becoming priests."

And for Kevin Thompson, 52, like many of the seminarians at Immaculate Conception, the priesthood is a new life. "I wouldn't give it up," said the former middle school English and social studies teacher and insurance salesman. "CEO, president of a company, movie star, rock star is nothing compared to being a priest."

Duffy, sounding older than his years, joined in. "These hands will change people's hearts," he said.

Tom Tassone, 42, a deacon, is the only seminarian wearing a Roman collar. On June 14, he will be ordained a priest. Like some others, he has come to the priesthood later in life.

"Benedict's visit will create a spike in vocations," he said. "There are always events that create spikes - 9/11, the abuse scandals - where people wanted to show there is more to the priesthood; Pope John Paul II's visits.

"God always calls men to the priesthood," he said. "The trick is to listen."

I asked Tassone, the senior seminarian, about the beautiful chapel, and its cold stone floor.

"That floor is hard," he said, with an easy laugh. "I usually get a seat with a kneeler."

I could have moved to one, too, but didn't want to go through the trouble or break the mood in the chapel.

Maybe it's the same with vocations, I thought, walking into the night.

"One day every tongue will confess you are God. One day, every knee will bow.

"Still the greatest treasure remains, for those who follow you now."

It's not a battle of will; it's acceptance. And the knowledge that no matter how hard or painful the world may seem, something better's in reach.