On its namesake's feast day, St. Patrick's Seminary held the Installation Mass of its new President-Rector, Very Rev. Mark Doherty. The entire St. Patrick's community was present as Fr. Doherty made his Oath of Fidelity and Profession of Faith. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of the Archdiocese of San Francisco was the celebrant of the Mass.
The archbishop thanked the entire seminary community for their ongoing support of our mission and expressed his confidence and gratitude to Fr. Doherty for taking on this important role, calling it one of the most important positions in the entire archdiocese.
In his homily, Archbishop Cordileone then addressed the seminarians commenting on the Gospel reading (Luke 5:1-11) – the call of Simon and the casting of the nets. He commented that the reading has special meaning for him since he comes from a family of fishermen.
He recalled around the time of his consecration as bishop, St. John Paul II was frequently using the words “Duc in altum! (Out in the deep!)" from his apostolic letter on the close of the Holy Year 2000, “Novo Millennio Ineunte.” Bishop Cordileone emphasized St. John Paul II's point that "setting out into the deep" is our mission in this third millennium of Christianity. Also, he stressed the importance that we need to trust in God concerning His plans for us. He mentioned that Peter eventually realizes that his doubt of Jesus was wrong and falls down at Jesus’ knees and says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). Similarly, we must follow the path God calls us to take. A recording of the live-streamed Holy Mass is available here.
After the Holy Mass, the community took advantage of the newly-loosed COVID-19 restrictions and had a private dinner celebration with a traditional St. Patrick's Day meal. Everyone feasted on corned beef and cabbage and a special green cake baked by our own Fr. Pius Pietryzk, OP.
Also, as per our school tradition, the seminarians awarded by a peer vote the St. Patrick's Award to the seminarian who through his actions most exemplifies the spirit of the seminary. This year, the award was given to two people: Seminarians Lloyd Rebuldela of the Diocese of Fresno and Nicolas Castoldi of the Diocese of Spokane. They were given their honorary green vests.
You can see a slideshow of the day's events below, courtesy of Seminarian Dereck Delgado of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
