This weekend we have the honor of hosting newly ordained Fr. Bryon Dickey (picture below). I asked Fr. Bryon for some personal information, and he gave me this summary of his life:

“I was born and raised in Albany, Oregon, the eldest of two children. My parents were both native Oregonians. As a youth, I was a member of the Presbyterian Church. After graduating from high school, I went to Occidental College in Los Angeles, where I majored in philosophy and sang in the Glee Club. I lived in San Mateo, California for a year after college, where I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church and sponsored for seminary by the Episcopal Bishop of California. I was ordained and served in the Bay Area for eleven years, including two years as a chaplain at San Francisco General Hospital. In 1989 my commitment to Catholic orthodoxy led me to be received into the Roman Catholic Church . Shortly thereafter, I began an extended vocational discernment. I visited Trappist monasteries in Oregon and California, and earned my living first as an independent businessman and later as a paralegal. I volunteered on a historic ‘Liberty’ ship in San Francisco, and discovered an interest in the sea. For two years, I served in the Military Sealift Command as an ordinary seaman/deck, and sailed on a cargo ship servicing naval operations in the Far East. While at sea and visiting churches in Korea and Japan, my vocation became clear. After an experience of a definite call while at Christmas Eve Mass in Seaview in 2004, where I was visiting my family, I contacted the Archdiocese of Seattle. My conviction of a call has been confirmed by my life in seminary and by participating in parishes in Wisconsin and Washington. While in Wisconsin, I entered into a deeper relationship with Benedictine spirituality and became an oblate of Our Lady of Spring Bank Cistercian Abbey. I am a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (associate member), and the National Liberty Ship Memorial. My personal motto is ‘Onward and Upward’.”

This weekend Fr. Dickey will celebrate and give the homily at the 11 a.m. Mass. We are blessed to have him with us for his First Mass of Thanksgiving. His presence is particularly appropriate since we are celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi – the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Body and Blood of Jesus is the greatest gift we can receive. One of our students expressed it beautifully at the farewell assembly they held for me (see picture below). In his farewell card, he wrote, "The greatest time I will always remember is the time you gave me the body and blood." In my fourteen years at Holy Family, I may have given you certain things – but nothing better than the Body and Blood of Jesus. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting St. Thomas Aquinas, states that the Eucharist is the "Sacrament of sacraments - all other sacraments are ordered to it as its end." (#1211)

This coming week is my last full week here at Holy Family. From June 22-25, Fr. Red and I will be at the annual Priest Days gathering. June 28 will be my last day in the parish. That week Fr. Horacio Yanez will be moving into the rectory. We are making a number of improvements in the rectory to make it more comfortable for Fr.Yanez and Fr. Red. This weekend we will dedicate the two-bit collection for rectory improvement. If you wish to make a special donation, please write the check to Holy Family and put “rectory improvement” in the memo. Thank you.

Este fin de semana tenemos y gran honor y alegria. El Padre Bryon Dickey, ordenado al sacerdocio el dia sabado, celebrará la misa de 12:30 seguida por la procesion con el Santisimo Sacramento.

Gracias por todos sus buenos deseos y oraciones durante este tiempo de transicion. Esta es mi ultima semana completa en la parroquia. Del 22 al 25 de junio el Padre Armando y yo estaremos en los “Priest Days” (Dias del Sacerdote) en Ocean Shores. El Padre Horacio Yañez llegara en la parroquia el 1ero de julio. Yo se que le daran una bienvenida de mucho cariño. Es un buen sacerdote y hemos sido amigos ya por tres decadas.

Algunos me pidieron la Oracion de Comendacion por un moribundo. La imprimo abajo para que se puede guardar. Es una linda oracion que se puede rezar por un familiar cuando esta cerca al momento de salir de este mundo:

Alma cristiana, al salir de este mundo, marcha en el nombre de Dios Padre Todopoderoso que te creó; en el nombre de Jesucristo Hijo de Dios vivo, que murió por ti; en el nombre del Espíritu Santo que descendió sobre ti. Entra en el lugar de la paz y que tu morada esté junto a Dios, acompañado(a) de la gloriosa Santa María Virgen, Madre de Dios, de san José y de todos los Ángeles y Santos de Dios.

Padre misericordioso, Tú que conoces hasta dónde llega la buena voluntad del hombre. Tú que siempre estás dispuesto a olvidar nuestras culpas, Tú que nunca niegas el perdón a los que acuden a ti; compadécete de tu hijo N., que lucha en su agonía. Te pedimos que, ayudados por la oración de nuestra fe, se vea aliviado en su cuerpo y en su alma, obtenga el perdón de los pecados y sienta la fortaleza de tu amor. Por Jesucristo, tu Hijo, que venció la muerte, y nos abrió las puertas de la vida y contigo vive y reina por los siglos de los siglos. Amén.