Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and St. Rose,
        Ordinations are always such joyful events.  But I must admit that I found the ordination of Father Brad Berhorst at St. Joseph Cathedral in Jefferson City on June 29th to be particularly inspiring.
It wasn’t just that the music was beautiful, or that the Bishop’s homily was superb, or that there was a feeling of great excpectation in the air, or even that the candidate for ordination was an especially good fit for the priesthood.  All of these things were true, but it was even more than that. I have been to several funerals of priests in the last year.  The last one, which was only a few weeks ago, was Father Charlie Pardee.  He was only sixty-four year old.  So his death was a real loss of someone who could have continued in ministry for another few years.                                                                                                                                But the current climate regarding priests makes one wonder why anyone would even want to be a priest.  Father Berhorst addressed this in the Catholic Missourian previous to his ordination.  He said now is a difficult time to be a priest, but this is the time in which God has called me to be a priest.  I found this rather extraordinary.  It is a reminder that now is all that we have, and this is the time that God has given us to serve Him and to build up His Church.  And if this is a difficult time to be a priest, it is all the more important that I am the best priest that I can be.                                                                                                                               Isn’t it ironic that I have been a priest for over thirty-seven years, and that I can learn something so profound from someone who is so recently ordained?                                                                                                                                                       I guess that now is a difficult time to be a Catholic as well, but then, when has it ever been an easy time to be a disciple of Jesus?  Now is all that we have, and God is calling us to be the best that we can be.  And, by the grace of God, we will continue to build His kingdom.                                       Msgr. Cox

 Blessed Sacrament Chapel, Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri