THE MINISTRY OF FR. CRAIG BURLINGTON
Fr. Craig and Addie Burlington have made a difference in our life at St. Gregory's over the past ten years that they have been members of St. Gregory's in innumerable ways. We are grateful for their presence among us. As Fr. Craig celebrates the 52nd anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, the following is a reflection he has written to mark the joyous occasion.
-Andrew+
REFLECTIONS ON
52 YEARS ORDAINED A PRIEST
“Persons as a means of grace” was the title of my first sermon preached in the New England Summer Parish Training Program on June 25, 1967, between my first and second year of seminary (one week before Addie and I were married!)
I loved that training program! It was the first time I truly realized I could be a priest in parish ministry. Fifty-four years later after wonderful rectorates in Maplewood, NJ and E. Greenwich, RI, and eight years at St. Gregory’s as a Priest Associate, the theme of that first sermon has shaped my entire ministry, even today as a so-called “retiree”!
People, people, people/grace, grace, grace/love, love, love: all of us appreciating, rather than trying to understand, the mystery of life and God’s love. CHECK!
“Christ plays in ten thousand places...and lovely faces,” writes the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins: CHECK!
Anne Lamott opines in her book “Help, Thanks, Wow!” that if these are our only prayers, they are enough: CHECK!
“Grief is the price we pay for love,” said Queen Elizabeth upon Diana’s death: CHECK! (over and over and over again.)
And yet, remember Thoreau, quoted so often, that “The only remedy for love is to love more.” (Shades of Jesus, the Christ, wouldn’t you say?) CHECK!
Celebrating 52 years of ordained priesthood on Advent 4 as we light the Candle of Love, couldn’t give me more awesome joy, as I give thanks for my companion, Addie, in this long journey of ours, for our beloved family, and for all the persons, places and faces in whom I have known the mystery of God.
How can I keep from singing?
-Fr. Craig Burlington+
