September 28, 2021
Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish,
The following reflections were prepared and offered by Pastoral Council Chairpersons, Michael Camilleri and Kasey Harding, on the occasion of Father George Couturier's 40th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood:
On behalf of the Parish Pastoral Council and our entire community of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish, we are honored to share a few words of reflection celebrating our genuine and deep appreciation and love for Father George and for his priestly and pastoral leadership of our entire parish family.
Congratulations to Father George on 40 years of inspiring and leading thousands of parishioners and others - few people have the opportunity you have had to truly change lives, celebrate with people in their best moments, pray and mourn with them in their saddest or most challenging times and have a deep and lasting impact on so many people.
In a homily earlier in September, Father George shared some of the factors he considered when trying to determine if a seminarian would be a good priest. We thought it would be a fun party game to turn those questions back to Father George and see how he would do on his criteria - which he noted are aligned with the philosophy of Pope Francis. Here are the questions he would ask (we left the young parts in so he could enjoy being called a young man for a few seconds):
- Does this young man have a strong faith?
- Does this young man like people?
- Could this young man potentially be a good spouse and father?
- Does this young man truly encounter people? Does he look them in the eye? Does he pay attention to them? Does this young man believe in the value of every person?
Whether you have known Father George for decades or only a few months, we are guessing you didn’t have any trouble answering those questions and quickly appreciating why Father George is such an effective, holy, human, humorous, kind, and good priest. Our young priest, Father George, has earned our respect and love for all of these reasons and many more.
But, we are also guessing Father George doesn’t - and maybe can’t - fully understand the depth and scope of his impact on so many people. As the angel Clarence says in “It’s a Wonderful Life”: “Each man’s life touches so many other lives.” It’s not just the parishioners he has helped, inspired, or guided, it’s the people those parishioners then interact with, help and serve. It’s really incredible when you start to think about the impact this one truly good and great man and priest has had.
And, can any of us who were a part of the pre-merger parishes of St. James and St. Elizabeth Seton imagine a priest and leader who could have more effectively led us through the sometimes challenging and often emotional process of merging these two parishes into one much stronger St. Josephine Bakhita Parish? We had the pleasure and honor, along with many of you, to be a part of the merger process with Father George and we were regularly astounded at how he was able to collaboratively and successfully work with leaders of both parishes to move us forward so successfully, including those times when he had to draw a line in the sand, as all effective leaders have to do from time to time.
Of course, a merger wasn’t enough a test of his pastoral leadership skills, so he was then tested with the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Like every other parish and community, we lost too many members to COVID-19 and we say a silent prayer in their memories. Father George was faced with a seemingly no-win situation in how to deal with the pandemic. But, working closely with parish staff, clergy and lay leadership, he acted quickly and decisively to provide streaming Masses and to find many other ways to creatively minister to his parishioners, while keeping everyone as safe as possible. He understood that people’s faith and their Church community is vital to their lives and he found ways to keep that thriving as much as he could.
But, we could discuss Father George for hours - his incredible sense of humor, his love of music and his beautiful singing voice, his occasional enjoyment of a good glass of whiskey, his acts of love and kindness in the quiet moments, his enjoyment of history, his ability to connect with all different kinds of people, his passionate dedication to justice and peace, and so much more, but we are trying to keep this shorter than one of his homilies (only kidding, we all love his timely, meaningful and helpful homilies).
We think Father George’s priestly leadership can best be described in these excepts from Teddy Roosevelt in his famous “The Man in the Arena” speech: "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs... but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause.”
Or the words of Pope Francis: “No vocation is born of itself or lives for itself. A vocation flows from the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people."
Did not Jesus say: “By this all [people] will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another?”
Happy anniversary Father George and thank you for everything you have done for each of us and so many thousands of others. We wish you many years of continued health, happiness, and joy.
God bless you now and always.
The Pastoral Council and Parishioners of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish
Thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered, contributed and celebrated near and far our Celebration of Service last weekend. It was a glorious day. We will be sharing pictures and further words of gratitude in the coming weeks!
Prayer cards and post cards to write words of appreciation for Fr. George will be available in both church foyers this week and this coming weekend. If you were not able to attend on Sunday, be sure to pick up these remembrances.
