1920-2005

Leaven Spring 2005 Volume 13, Number 2
Rector’s Column
“To Offer Himself As A Gift”
The following letter was written before the passing of Pope John Paul II. It is printed here unchanged in tribute to him.
In the words of the Catholic liturgy, Requiescat in pace, “May he rest in peace,” and in the words of ancient inscriptions in
the Roman catacombs Vivat in Christo, “May he live in Christ.” Finally, I wish to echo the words of Bishop Donald Wuerl as
reported in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on April 3rd: “For anybody who looks back objectively . . . he will be John Paul the
Great.”
Dear Friends,
It is Easter Monday as I write this letter to you, and in doing so I cannot help but to
reflect on Saint Vincent Seminary in light of the Holy Father’s letter to priests for Holy
Thursday 2005.
If I may begin with the conclusion of the letter, we can see how unique it is. For the last
twenty-seven years every Holy Thursday, the Holy Father has written a letter to priests
in recognition of the institution of the priesthood at the Last Supper. Usually, the Holy
Father’s letter concludes with the words: “From the Vatican.” This year’s letter concludes:
“From the Gemelli Hospital, on the 13th of March, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, in the year
2005, the 27th of my Pontificate.”
We read the words of an old and ill Pope this Holy Thursday, and while they are
certainly not his ultima verba, his “last words,” they are nonetheless the words of a
Successor of Peter who has borne the heat of the day and who writes late in his already
lengthy pontificate with the wisdom and conviction born of both grace and experience.
One element of the wisdom that the Holy Father is imparting in his letter this year is
contained in the following quotation: “In a certain sense, when he says the words: ‘take
and eat,’ the priest must learn to apply them also to himself, and to speak them with truth
and generosity. If he is able to offer himself as a gift, placing himself at the disposal of the
community and at the service of anyone in need, his life takes on its true meaning.”
We have just celebrated this Easter the glory of Christ who offered himself in sacrifice for the salvation of the world and
who rose from the dead, bestowing upon us the gift of redemption. At the same time, I am reminded of the quotation from
the Third Eucharistic Prayer that I chose to print on the holy card in remembrance of my own priestly ordination 27 years
ago: “May he make us an everlasting gift to you.”
If you knew of a young man who loved God, loved the Church, and loved God’s people, would you not encourage him to
at least consider offering himself as an everlasting gift to the Father in the priesthood? Here at Saint Vincent, we have over
fifty young men who are preparing to offer themselves as everlasting gifts to the Lord. It is for these young men that, with
your help, we all pour out our energies in service and encouragement, and it is good work.
Beyond considering the gift that every priest must become, the Holy Father also describes how the priest must be a man
who faithfully remembers the entire mystery of Christ, how he must be a man of tradition, when he writes:
At a time when rapid social and cultural changes are weakening the sense of tradition and leading the younger
generation especially to risk losing touch with their roots, the priest is called to be, within the community entrusted
to him, the man who faithfully remembers the entire mystery of Christ: prefigured in the Old Testament, fulfilled in
the New, and understood ever more deeply, under the guidance of the Spirit, as Jesus explicitly promised: “He
will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn 14:26).
Again, with your help, our seminarians are becoming men who faithfully remember the entire mystery of Christ in order
to pass that tradition down to future generations. They have been described as John Paul II’s generation and are excited
about their call to priesthood. In this issue of the Leaven, you will read about them and their commitment to the Pro-Life
Movement and social service. We are
grateful to all of you for all that you do
Dr. Scott Hahn
Completing Book;
Teaching Elective This Fall
Dr. Scott Hahn, the inaugural Chair of Biblical Theology
and Liturgical Proclamation, will be teaching a
three-credit elective in the Seminary in the Fall of 2005
entitled “The Bible and the Liturgy.” Dr. Hahn is currently
completing a new book entitled: Letter and Spirit: From
Written Text to Living Word in the Church’s Liturgy.
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for Saint Vincent Seminary as together
we share in a common mission of
building up the Body of Christ through
quality priestly formation.
Reward with eternal life, O Lord, all
those who for your sake do good to us.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Very Rev. Kurt Belsole, O.S.B.
Rector