Jubilarians honored at Mass Aug. 4
CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis was joined by Bishop Emeritus William Curlin, Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari and more than 30 other priests for the annual jubilarians Mass Aug. 4 at St. Patrick Cathedral. Four jubilarians were honored this year for their longtime service to the Church: Father Joseph Ayathupadam, Father James Cahill, 55 years; Father Albert Gondek, O.S.F.S., 50 years; and Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, 25 years.
Monsignor Marcaccio, pastor of St. Pius X Church in Greensboro, was the only jubilarian in attendance.
During his homily, Bishop Jugis spoke about the concepts of love and gratitude, citing scripture passages and their relation to the gift of the priesthood.
"Jesus tells His apostles at the Last Supper, 'This I command you, love one another.' Those words of Jesus intrigued Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and caused him to ask the question, 'Command? Can love be commanded?' Since love as we commonly understand it has become an unpredictable human emotion and sentiment," Bishop Jugis explained.
"Pope Benedict says, 'Of course love can be commanded.' For we love with Christ's love that is planted in us, which takes us way beyond our human limitations and our frailty.
“The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us, St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans. ‘Remain in me and I remain in you,’ Jesus says.”
Bishop Jugis noted that our priests who are celebrating their jubilee anniversaries of priesthood this year have been loving and serving with the love of Christ for many decades.
"An anniversary of ordination is always celebrated with sentiments of gratitude to the Lord – gratitude for the opportunity to serve," he said.
"It is such a tremendous blessing He bestows upon us priests, giving us an opportunity to serve. Gratitude for being called to enter the service of Christ the High Priest and to serve our brothers and sisters on their path to salvation. To serve Him by offering them the sacraments, by proclaiming the Gospel, and by shepherding them with love and courage as a good shepherd would."
Bishop Jugis shared a special excerpt from a prayer of St. Patrick which speaks of the saint's gratitude for his gift of the priesthood.
"It seems that each priest could repeat this prayer in expressing his gratitude for the priesthood: 'Who am I, Lord, that you called me to this work?'
"Jesus says to the apostles at the Last Supper, 'It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.'
"Not by any merits of our own, but because of the greatness of His mercy did He call us to the priesthood."
It is with the humble gratitude of the publican, not the proud Pharisee, that priests give thanks for their vocation, he said.
He also pointed out that as the priests processed into the cathedral before Mass, they entered through one of the diocese's three doors of mercy.
"The Lord has extended His mercy through each one of us, His priests, to make us all ministers of His mercy," he continued. "The mercy of Christ is communicated through the sacraments that we celebrate, through the homilies we deliver, through the Eucharist, through the personal witness of our lives.
"What a grace to be so closely associated with the mercy of Christ which has saved the world!"
Bishop Jugis prayed that as the Church honors the jubilarians, that all priests would be grateful for the opportunity to serve.
"May we return to Him 30-, 60-, 100-fold for all that He has given us."
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter