Dear Lord, tomorrow is only a day away. That's hard to believe because we've been looking ahead to tomorrow for eleven years. There were times when tomorrow seemed to blur into never or impossible, but now, thanks to your loving guidance, "tomorrow" is tomorrow. Tomorrow my son will be ordained a Jesuit priest.

These are the best of times and the worst of times to be ordained, for paradoxically it is a time of energizing hope in a time of debilitating disillusionment. All Catholics, but most especially priests, must reconcile their faith commitment with the epic crisis situation in the Church.

In précis form my prayer tonight, dear Lord, is "Please may my son be a good priest who always reflects your love in his ministry. Most important, may he find through his vocation his own salvation and help lead others to theirs."

However, you know me too well to expect me to stop there. I am never a woman of few words, and tonight I am filled with many emotions and thoughts I want to share with you.

I pray that my son may be a source of hope and healing to victims of abuse by priests and to the faithful who feel betrayed by clergy. May those with whom he works see a young priest who is striving to serve you with sincerity and compassionate commitment. May his ministry be a conduit of your loving concern for all people; may he truly be a channel of your peace.

Our Church has so many needs. In some small way I pray that my son may contribute to the strengthening, renewal, and reform that the present crisis demands. Please give him the strength to be faithful to your word. Bless him with the grace to work towards preserving the integrity of a Church that truly reflects your image. "Come, Lord Jesus. We long to see your face." May the Church be Veronica's veil to the faithful. If my son can help to restore even one minute detail on this "veil," he will have served you well.

Patricia and John Gavin are surrounded by children and grandchildren, including Fr. John Gavin, SJ, ordained last summer. Patricia has lived in the Boston area all her life; she attended Emmanuel College there and Brown University, where she did graduate work in Slavic languages and literature. She works as a supervisor at a state elder service agency and works with Russian-speaking elders in the area.

Tomorrow, Lord, I turn my son over to you in a very special way. Although he is a mature young man, he is still my son, and a mother's work of worrying is never done. He has chosen a challenging, often lonely, way of life. I pray that the Church he serves will support him and his fellow religious who strive to follow your teachings within the context of a secular society that often ridicules your tenets.

Bless his superiors with the wisdom to make and the strength to implement prudent decisions regarding the community in which he lives. May his residence be a safe haven where he can scuff off his troubles on the doormat and find peace and friendship within. Of course, like a family, a religious community will never be perfect, but may my son be blessed with brothers in Christ who are cheerfully plodding toward perfection, men who realize that sanctity is a lifetime work in progress.

Just a reminder, dear Lord (mothers can be pushy on behalf of a child), my son has left his mother and his father to follow you, so you've got to fill in some of the gaps. Please place in his life fellow religious who will assume the usual family role of support and encouragement in times of stress, people willing to share his joys and sorrows. May he find in their supportive laughter and tears, in their conversation and shared silence, your presence and peace. "Come, Lord Jesus. We long to see your face."

I pray that my son will always be there for others in his community. No one can be effective in ministry unless his own emotional and spiritual needs are being met. There is wisdom in the old adage that you can't give what you haven't got. May my son be your instrument to give what he has to others, and may he be surrounded by fellow religious who can be reciprocal fonts of support and guidance to him. There are so many good and holy priests who have already inspired and nurtured my son's vocation, including his brothers in the Society of Jesus and, in a very special way, our parish priests. It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a parish to foster a vocation. I thank you that through the years my son has been blessed with the example of faith-filled parish priests and the prayerful support and encouragement of the entire faith community.

It is difficult to live with one's job day in and day out, so I pray that my son will also receive support and friendship from people outside his religious community. First, may his siblings always be ready to welcome him "home," in Robert Frost's sense that home is that place that when you go there they have to let you in. As a priest many will call my son "Father," but only a select few will call him "Uncle." Through his nieces and nephews, may he experience some of the joy that a child brings into the world. The human experience seems wanting if one has not been able to see God in the innocent face of a child. "Come, Lord Jesus. We long to see your face."

Also, may he develop friendships with lay men and women who can lead him to an awareness of the depth and diversity of the Mystical Body of Christ. On a personal level may he enjoy their companionship. On a spiritual level may they remind him that through Baptism we are all essential components of that abstract notion "Church."

Dear Lord, please forgive the selfish nature of my prayer tonight, but it is a mother's prerogative to hound heaven on her child's behalf. Indeed, the title Mom confers such an obligation on a woman. Whenever my children were preparing to get married, I urged them to focus on the marriage, not on the wedding. If the marriage is right, it doesn't matter how many glitches pop up on the wedding day. Fortunately, I think my son has seen the parallel wisdom for his big day. He is focusing on the awesome responsibility and potential of the priesthood rather than on the ordination ceremony itself. I pray that my son and all those attending the ceremony tomorrow will find it memorable and meaningful. Even more, though, I pray that my son will always live his commitment to the priesthood in a manner reflective of your vision of this vocation.

Dear God, when tomorrow is a yesterday in an almost forgotten yesteryear, may my son still be a good and holy priest, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.