Meeting an SCJ
FATHER GREG MURRAY, SCJ
My name is Father Greg Murray, SCJ, and I am a member of the Canadian
Region of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart. That means
that I am a 'religious' priest. Obviously, 'religious' isn't used here
in its normal sense of one who adheres or practices a religion. Since
I am a priest in the Catholic Church, that should be pretty self evident.
Of course I am religious. What I mean when I say that I am a 'religious'
priest, is that I am a member of a religious order or congregation.
A priest who belongs to and works exclusively in a diocese is known as a 'secular' priest. Again, its obvious that he is not secular in the normal sense of being without a religious affiliation. Why do we use these terms; aren't they merely meant to confuse? Aren't we setting ourselves up as an elite, with our own particular jargon, which is meant to identify members and keep everyone on the outside guessing? Don't we like the idea of belonging to a particular 'in' crowd, where we can feel special? This certainly is a temptation within our particular way of life; but don't we all belong to a special group? Aren't we all called to be priests, to speak in a way that identifies us as a particular people, set apart.
That is the calling we have received from our master, Jesus Christ, to be members of His priestly people, taking up the mission of promoting his truth in the world around us, and living it in our own daily lives, influencing others by our love and concern.
To be an ordained priest is part of this special calling; it is, as Mother Teresa of Calcutta liked to call it: a call within a call. Have you considered whether perhaps you have such a call, a particular call within the call to ministry which you are already living. I personally was never aware of such a call in my own life; in fact I never thought of myself as called in any way, shape, or form. I was brought up a Catholic, but I certainly was never aware that God had called me to proclaim His gospel, to live it out, to be a missionary of love to my neighbour. I figured that my neighbour could take care of himself, and I could do the same for myself. I had been baptized, but I was not a believer, beyond the belief that God actually did exist. God existed, but that really didn't make much difference in my life, I figured I could make my own way through life, with little help from without.
But slowly, over time the Lord began to speak to my heart, to make me understand that I was loved and that I needed Him in my life, if I was to make any sense of why I existed in the first place, and make of the life I'd been given something wonderful for God. It took me a long time to see this, but once I began to understand that I had been called to serve the Lord as a member of His Church, I also began to realize that the Lord was calling me to serve in a particular way, through ordained ministry. This began to take place quite a long time after I had lived out my youth; in fact I was forty years of age when I finally responded to the call which had been pulling at my heart for many years.
I had never considered being a priest when I was young; it never entered my mind as a possible future direction for me. But the Lord has His ways and His time, and He brings His people to completion according as each is able to hear and to respond. Perhaps He's been moving in your heart, challenging you to move out of your well constructed mind set, out of your comfortable "in" crowd, with your own jargon and practices, that says to others: KEEP OUT!
To become a 'religious', priest or brother, is not to become part of an elitist, exclusive group, it is to open oneself up to the world, in mission for Christ, a world deeply in need of meaning and purpose. The 'lingo' only means that we have accepted the Lord's invitation of a call within a call, and are now able to communicate to others in a language of the heart. My journey to this realization has been a long, slow one, but it has given me the confidence to say to you: follow the Lord wherever He may lead you. God bless and be with you always.
FATHER CLAUDE BÉDARD, SCJ
Honouring remarkable work accomplished in the fight against AIDS Farha Foundation
honoured Father Claude Bédard SCJ in its 2006 Heroes Night. They wrote:
"Claude was born in Montréal in 1940, the ninth and last child of his family. At the age of 13, he heard the call of duty and began his education to become a priest. His religious life would take him, among other places, to the African Congo, where he would work for seven years in a leper community. An enriching experience which, without him knowing, would later lead him start up the Maison Dehon.
Returning to Montréal at the start of the 1980s, he heard for the first time about the "modern leper and the worldwide epidemic" called AIDS. A wave of panic was blowing across the world, but as he had no fear of lepers nor of epidemics, he reacted by laying the groundwork for an almshouse for people living with HIV. Building it on respect and human dignity, Claude and his staff, the "instruments of God's mercy," founded Maison Dehon in 1988.
Maison Dehon has welcomed 193 people, of which 137 have been accompanied to their final days. He also offers interns the chance for an education on palliative care and accompaniment in death. All those who have benefited from this facility have, above all, had the honour of receiving not only first class care, but also a great communicative tenderness which comes from Claude.
From the beginning, Claude has been committed to the recognition of the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. As well, he actively promotes changing the terms "AIDS victim" or "AIDS sufferer" to "person living with ..." He jumps into the debate to defend the cause of people living with HIV, especially when new challenges emerge, such as intravenous drug users.
He never fails to work on the side of the poor, the marginalized, the rejected, the stranger who comes to avail himself of the care of the Maison. He solidly opts for the rejected and hidden faces of our society, doing work that is neither glamorous nor popular.
By taking strong and uniquivocal stands, he helps sensitize society to the problem by participating in conferences, hosting talks, giving seminars and radio interviews. If necessary, he uses the media to broadcast accurate and well balanced information as well as his message of hope.
With his great experience, Claude actively participated in establishing other similar facilities.
Team-builder, tenacious, respectful and imaginative, Claude and his staff have made Maison Dehon the "most sponsored community organization in Canada." Today, the Maison's reputation has spredad far and wide - along with Claude's love for humanity - going beyond Canada's borders and inspiring people in the United States, South America, Africa and Europe!"
After exploring all options, and receiving no government funding, Maison Dehon shut its doors in 2007. Father Claude continues to be passionately and courageously committed to working with and for people living with AIDS.
FATHER PAUL TENNYSON, SCJ
The most frequently asked question of me these days is: "What made you decide to become a priest?" My normal reply is: "Do you
want the long or the short version?" After all it is a complicated issue. For our purpose here today, I am giving you the short
version.
Growing up in a Catholic-Presbyterian home, religion had become a taboo subject. There were many hard feelings towards organized religion. By the time I was about 12 I officially parted company with the Church. God was a stern judge who was surely keeping track of all my mis-steps and I was convinced that I was going to hell.
Many years later, after a long and tumultous troubled period, including a stint as a streetperson, at the age of 29, I staggered into a 12 step recovery program. Soon thereafter I made my way back to the Church of my youth. Within a few weeks I was going to daily mass and soon got involved in my local parish and in the community of Oakville where I grew up.
It wasn't all that long before I began to feel "called" by God to perhaps look at becoming a priest. My feelings were being confirmed by others in the faith community as well as by several priests with whom I had become acquainted.
And so began my process of discernment, a process that was to take many, many years. Over the next 15 years or so I experienced rejection many times as I sought to answer this call to the priesthood. I was rejected out of hand on three separate occasions by my local diocese, by a religious community and once by the Toronto diocese (for reasons which truly escape me at this time, but I digress).
Convinced of my calling and dreading yet another rejection, through a series of events, I stumbled upon the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Milwaukee who directed me to their confreres in Toronto. I felt at home immediately and went through the application process in the fall of 1991 and was accepted. Finally!
I left my job of almost twenty years as a letter carrier and began my studies at TST (Toronto School of Theology). I was ordained to the priesthood in April of 1997. Since then I have ministered in three dioceses-Toronto, St. Catherines and Ottawa. Presently I am the Pastor at Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Ottawa where I minister with Father Greg Murray, SCJ.
When I joined the 12 step program in December of 1972 I was bankrupt-physically, emotionally and spiritually. I would have gladly traded places with anyone else no questions asked. Today I love my life. I wouldn't trade places with anyone!
I believe that I am finally doing what God had planned for me. I am trying to bring hope and comfort to others. Religious life and the priesthood are to me precious gifts-gifts from the one who lovingly created me. I have the great priviledge now of entering into the lives of others in a very meaningful way at some of the most critical moments in their lives. My life today is truly blessed.
