My Son's Graduation

On Saturday my wife and I woke up early and drove to my son’s school for his graduation. He has been going to college for a total of eight years. Six of those years were in seminary training. In addition to the academic expectations there was a lot of other ministry related formation including summer internships. My son now has a Master of Divinity degree. In less than two weeks he will be ordained a priest and from that day forward be known as Father Nick Brown. I will still be known as Dad. At this time of year when so many young, and not so young, people graduate from school, I commend all of them. It takes a lot of hard work, discipline, and perseverance to get a college degree. The whole day on Saturday was enjoyable. It began with Mass in the Abbey church. The seminary my son attended is owned and run by Benedictine monks. The presider at the mass was the Archbishop of Nassau, Bahamas. One of his future priests is a classmate of my son. After mass we had a very nice luncheon that was followed by the actual commencement ceremony and conferring of degrees. Once the formal part of the day was completed I was forced in manual labor since my son was also moving out of his room. Fortunately one of his classmates plus my other son was available to help carry boxes and load the cars. Nick is already settling in to his new digs at St. James Parish in Elizabethtown where he will begin his priestly ministry in mid-June. I am a proud parent today although my wife is somewhat in mourning because we are once again empty nesters and she is stuck with me.