Massachusetts Area Marriage Encounter - Fr. Larry's 25th Anniversary

Worcester Area Marriage Encounter - Fr. Larry's 25th Anniversary

During the past twenty-five years, it has been an honor and a privilege to serve side-by-side in Worldwide Marriage Encounter with our very good friend and pastor (for the past nine years), Fr. Larry Brault. In addition to currently serving together as U.S. Secretariat Structure Pillar Coordinators, he is also part of our Local Area Ecclesial Team and is the Team Priest for virtually all of our Worcester Area weekends. We are very thankful for the gift of his presence in our WWME and parish communities. We cherish his love and friendship and we wanted to share his reflection on twenty-five years of priesthood with all of you (just as he shared it with his parishioners at all the masses on the weekend of his jubilee). - Bob & Joy Hernandez

Fr. Larry Brault's Reflection

Twenty-five years ago, June 4th 1977, Bishop Bernard Flanagan laid hands on me and conferred upon me the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

These past twenty-five years have been a journey of adventure, of challenge, of relationship, of at times frustration and discouragement and at times the greatest joy imaginable. It has been a journey of spiritual growth and it has been above all and at all times a journey of love.

Twenty-five years after my ordination to the priesthood, I want to tell you, my dear people, that I love my Church and I love my priesthood even more than on that June day in 1977.

Twenty-five years ago I began a spousal relationship with the Church - the Body of Christ - and all of you my dear people. I knew then, that my spouse was not perfect - that it could never be perfect because she was made of people like you and me - all sinners; but this Church, my Catholic Church, was and is possessor of the Holy Spirit and it is made up of people like you and me who are struggling to live out our faith, striving to live the Gospel with our hope fixed on heaven, and opening ourselves to live out the Gospel call to love each and every day. And this Catholic Church, my Church, remains beautiful to me even with all her flaws. Twenty-five years ago, I embraced her to my heart and I have never regretted doing so ever since.

For twenty-five years, I have stood at the altar of the Lord and said those words: "Take this all of you and eat it, this is my body" and Take this all of you and drink from it, this is the cup of my blood, the new and everlasting covenant which will be shed for you and for all so that sins might be forgiven. Do this in remembrance of me." What an incredible honor to bring the Eucharist, the source and summit of our life as a Catholic people to all of you and to feed you with the bread of life. To know that every time I hold the bread and the cup up in elevation, I am holding all of us and offering all of us to our Father in heaven. How humbled I am to join you in each and every Eucharist and to realize that here we are experiencing a little bit of heaven together as we join the Lamb's heavenly supper. And it is this celebration of Eucharist with you that is also a part of my great love for our Catholic Church.

For twenty-five years, I have preached the Word of God, broken the Bread of the Word with all of you, and have grown in the Word of Life that it contains. The Scriptures have been my map, guiding me to serve the Lord, as He wants me to. Sharing this Word with you and living it out in your midst, continues to be a source of real challenge and a source of great hope. We are as parish and as a Catholic people - a community of the Word.

For twenty-five years, I have been the conduit through which the Lord's forgiveness and mercy has been given to those who have sought atonement from their sins. Through the sacrament of reconciliation, I have experienced those who have unburdened themselves of sins that have weighed them down and seen the light of Jesus' grace fill their hearts. Wounded myself, I have been there to bring healing to you my dear people. This has been an awesome responsibility and an incredible gift. We are a Church about healing and even in these difficult days, as the Church addresses errors in judgment and the waywardness of some of its members, the Church, my Catholic Church, continues to look to bring healing and to restore strength to its members. This is the Church I love.

For twenty-five years, I have labored at bringing our young people to a greater love of the Lord and of His Church. The faces of the young people who have been part of youth ministry and those who have shared in retreat team ministry remain before me. These were young people who placed their trust in the Church and that trust has never been betrayed. Rather, a positive, exciting, involved experience of Church was offered to these young people and it was an experience that I believe made a difference in their lives. I know that it was and is a part of ministry that brings forth great joy in me even to this day. The Catholic Church I love so deeply is a church in which these faces are so very much a part.

For twenty-five years - actually all my life - I have lived out my commitment to a celibate lifestyle. Celibacy, for me, and I emphasize for me, has been and continues to be a great gift and a great grace. It has allowed me to be fully involved in the lives of my people, to be there for you at all times, and to be a sign in your midst of total dedication to the Lord Jesus Christ. In a time in which many question the value and the relevancy of a celibate priesthood, I want to let you know my dear friends, that I love my celibacy and see it of great value to the life of the Church.

For twenty-five years, I have also lived out a promise of obedience to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester. I have been fortunate and blessed to serve under the shepherding leadership of three unique servants of God - men, again not perfect, but who have given their total lives to lead the Church of Worcester. I thank God for the gift of Bernard Flanagan, Timothy Harrington, and Daniel Reilly. I have felt their support, experienced their encouragement, and have grown from their instruction. They have been truly Spiritual Fathers for me, and as I declare my love for my Church and my priesthood - that love also embraces them as well.

I stand here before you truly humbled - because in truth, this priesthood I celebrate is not mine - it is yours, my Church. It is a priesthood that was fostered in the little Church - the Brault church of Hopkinton - in which I grew. I thank God for this wonderful calling in my life - but I also thank you, Mom and Dad, my brothers and sisters, and all my family for fostering and molding the priest that stands before you today. I also thank you my dear people and all the people of St. Paul's, St. Luke's, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anne's, St. Brigid's, and Holy Angels' for the gift of your love and support over these many years. It is my relationship with all of you that is what this celebration today is all about. You have been, and will always be, my community of love - my Church - and loving you and being loved by you is the dream and vision I strive for every day. Thank you all for what you have given to me.

Finally, for twenty-five years, I have given my life to the strengthening of the Sacrament of Matrimony in the Church. I am absolutely convinced that strong family life, which also includes strong marriages, is a foundation to a strong Church. I have been blessed to be a part of a wonderful movement in this Catholic Church we belong to - a movement known as Marriage Encounter - for the full twenty-five years of my priesthood. My relationships with couples through the Encounter have brought me to the experience of real intimacy and unity with my people. The faces of those who have been part of this work with me, those with whom I have served and currently serve in leadership, those who have made the weekend, those with whom I have shared and who have shared with me with great openness and vulnerability, are also before me today. They have a cherished place in my heart. I believe that this weekend has been an absolute grace and an indispensable part of my spiritual growth and priestly formation. The Encounter challenged me to dream the impossible dream and the Don Quixote in me has taken up that challenge ever since. I will continue to work hard to bring couples as well as my brother priests to the weekend, because I truly believe in the vision it offers - a Church in which we love as Jesus has loved us. I love the Sacrament of Matrimony as I love the Church, and love my priesthood.

Because this love is so great, on this day in which I celebrate twenty-five years of my spousal relationship with you, my Church, I would like to do that which is closest to my heart - to lead the couples here present in a renewal of your commitment to each other. This commitment of married love strengthens me in living out my commitment of love with all of you. There is no better way for me to culminate this celebration this afternoon.

Please join us as we say a prayer of thanksgiving for the wonderful gift of Fr. Larry Brault to the priesthood and to Worldwide Marriage Encounter!

Bob & Joy Hernandez and Fr. Larry Brault