Sea Services and Working in God's Vineyard

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 10/6/05)

The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde during the Annual Pilgrimage for the Sea Services at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Md., on Oct. 2.

Permit me to begin by telling you how privileged and grateful I am to be with you as we gather for this annual pilgrimage for the sea services honoring St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, your patroness. Why am I so privileged and grateful? I grew up along the shores of eastern Connecticut in a small town called Pawcatuck. This town was very close to the submarine base in Groton and not so very far from the Quonset Navy Base in Rhode Island and from Newport, R.I. When I was a young boy, the first floor apartment in my parents’ home was rented to a Navy couple. Navy and Coast Guard personnel were part of the local community.

As a young priest, I was stationed in New London. Among my responsibilities was the assignment as a part-time Chaplain at Connecticut College. Across the street from Connecticut College was the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and I often assisted the Chaplain at the Academy, especially on Wednesday evenings and sometimes on Sunday morning. I had the privilege of marrying a number of Coast Guard graduates and later of baptizing their children. And so, as I gather with you this afternoon, many rich and enduring memories fill my mind and heart. And again, I thank you for the privilege of being among you today.

No one among us can miss the dominant image of a vineyard that is being projected before us through the proclamation of God’s word. In the first reading, we heard the song about a vineyard and in the Gospel, Jesus was again teaching us through parables, this time the parable of the vineyard. The key lesson is this: as the owner leased his vineyard to tenants and had the right to expect them to produce a good harvest of grapes, so God hands over to us — leases — parts of His vineyard and expects us to produce a good harvest as well. Remember: the vineyard is a symbol or image. God’s vineyard is not land but one much more precious and valuable — people and life itself. The portion of the vineyard God asks us to care for differs for each of us according to our age or vocation. But the Lord does ask us to be concerned and involved and to bring forth good grapes, good results, "fruit-worthy of Him and the people entrusted to us."

This basic lesson is so evident in the life of the woman-saint whom we are honoring during this Mass, of the woman-saint who is the patroness of sea services: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. God entrusted to her the vineyard of her family. How lovingly she took care of her husband and her children! God had entrusted to her as well the vineyard of the poor in New York City and there, with other young women, she ministered to their needs. Later, God entrusted to her the vineyard of the young needing a Christian education as well as people who were in need both spiritually and materially. God also gave to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton the vineyard of the new community that she founded. And throughout her life, God entrusted to this woman so many people whom He had redeemed, asking her to help them grow in the holiness to which He calls every person. When harvest time came, when the Son of God arrived, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton returned a plentiful and good harvest. The proof that she did so was so evident thirty years ago when on Sept. 14, 1975, she was canonized a saint by Pope Paul VI.

We gather today, to honor this woman, now a saint, to ask her prayerful intercession for all who belong to the sea services: the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Merchant Marine. After all, how close to her maternal heart in heaven are all of you who have served or are currently serving in the sea services, since her own sons, William and Richard, served in the U.S. Navy.

You who are members of the sea services, you have been sent by the Lord into the vineyard of our nation and world for our benefit. Did you not give of your very selves and continue to give, toiling in the vineyard, in keeping this country and our world safe and secure from all sorts of dangers, including terrorism and oppression? Did you not give of your very selves and continue to give, toiling in the vineyard, in preserving God’s creation, especially the seas and waterways, so that they may benefit us in ways that are wholesome and productive? Did you not give and continue to give of your very selves, toiling in the vineyard, in rescuing people from harm, harm that comes through natural disasters like the hurricanes of recent memory, Katrina and Rita, and harm coming through accidents? Yes, in the vineyard in which you have labored and are laboring, you have produced the good fruit of freedom, security, environmental health and safety.

Permit me in the name of so many thousands, to express deep gratitude to each of you for all that you are and do in the sea services. Please know that our prayer rises up to the Lord for your welfare and safety as you continue to labor in the vineyard given to you.

Each of us, therefore, works in God’s vineyard. We have reflected together on the vineyard entrusted to those in the sea services. One labor in the Lord’s vineyard engages all of us, whatever our vocation or age. That labor involves protecting and defending the most precious gift of all and the most fundamental right of all: the gift of life and the right to life. October is Respect Life Month, life which begins at its first moment at conception and continues to its last moment at natural death. Our patroness, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton sought throughout her life to form people for the Lord. And as our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, reminds us, the Lord’s people are a people of life and for life and that is how we present ourselves to everyone. Let us therefore labor together, producing this fruit: the victory of life over every threat and attack against it.

Yes, God sends us into His vineyard, you the members of the sea services and each of us, whatever our vocation in life. When the Son of God returns, may we give Him the harvest of good grapes: lives of service lived in love for God and in love for others. Dear St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, continue to watch over all of us, those who are in the sea services, whether retired or active, and all of us who seek to follow the Lord Jesus. Keep us close to our Blessed Lord and at life’s end, let us give Him a harvest worthy of His glory and bring us to heaven where, with you, we may praise our God forever and ever. Amen.

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