Thank you and Good bye

Everyone:

Thank you for your prayers and support over the years John and I spent in seminary formation.

I am busy learning my new assignment as the Associate Pastor of St. Monica Parish on the Northwest side of Indianapolis, west deanery. It has been a great first month. There are a lot of things going on here and St. Monica is a warm and welcoming parish. It is a wonderful place for my first assignment.

http://www.stmonicaparishindy.org

John is gearing up for his chaplaincy at Cardinal Ritter High School, also west deanery. I think he has already begun to help out as a wide receiver coach on the football team. In addition, he has already begun providing sacramental assistance at St. Malachy in Brownsburg, where he resides.

Thank you again.

This will be my LAST POST, and I believe John's as well.

May Almighty God bless you and keep, and draw you ever closer to himself, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Fr. Jeremy Gries

Benedict XVI Video Update

This is an update to the video I originally posted below. I usually tinker with my videos for a while until I really like what I've produced. I think this is the final version. At this point it is time for a new project.

So Long

This final week of our lives in the seminary has been a very strange mixture of emotions. There is the sadness of knowing that I might not ever see some of my classmates again mixed with the joy of my pending ordination and first assignment. There is the strangeness of leaving this place I have called home for the last 5.5 years mixed with the relief of crossing the finish line intact and stronger for having run the race.

Many farewell events are piled into our final week in the seminary. Last night our class had a private dinner with the 10 or 15 core faculty and staff who have been in charge of us for most of these past 5 years. It was a very lovely way to begin moving away from the relationship of teacher - student towards one of collegiality with those who formed us.

In each of our classes this past week, the professors have ended our time together with a goodbye talk and/or exhortation, and they have all been very heartfelt and very moving. As a class, we've also had the chance to thank each other personally and privately for the time we have shared together. Many of us have also been cranking out thank you notes by the truckload to all the hundreds of support staff and underclassmen here who have been so pivotal in forming us.

Saturday marks the formal conclusion to our time here with graduation. We receive a masters degree for our time here. The title is "Masters of Divinity" which always has struck me as a fairly intimidating thing to claim for one's self! After graduation, Jeremy and I both will be moving back in with our parents one last time as we make final preparations for ordination.

It is a very strange feeling to fight and claw and pray my way to the top of this mountain, and now that I receive this degree and complete my formation here at St. Meinrad, it is amazing to look back and see how many hundreds of people pushed me, kicked me, and prayed for me to get up this mountain! I think about Pope John Paul II whose time in seminary essentially involved him taking some instructions from his Archbishop in the cathedral basement hiding from the Nazis, and I become even more humbled by how many opportunities I've been afforded here at St. Meinrad. Jeremy and I both feel very blessed to have been helped so much along our way. Thank you for your prayers!

Pope Benedict Video

**** SEE NEW VERSION OF VIDEO ABOVE ****


This is a video I made using a song from Matt Maher. I downloaded the videos from beneicttv.com, which is a site which allows you to watch and/or download videos from all the major things that the pope has been up to. It is an awesome site. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the video. Pope Benedict's Papacy just began year five a few weeks ago; may God grant him many more years!

Priesthood Promises

Last night, the deacon class made priesthood promises in the presence of the Seminary community and guests. The promises were made in the context of mass. These promises are required by canon law prior to ordination and are very similiar to the promises we each made before being ordained to the deaconate. There are three declarations: 1) a declaration of freedom - that we are not being coerced by force or fear to pursue ordination; 2) A profession of Faith - that we believe what the Church teaches and proclaims; 3) an Oath of Fidelity - that we will remain faithful to the Church, our ordination and its duties, the Holy Father and our local ordinary (i.e., bishop or abbot). These declarations are a public witness to the world that we understand what we are undertaking and we are committed, for life, to strive to live out this life of Priesthood for the Church and the world. It is a witness that we, like all people, are free to choose to follow God, per our particular God given vocation. They are a testimony that permenance is still possible, and that great freedom and happiness are possible, only in the context of relationship with God and neighbor.

The text for the Declaration of Freedom:

Declaration to be made prior to the Reception of Sacred Orders According to Canon 1036 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law

I the undersigned Jeremy Michael Gries (John Joseph Hollowell) son of Robert and Kathleen Gries (Joseph and Diane Hollowell) of the Archdioces of Indianapolis having presented my petition to the Archbishop for receiving the Order of Presbyter do now, as Sacred Ordination is at hand, having diligently weighted the matter before God; testify under oath that I am not motivated by any force or fear in receiving this Sacred Order but ask for it of my own free will and choice because I believe that I am truly called by God to do so.

I assert that one and all of the duties flowing from this Sacred Order are fully knowon to me, which duties I willingly accept and propse with God's help to carry out most diligently all the days of my life.

Especially I swear that I clearly understand the implications of the law of celibacy and that I freely embrace it and will keep it faithfully with God's help until the end of my life.

Finally I faithfully swear that, according to the norms of the Sacred Canons, I shall obey most faithfully in all the matters which my superiors command and the discipline of the Church demands and that I am prepared to give a good example in word and deed, relying in hte hope that I may be rewarded by God for receiving this Order.

So I affirm, so profess, so I swear; so help me God and these holy Gospels which I touch with my hand.


Fr. Denis, the President-Rector, preached the Priesthood Promises mass. A copy of his homily can be found on his blog at: http://substancehopedfor.blogspot.com

John and I only have 2 weeks of class left. We will both graduate with our Masters of Divinity (MDiv) on Saturday, 09 May here at Meinrad. That same weekend it is hoped that our assignments will be made public.

God's blessings!
jmg

Notre Dame Continued

The controversy at Notre Dame continues, and all signs from the university are that they are in no way ashamed of their decision. I include a letter I wrote to some of the board members and sent into the Criterion. Unfortunately, they don't publish the letter of clergy members from our own Archdiocese, just priests like Fr. Daly from outside our Archdiocese. Anyway - here it is:

Notre Dame: The “Titanic” vs. “The Rock”

Despite President Jenkins wishing it to be otherwise, Notre Dame University, like all Catholic universities, is not an institution which stands outside of the umbrella of the local bishop. Is authentic freedom ever to be found apart from being in harmony with the successors of the apostles? The idea that freedom can not be achieved within the realm of adherence to the Magisterium of the Church has been shown, throughout the history of Christianity, to be not only highly erroneous but also highly dangerous. The idea that there must be people allowed to operate outside the auspices of the Magisterium of the Church is an extremely distorted understanding of authentic human freedom, and has throughout history been the position taken up by those on the doorstep of heresy.

At stake in all of this, whether those placed at her helm realize it or not, is the integrity and indeed the very existence of Notre Dame. If President Obama is given an honorary degree of law from Notre Dame, it is very likely that Notre Dame will not suffer any drastic effects immediately. However, it is possible to wreck, in the long haul, even a ship as stalwart and sturdy as Notre Dame. If Notre Dame is the Titanic, the finest ship in the fleet of institutions comprising Catholicism in the United States (and I readily admit that Notre Dame is such an institution), then it will take more than this one event to sink her. However, the Bishops of the world stand in direct succession to the Rock, St. Peter, and they fulfill the charge that Christ first laid at his feet two thousand years ago. One thing I know for certain is that if the “Titanic” and the “Rock” continue to run into one another, it is the Titanic which will sink, and not the other way around. The Rock cannot sink because it has been welded, by the Blood of Christ, to the very foundation of the world. If “the gates of Hell shall not prevail against” the Rock per the promise of Jesus, I doubt Notre Dame will succeed either. Notre Dame is in perilous waters, and its captain seems to be relishing the role of steering the ship on a course such that it is repeatedly smashing into the Rock, and it seems that the breech of the ship’s hull might soon occur. Notre Dame has a long and storied and very Catholic history, and She has done incalculable good for the Catholic Church throughout the United States and indeed the world. However, Christ said “Upon this Rock I will build My Church,” and not “Upon this university I will build My Church.” I pray Notre Dame and her captain and crew always humbly seek to work with the Church, steering a course in truth; a course not guided by the pride which can arise from being in charge of the most impressive ship in the fleet.

If Notre Dame continues to steer a different course, may we (no matter how much we love Notre Dame, and no matter how bad it hurts to leave her) all have the courage to flee for the life boats and abandon ship.

Holy Thursday - Mass of the Lord's Supper

Hi All:

I know, I'm terrible at posting to this. Thankfully, John is much better and diligent about it or the blog would be blank. My apologies.

I had the opportunity to deacon and preach at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis with the Archbishop last night. It was a beautiful service. I was most touched by the humble nature of service that the Archbishop portrayed as he washed the feet of twelve representatives from the Cathedral's parish. He poured the water over their feet, dried them, and then kissed each one. It was a great witness to the type of priesthood I soon hope to join, one of service to others.

Below is my homily from the mass.

Looking up around the table full of his disciples, his beloved, his hand-picked followers and soon to be messengers to the world, the first priests, Jesus got up, removed his outer garment, and wrapped himself in a towel. Methodically, He worked his way around the table. Moving his basin and pitcher from disciple to disciple, He gently and tenderly took each one’s feet in his sacred hands, caressed them, and bathed them with water. Kneeling there, He lovingly looked into each of their eyes and then washed their feet. These disciples, whom Jesus had called to himself and with whom he had traveled, taught, and taken care of, these men Jesus called friends. And He washed the feet of all 12.

Progressing around that table, Jesus reached Judas. Their eyes met. They could read each other. They could see into each other’s soul. Judas could recall in an instant the past three years: the numerous miracles, the healing of the lame, blind, and mute, the driving out of demons, the walking on water, the calming of a storm with a word, the crowds of followers that seemed constantly to be gathering around to listen to Jesus’ teachings, the multiplication of loaves and fish to feed thousands, the quiet nights around campfires when it was just Jesus and the disciples, the exhilaration of being one of the selected twelve, the feelings of pride and triumph when he had entered Jerusalem with Jesus just a few days before to the cheers of ‘Hosanna in the highest; Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Judas could see it all right there. He knew who Jesus was; and yet, he could not accept it. It showed in his eyes. Yet, he allowed Jesus to serve him. Judas sat there patiently as the holy Passover meal, what was in fact Jesus’ Last Supper with his beloved twelve, took place, all the while harboring wickedness and evil in his heart. He had the nerve to ask Jesus, “Is it I, Lord?” He allowed those hands which broke the bread of the New Covenant, which would soon bear the marks of nails that Judas would help place, to cleanse the grime from his feet. He looked down on Jesus, not just from his seated position, but from his sinful position of pride. Judas allowed the ‘Lord of all’ to serve him by cleansing his feet.

In our own ways, we are all Judas. Have we not seen the wonders of God in our own lives?!? We have been graced with life… with food, water, and shelter… with family and friends. All we have, all we are, all is gift. Daily, we experience this love, these blessings, the gifts God pours out upon us packed down and flowing over. With our own eyes, we have seen the miracles Jesus has worked in our lives. And yet… singly and as a society, we betray our neighbor. We cheat God. We turn loved ones into enemies. We fight. We argue. We deceive. We take more than we need. We live beyond our means. We allow fear and aggression to flow freely. We place ourselves, our opinions, our wicked desires, above the teachings of love and service to God. We fall short of the lives to which we know we are called, as we continue in sin. Like Judas, we have experienced Christ, the Messiah. We even have the added benefit of knowing ‘how the story ended.’ We know that Jesus rose on the third day and is alive. Yet, we still – one and all – cut our own deals, turn our backs, and sneak around in the shadows. All too often, we are Judas expecting to have our feet washed, expecting to be served, arrogant and prideful.

The devil having already induced Judas to betray the Lord, Jesus also knew what Judas was about. The trajectory was set, and Jesus knew the actions Judas had set in motion. He knew about the 30 pieces of silver weighing Judas down like a mill-stone. He knew of the ironic kiss of peace that would lead to betrayal. Jesus knew. And knowing, He thoughtfully extended his hands and took up Judas’ feet to wash and bathe them. One can imagine that Jesus might have taken just a bit more care with those feet that had walked to the Sanhedrin to cut a deal. One can imagine, perhaps, a tear or two being mixed in with the water that washed the dirt and filth of the dusty Jerusalem streets off those feet. Jesus looked his friend in the eye knowing full-well the imminent doom to be perpetrated, and he served him. Jesus, the Lord, the King, the true Messiah that Judas was indeed looking for in his own ignorant way, attended to Judas’ needs in humble submission, just as he had served every other sinner around that table. Jesus looked with love, concern, and I suspect a bit of disappointment at Judas, but Jesus treated him as one of the twelve. ‘For, Jesus loved his own in the world, and He loved them to the end,’ even when, his own, included the one, who was to be his betrayer, his enemy, the traitor. Jesus, kneeling there on that upper-room floor, poured water over Judas’ feet.

Jesus said, “ I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” This is the wonder of that night in the upper room. Jesus not only gave us the model of our worship, the gathering together for word and table, for the Gospel and the Blessed Sacrament, the institution of the Eucharist. Jesus not only gave us the witness to serve others less fortunate than ourselves. No, the model given here shows that we must allow the love of God and neighbor to overwhelm us, to consume us, to be our all, even to the point of loving, caring for, and sacrificing for the one who wills us the most harm, our most fervent enemy, that person who cannot stand or tolerate us with their whole beings or vice versa. That is the model, the message, the mission we have this evening, for the whole of our lives. Jesus tells Peter, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” It is only when we can wash the feet of even our worst foe in wholehearted authentic love that we too will begin to understand what Jesus has done for us.

I hope everyone has had a prayerful Lent, a holy 'Holy Week', and a blessed Easter.

Pax Christi,
jmg