Dear Parishioners:
Captain Charles Plumb
Former U.S. Navy Captain Charlie Plumb has lived the American Dream. As a poor farm kid from Kansas, he was fascinated with airplanes but felt sure he would never have the opportunity to pilot one. It would be the U.S. Navy who allowed Plumb to live out his dream. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, he became a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. After 75 successful missions, he was shot down and parachuted into enemy hands. As a P.O.W., Plum would spend six years in a prison camp suffering immense torture and abuse. Plumb survived and returned home.
Many years later, while at a restaurant, a stranger came up to him. The stranger said to Plumb: “You’re Captain Plum! You flew fighter planes in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk! You got shot down!” Captain Plum was bewildered by this and asked: “How in the world did you know that?” The stranger quickly replied: “Because I packed your parachute!” Plumb overcome with shock and emotion welled up with gratitude. He gave his thanks for what this stranger had done for him so many years before.
Reflecting on this encounter, Plumb writes: “I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a navy uniform. I wondered how many times I passed him by on the Kitty Hawk and didn’t notice him or even said hello to him because he was a simple sailor, and I was an officer and fighter pilot!” Captain Plumb soon realized just how many hours that sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship. Hour upon hour, this unknown stranger carefully folded parachutes, each time holding in his hands the fate of another stranger. That parachute was needed for Captain Plumb to land safely. However, he suggests that while as a P.O.W., he required many other parachutes. Mental parachutes, emotional parachutes, and even spiritual parachutes were all needed to survive.
Sometimes in our busy lives with its many challenges, we miss what is truly important. We fail to say hello and goodbye, please, or thank you. But each one of us has someone who packs our parachute. A person who provides what we need to survive. People in our lives provide us with small acts of kindness and charity, dutiful prayer, and loving support. Faithful people who do their duty without fanfare and are little noticed by others.
Bishop Louis Gelineau lays hands upon Father at Mass of Priestly Ordination on June 24, 1995
As I mark my Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of Priestly Ordination, I do so with a profound spirit of thanksgiving and as a genuinely grateful priest. St. Pope John Paul the Great once said: “Every vocation to the priestly ministry is an extraordinary gift of God’s love .” I am indeed genuinely grateful for God’s gift of love, which called me to this beautiful life as a priest of His Church. I am thankful to my late parents and grandparents, my brothers and sisters, and all my family and many friends. I am grateful to the professors and teachers who taught me over the years. I wish to thank the seminarians, brother priests, and the bishops I’ve known, served with, and worked.
And for the people of God, I am so profoundly grateful to the many, many people I’ve had the great privilege to serve as a parish priest. My priestly assignments at St. Mary, Star of the Sea, St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and here at Our Lady of Mercy have been a true blessing and a source of great joy. The faith and love of Christ and His Church by so many wonderful parishioners I’ve witnessed over these 25 years are humbling. God has given me a great gift in his priesthood. A gift that allows me to know, love, and serve Him and His people in the sacred ministry. I am ever grateful to God for this gift. And I give thanks for the many people who have continually and lovingly packed my parachute in my life. I may not always have noticed their quiet support and silent prayer, but I am so very grateful for it. I am both humbled and privileged that God called me to such a joyful and happy life to serve as a priest. Pray for my priestly ministry as I pledge my prayers for you and your families. May our generous and loving God bestow his blessings upon you!
I must acknowledge my brother priests, Fr. Barrow and Fr. Connors, who I have been so blessed to serve with these many years. They are tremendous young, holy, and zealous priests and they are a true to joy to live and work with at OLM. Fr. Connors celebrates his 8th Anniversary of Ordination this Tuesday, June 23, and Fr. Barrow celebrates his 5th Anniversary of Ordination on Saturday, June 27. Please pray for them and their priestly ministry that it continues to be fruitful and holy! Also, I thank our OLM neighbor and friend, Bishop Evans, our Auxiliary Bishop, who lives across the street. He too is a source of true fraternity for me and a great blessing for our parish family. On July 2nd, Bishop Evans is to celebrate his 47th anniversary of priestly ordination. We wish continued blessings on him and thank him for his ministry in our diocese and parish. Ad multos annos, gloriosque annos, vivas!
Stay safe. Be Well. Do Good! God Bless! Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us!
Gratefully in Christ,
Fr. Healey