I EXPERIENCED A wonderful evening of celebration and sharing on Thursday, Aug. 24. All those who will be honored at the Great Irish Fair in Coney Island on Saturday, Sept. 16 were invited to St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights to meet and to celebrate Irish heritage with one another and friends.
Each honoree who was present gave a short talk. And as the evening progressed, I was overwhelmed by the love and pride in the room. I was also deeply impressed by the accomplishments of those to be honored. Before I attended the celebration, I was delighted to be chosen as one of the honorees. By the end of the evening, I was humbled by the dedication and commitment of so many who cherish their Irish heritage and wish to celebrate it.
Friend and Role Model
What makes the honor I will receive special to me is that it is the Bishop Joseph Sullivan Memorial Award. The bishop was a close friend, and something of a model for me from the time I first met him when we were both seminarians at the Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington. Joe was four years ahead of me. His class had several outstanding seminarians who had extraordinary leadership ability. Eventually two of his classmates, Emil Wcela and Rene Valero, were also consecrated bishops.
My earliest memory of Joe at Huntington is of opposing him in a baseball game. I had heard that Joe had played one year of semi-pro baseball. I started playing organized CYO baseball in my first year in high school. So I had been playing for about six years before I met Joe, but I had never before faced a pitcher who had as much talent. More than 60 years later, I can still picture his curve.
But our main rivalry was on the football field. Joe was the passer for his team, and I was the passer for mine. Joe’s favorite receiver was Marty Bannon, probably the best athlete ever to go through the seminary. Marty would jog out for a pass, then suddenly accelerate and Joe would loop a pass a few yards ahead of Marty, who would catch it on the run, often for a touchdown. Though I studied how they did this play, I could never cover Marty or prevent the ball from reaching him.
The reason I mention these examples of Joe’s prowess in athletics is that the intelligence, commitment, skill and energy that Bishop Sullivan exhibited in sports translated into the intelligence, commitment, skill and energy that he exhibited as a priest and bishop. What seemed to me most obvious about Joe after his ordination was that he was a man of deep prayer.
There is an expression that some priests use when they admire the zeal of one of their colleagues. Such a priest is described as “all priest.” This has absolutely nothing to do with clericalism. In fact, it is almost the opposite of clericalism. Pope Francis would have loved Bishop Sullivan. Joe was “all priest.”
Leader in Social Teaching
The late Msgr. George Higgins – the quintessential labor priest who penned the American bishops’ Labor Day statement for years – was the most voracious reader I have ever met. I thought he was the most well informed Catholic priest in the country. He may also have been the priest who knew the most about the Church’s social teaching. If Msgr. Higgins was the most knowledgeable about the Church’s social doctrine, Bishop Sullivan may have been the second most knowledgeable. For years, Joe brought his awareness of the Church’s social teaching into practice as he worked in Catholic Charities. He had an excellent, well-earned national reputation as a leader in applying the Church’s teaching to various social problems.
I think it is very fitting that the Great Irish Fair starts with a celebration of the Eucharist. At this year’s Mass, we will pray for just about everyone. I have come to believe that at every Eucharist all those who have died in Christ are present. For example, I believe that at every Mass, my mother, father and sister are present. I don’t mean present as a memory in my mind. I mean personally present. They were intensely interested while on earth in everything I did as a priest. They can’t be less interested now that they are with Christ. That makes no sense at all. I believe that wherever Christ is, those who have died in Christ are present. I think of the words from the great Irish writer, James Joyce: “Catholicism means here comes everybody.”
I believe Bishop Joseph Sullivan will be at the celebration of the Eucharist at the Great Irish Fair in Coney Island on Sept. 16. Celebrating the Eucharist will offer me an opportunity to thank Joe for the blessed presence he has been in my life and in the lives of countless others.
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica, and author of “Pope Francis’ Profound Personalism and Poverty” (Resurrection Press).