To thine own self be true,
and it must follow, as the night the day,
thou canst not then be false to any man.
- Polonius, in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare
In the past two days, I've experienced quite a bit of the timeless sacred in the midst of the temporal secular. Specifically, I've attended the Ordination and first Mass of the (now) Rev. Gerard "Jerry" Racioppi at my church, St. Luke's Episcopal in Montclair. More profound and important than this, however, is that I've seen (read = experienced) the presence of God in a most humbling and yet elevating way.
Jerry Racioppi has served as Seminarian and Deacon - effectively, Priest-in-Training - at St. Luke's for a while now and, in his own understated but effective way has contributed much to the life of our diverse, rambunctious and growing faith community. (And he followed in the footsteps of another legend, the Rev. Diana Wilcox, who, just a few years ago in our midst, went from Seminarian to Deacon to Priest and Assistant to the Rector before being called to her own parish, Christ Episcopal, just a few miles down the road.) And now, having been ordained and, today, leading his first official service as a priest, Jerry, too, moves on. In his case, this means to the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit just over the hill in his hometown of Verona, where he actually started as Rector just shy of a month ago.
So what was so special about these fairly common but meaningful church experiences, that of an ordination and that of a first Mass? Well, the first clue was at the Ordination: we expected perhaps 125 to 150 people to join us to celebrate Jerry's eternal calling to the priesthood. 300+ attended the ceremony and raucously joyful reception thereafter. And the Mass? We had forty people at our 8 o'clock a.m. service - where there are normally half as many on an early summer Sunday - to share the experience of Jerry's inaugural turn as fully official Celebrant and to hear his first sermon.
So what was so special about an unexpectedly large consecration ceremony and a well-attended early morning mass? In a word, the Spirit. The vibe at both events was truly transformative and blessed. The Presence and Grace of God were in the room, so to speak. To say that the events were joyful is a gross understatement. The buzz at the ordination service was palpable and electric. Similarly, after Jerry completed his sermon at the mass, there was a spontaneous desire to burst out in applause - scuttled by a collective sense of unease as we all tried to figure out if sermon-induced applause was allowed in (our or any) church - that was finally sated by a hearty round of applause after the service concluded. When was the last time you were moved to clap during/at a church service?
When Jerry smiled, which he does often - or, really, constantly - he lit up the room figuratively and spiritually speaking. It was not only our shared pride in witnessing the maturation of one of us, his blooming and coming into his own before our very eyes, it was that, just like his mentor and friend the Rev. John A. Mennell (our esteemed Rector and another applause-inducing priest), he demonstrated that he truly has a gift for reaching, touching and elevating people's spirits. (Which, if you think about it, is an extremely important - if not the most important - skill for a priest to have, no?) It was not only that Jerry was good - great, even - in these transitional moments that he made transcendent, but that he was a conduit for the healing, inspiring and elevating Presence of God, an experience all too rare in this too often nightmare of a world in which we live.
So this is what I'll remember as Jerry's legacy and gift to me and my fellow parishioners at St. Luke's - the gift of God's Spirit, lovingly and transformatively relayed. Who knew he had it in him? Jerry's such a mild-mannered, unassuming guy.... God knew ... and reminded us yesterday and today.
And Jerry knew ... because he's chosen a life in which, not only this weekend and with us, he'll show all he meets just what God can do when He/She/It works through us. Well done, Grasshopper....
Grace, as it extends to more and more people, brings thanksgiving.
- The Rev. Jerry Racioppi
