Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude
Installation of Father Michael Romano as Rector
Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland
October 28, 2025
A Propitious Occasion
It is always a pleasure to visit my alma mater, but I could not have come on a more propitious day than this – the day on which your new Rector is to be installed and the feast day of St. Simon and Jude, Simon the Zealot and Jude the Patron of Hope. I say this because these two apostles shed a lot of light on the mission of priestly formation which Fr. Romano, your new Rector, happily has embraced and in which office he will be formally installed this evening. Let us ask how these saints shed light on the all-important project of forming a new generation of happy and holy priests.
Apostolic Foundations of Priestly Formation
First, these saints appear in the list of the apostles whom Jesus chose, as recounted in today’s passage from the Gospel of Luke: “Simon, who was called a Zealot” and “Judas the son of James”. Luke carefully distinguishes him from Judas Iscariot the traitor.
St. Paul tells us the household of God is built “upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the capstone, through whom the whole structure is held together and grows into a sacred temple.”
Both St. Luke and St. Paul are giving us the bigger picture. Priestly formation aims to equip future priests to carry forward the mission Jesus entrusted to his Apostles to spread the Gospel and to build up his Body which is the Church. This is the lens through which every aspect of priestly formation must be seen.
What Simon the Zealot Teaches Us about Priestly Formation
That’s the bigger picture. But what light does Simon the Zealot shed on priestly formation? Let us begin with his title, “the Zealot”. This is a title most of us would not like to have on our business cards! It’s a word that makes us uncomfortable. We think of a zealot as an ideological fanatic with blinders on. Who of us want to be like that?
Perhaps Simon the Zealot was like that. When Jesus chose him to be an apostle, Simon was likely among those who were maniacally focused on restoring Israel’s political independence. What did Jesus do? Jesus transformed his zeal. Jesus averted his gaze from overthrowing the hegemony of the Roman Empire, to advancing the Kingdom of God. Jesus focused the deepest desires of Simon’s heart on the Kingdom of the Beatitudes where the poor in spirit and the peacemakers are blessed. It was for this cause that Simon the Zealot would go to Egypt to preach and for this cause that he would lay down his life. To be sure, the transformation of Simon’s zeal did not happen overnight. The Gospels make clear that the apostles were slow to understand & really did not understand until they encountered the Risen Lord in the Spirit.
Perhaps that is as good of a description of priestly formation as we can ask for. It is the channeling of one’s zeal, one’s desires, one’s interests and passions … surely away from every kind of destructive behavior but also away from anything and everything that detracts or distracts from the Kingdom of God. Thus does priestly formation encompass the whole of the human person, every dimension, every stage of grow in humanity and discipleship. Transforming zeal is not easy. It is the task of a lifetime. But it is here, in the seminary, that the pattern must be set.
What St. Jude Teaches Us about Priestly Formation
St. Jude, as we know, is the patron of hope and while the Jubilee of Hope is still underway, it is good that we invoke his intercession on this special evening. Perhaps he is associated with hope because of the letter in the New Testament that bears his name, a letter which exhorts us to believe and to hope. In popular piety, St. Jude is known as the patron saint of “hopeless causes”. I hesitate to use that phrase in the context of a seminary! But I am sure there are times when priestly formation can be overwhelming, when some particular aspect of formation, or formation in the aggregate, may appear to be a hopeless project beyond one’s abilities. “Join the club,” I say! I know something about being overwhelmed. Yet I am only overwhelmed when I fall into the trap of thinking it’s all about me and my efforts and not about ‘the Lord of the harvest.’ St. Jude does no5 wave a magic wand. He directs our gaze towards Jesus.
And now to link Simon and Jude: both of them turn our gaze towards Jesus, both of them remind us that any formation worthy of the name demands that we encounter the Risen Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit, that the truth and reality of eternity constantly invade our daily concerns, that we open our hearts to the One who reveals us most fully to ourselves. That is what equips us to be what Simon was: a zealot for the Gospel; and what Jude was: a herald of hope. Priestly formation is not a eight-year exercise in naval gazing but rather formation for mission: for proclaiming far and wide – to those who are convinced and unconvinced – the hope that is ours in Christ, ‘the hope that does not disappoint,’ the hope on which to stake one’s life. Authentic hope and healthy zeal travel together.
The Blessing of Father Romano
Your new Rector, Father Romano is an experienced formator and as a priest who serves the Church with dedication, effectiveness, and joy. In his life, he models the formation which he and the seminary faculty provide. We are very blessed that he has come to Mary’s Mountain as Rector and we are very blessed with the formation faculty of this, my alma mater – even as we are blessed by the leadership of Dr. Joyce, President of the Mount. It is with joy and confidence that I install Father Romano this evening and as I accept the oaths of fidelity of new faculty members.
My prayer is that, under Mary’s protection, with the intercession of Sts. Simon and Jude and Blessed Stanley Rother, Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary will continue to grow and flourish for years and years and years to come, to the glory of God and for the upbuilding of his Church!