Ch-ch-ch-changes (2017 Edition)

Years ago, I wrote a post titled “Hopes and Prayers for a new Pastor“. If the stats are to be believed, this is one of the most consistently popular posts on this blog. I wrote then:

Being a pastor is one of the most difficult jobs in the world, I think. The responsibility of shepherding souls must be a great weight, though God provides graces to all priests to persevere in their vocation. I try not to stress pastors any more than they already are – I really only expect two things from any priest, never mind a pastor.

I expect that they will be faithful to the Magisterium – the teaching authority of the Church – and I expect them to show reverence to the sacred liturgy – to “say the black and do the red”.

These two things are foundational; it would seem to me that they flow naturally from a great love of God and His Church.

Six years on, I stand by those words.

After less than two years with us, our Pastor is being moved. Rev. Nicholas Wichert announced to the congregation this weekend that he is being transferred to somewhere in Bothell, effective July 1. We’d barely gotten him broken in, and once again, a new Pastor is coming. Our parish of Holy Rosary is – yet again – going into transition.

It is so difficult to lose a Pastor – a Father – particularly when we are blessed with a most faithful and reverent man in Father Wichert.

Our new Pastor, whom I have not yet met, will be Rev. Michael Wagner. He will be our third pastor in two years. Here is exactly everything I know about him.

He was born in Communist Poland, and his family left there when he was only 15 years old. He lived in Rome for a year before immigrating to Seattle. He was a late vocation. His degree is in finance, and he opened a coffee shop in Seattle called Insomniax. In 2005, he was at the funeral of Saint John Paul II, as were we, when he found his vocation. He entered seminary the next year and was ordained on June 11, 2011.

He enjoys reading, hiking, and camping.

Is he part of the New Liturgical Movement upon which our parish has rebuilt its community and staked its future? How’s his Latin? Does he own a biretta?

Is he faithful to the magisterium? Will he “say the black and do the red”?

Who knows? These times of transition are always fraught with unknowns, with trials and uncertainties, and they are often the clearest signs to us that we must trust in the Lord.

We will meet him soon enough. In the meantime, please pray for our parishes and most especially for our priests.

Prayer for Priests
St. Thérèse of of Lisieux

O Holy Father, may the torrents of love flowing from the sacred wounds of your divine Son bring forth priests like unto the beloved disciple John who stood at the foot of the cross; priests, who as a pledge of your own most tender love will lovingly give your divine Son to the souls of men.

May your priests be faithful guardians of your Church, as John was of Mary, whom he received into his house. Taught by this loving Mother who suffered so much on Calvary, may they display a mother’s care and thoughtfulness towards your children. May they teach souls to enter into close union with you through Mary who, as the Gate of Heaven, is especially the guardian of the treasures of your divine Heart.

Give us priests who are on fire, and who are true children of Mary, priests who will give Jesus to souls with the same tenderness and care with which Mary carried the Little Child of Bethlehem.

Mother of sorrows and of love, out of compassion for your beloved Son, open in our hearts deep wells of love, so that we may console Him and give Him a generation of priests formed in your school and having all the tender thoughtfulness of your own spotless love.

Amen.