Year Long Father’s Day!

This past weekend (June 19th to be exact), the Church Universal began kicked off its yearlong celebration of the “Year of the Priest” with the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is a year to honor the sacred nature of the priesthood, the spiritual fatherhood of these particular chosen men, and to help promote a culture of sacrificial love required by all loving fathers – our own dads and our spiritual fathers.



My dad and me before an outdoor Mass celebrating Filipino Independence Day.

To help celebrate this year, the Pope officially proclaimed St. Jean Vianney the Patron Saint of all Priests.



In his entire priesthood, this simple parish priest had only one assignment, in a small town in Ars, France. He was not that smart. In fact he barely passed his seminary education. He was not talented, accused of being a simpleton by his own brother priests. He had no unique charm, style, or fashion sense. For meals, he often fasted and ate only simple foods such as boiled potatoes – often times, old potatoes ! I have so much to learn from such a good and holy priest. We all do.



Seminarians who participated in this year’s Priest, Deacon, and Seminarian Conference.

Despite the lack of natural gifts to be successful in this world, he did possess a supernatural gift: heavenly love for his spiritual children. His devotion to God’s people eventually made him a highly sought out priest, confessor, and spiritual guide. His know-nothing town eventually became one of France’s most popular pilgrimage sites for prayer and conversion, just because of him. His priesthood was marked with incredible miracles of holiness. He delivered the hope and love of God to his parishioners and beyond. He is such a model of priesthood that I can only pray to be half the man of God he was! Who am I kidding? A 10th of the man would be a more realistic prayer.



Giving a Final Blessing at the Mass for the Filipino Independence Day. Don’t make fun of the sunglasses . It was necessary because God was shining his glory so brightly I could barely read the words of the prayers! I don’t think St. Jean Vianney would have used sunglasses.

There is a fantastic story about his holiness. It was told how the devil revealed that if there were only three priests as holy as St. Jean Marie Vianney, the kingdom of evil would come to an end . That’s holy! That’s a fatherhood worth celebrating for more than just one day .

I sometimes think dads forget they have to share in the fatherhood of the sacred priesthood by doing what St. Jean Vianney did: protect his children from evil!



Benjimen Cahill giving his testimony about becoming a priest. Supporting him on the stage are Fr. Ken, Director of the Steubenville pre-theology program, and classmate Sean.

For me, I couldn’t have been in a better place to kick off this yearlong celebration. I was at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio giving conferences to priests, deacons, and seminarians. The following weekend I then offered talks to more than 2,000 high school youth for one of their youth retreats.

It was so encouraging to celebrate with my brother priests and deacons and to honor spiritual fatherhood, with St. Jean Vianney as a guide. There were so many young men interested in becoming priests. That felt good for me to hear of their desire to be spiritual fathers! It was also so wonderful to be part of the Steubenville team and to serve the many young people by providing spiritual bread from Heaven to satisfy their “hunger” for God. I definitely felt like a spiritual father – not changing diapers – but helping to change hearts and minds.



The Steubenville experience is so full of charismatic enthusiasm that I wish all my subscribers would know of the joy that comes when a person is filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit!



After this week of spiritual feasting, I felt very confirmed in the purpose of the Grace Before Meals mission. Despite the unique nature of this ministry, it’s very normal for a father – biological or spiritual – to feed his children. That’s what St. Jean Vianney did, and that’s what spiritual fathers and dads hope to do. That’s something worth celebrating, not just on one Sunday a year.

Although highlighting the ministry of priesthood, the Pope’s desire to promote the spiritual fatherhood of priests this year, is a celebration for the entire parish family!



Kelly Pease & Band wowing the crowd during the entertainment portion of the weekend.

Here’s a suggestion to help your family celebrate this event. Invite your parish priest to your home for dinner some time this year. You may have to plan it in advance because they are incredibly busy. You may even want to team up with a few families in the neighborhood to share in the celebration to make it easier on his schedule. It’s definitely a Grace Before Meals mission to encourage you to get to know your parish priests as spiritual fathers around the dinner table. You may be giving him a meal for the body, but his spiritual fatherhood will feed you with the Daily Bread from Heaven.



Fr. Dave incensing the Blessed Sacrament



Potatoes – not like St. Jean Vianney’s

The Franciscan Friars who staff the Franciscan University of Steubenville always provide wonderful hospitality to the speakers and staff for the summer conferences. One night, however, we had some free time for dinner. I went with another priest to a local place in downtown Steubenville. This restaurant had wonderful Gyros – a deliciously flavored grilled lamb served on warm and moist pita bread, garnished with onions, tomatoes, and topped with a cucumber sour yogurt, called tzatziki.



But for me the highlight of this dish were the potatoes. These boiled potatoes, seasoned with salt and pepper, were probably also folded with some cream and oregano to add extra creamy richness. These were definitely NOT the potatoes St. Jean Vianney ate! But I think our sincere Grace Before Meals made this delicious tribute to Greek food a very fitting way to celebrate a year dedicated to the priests.

Click here to lean more about a great Steubenville Restaurant that had wonderful potatoes to compliment the flavorful Gyro platter.

This week’s Food for the Soul wants to give all our subscribers a nice tip on where to eat if you ever go to Steubenville for the summer conferences or if you want to celebrate Steubenville’s most famous native son – Dean Martin. Ironically, the city of Steubenville honored him that same weekend with a big citywide party!



When in Steubenville, be sure to try Yorgo’s Gyros Potatoes. Portions are huge! So bring an appetite or share a platter with a friend. You definitely get your money’s worth. Although the place is considered a “hole in the wall” by most of the University students, patrons are treated to a clean restaurant and friendly service. The table and chairs are extremely outdated and uncomfortable, but you can also get carry out and enjoy this cuisine in your own backyard. The white and deep sea blue colors give you a feel for authentic Greek Flavors. Just step up to the counter where you order. From there you can see the other prepared foods like the spinach pie, the toppings for the Gyros, and those wonderful potatoes. The smell of the lamb roasting on the spit is rather appealing too. But then the owner adds extra flavor by shaving off large portions of meat and searing it on an open grill. This gives great color and caramelized flavor to the lamb, yet keeping it very moist with great texture. Surprisingly, it wasn’t very greasy either. I think you may also impress the owner properly pronouncing the word Gyro as “ hEro,” and not “jIro.” I know I impressed him when I thanked him in Greek : “Efkaristo” – the same word as Eucharist – “Thanksgiving!”



While in Stuebenville, I had a chance to hang out with Bob Rice and his wonderful family. Bob is the music minister for the summer conferences. He and the band turned the words of the prayer into a huge celebration of joyful and spiritually uplifting praise .

By the way, be sure to check out his blog that has a video of the “DANCE OFF” between me and Bob Rice!



Bob in the center with Beard and guitar.

At his home, Mrs. Rice put out a spread of warm appetizers and desserts for Team Leaders. She can cook! She also promised to send me the recipe for the cake she prepared. But the best part about this gathering was the people around the table – the team is dedicated, faithful, and inspiring. But the best treat of all was seeing Bob’s beautiful family, and especially his fifth child and youngest daughter Maria.



Just seeing Bob’s family and hearing stories of the rest of the Team members’ families, I could not help feel a sense of joy for them. I also felt a deep responsibility to be sure that I, as a spiritual father, help them with my own prayer and example.



Let us Pray: God, our Father in Heaven, help us all to be reminded of the great responsibility you give to us as priests – spiritual fathers. In a special way, I ask blessings for all parish families, especially those parishes that do not have a full- time priest to be present to the parish families’ many needs. Lord, in this year of the Priest, raise up many more men to accept the call to Spiritual Fatherhood and thus share the Food that leads all to Heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!

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