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Graced Moments

BY BISHOP NEAL J. BUCKON

Every Christmas we commemorate the travel of Mary and Joseph, a recently married couple, to Bethlehem where Jesus, our Savior, was born. On the Sunday following Christmas Day, the Universal Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family. Marriage, childbearing, and family life were very much a part of God’s plan in the history of our salvation; and they remain prominent priorities in the Church today. I like to think of the celebrations of the sacrament of holy matrimony and the sacrament of baptism as “Graced Moments.” God blesses the bride and the groom with a special grace on their wedding day. But this wedding day is also a graced moment for the family and friends who pray as the man and woman join together for life. In a similar way, during an infant baptism the child is

cleansed of original sin and blessed with sanctifying grace as the light of eternal life shines on this person for the very first time. The celebration of baptism is a graced moment for all who prayerfully witness the baptism.

During the past few months, I had the honor of presiding over the celebration of two weddings and one baptism. The first wedding took place on Saturday, 15 August 2020. The bride, Marie Hokenson, asked me to officiate her wedding. I met Marie in 2004 in the USAG-Heidelberg, Germany. Marie is the daughter of LTC Michael and Michelle Hokenson, USA (retired). Michelle currently works at the AMS as the Associated Director, Evangelization Resources. Marie was a sophomore in the DoDEA (formerly DODDS) High School and her mother, Michelle Hokenson, was the Catholic Coordinator. Marie subsequently graduated from West Point in 2011 and is currently a Captain PHILIP AND DANIELLE MACFARLAND WITH JONATHAN in the Army Reserve. I met the groom, Mr. Bryce Jones, for the first time at the wedding rehearsal. The wedding Mass was celebrated at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Leesburg, Virginia. During the homily I spoke of the importance of deciding to commit oneself to family life in the years to come. I asked them, “Are you ready to commit to a communion of kinship that makes God’s love present in the world”? When husbands and wives decide to bring love to the life of their family, then God’s love will be visible to the family and to the

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Graced Moments

entire society. Due to the global pandemic, invited guests were limited to members of the immediate family. The Mass was live streamed to other family members and friends who will be invited to a reception when the health and safety of all can be guaranteed. It was a joy for me to reunite with the Hokenson Family and to gain the acquaintance of the great Americans in the Jones family.

On 4 October 2020, I baptized an infant, Jonathan “Jack” MacFarland, at the main post chapel of Fort Irwin, California. The sacraments of baptism and confirmation were celebrated during the Sunday morning Mass in the midst of a worshipping faith community. Jonathan is the son of Captain Philip and Danielle (nee’ Brown) MacFarland. I met Philip in 2004, when he was in 9th Grade in the DoDEA (formerly DODDS) school of USAG-Heidelberg, Germany. Philip is the son of LTG Sean and Lynda MacFarland, USA (retired). He is a graduate of West Point, Class of 2012; and he is currently serving as an Observer / Controller at the National Training Center. As I was preparing for the annual pastoral visit to Fort Irwin, the MacFarlands asked me to baptize Jonathan. I was elated. In baptism we enter into a covenant with God and become members of the Church. I always emphasize that becoming an adopted child of God, a child of the light, is a graced moment in the life of every Christian. At Jack’s baptism it was obvious to see that it was also a graced moment for his parents and grandparents. Every priest is blessed to be the celebrant of a graced moment.

Ms. Jennifer Quintero asked me to be the celebrant and homilist for the wedding Mass she and her fiancé, Deandra Stevenson, were planning for 7 November 2020. Her father, LTC Gary Quintero, USA (retired), and I served together on the 3rd ID, DIVARTY staff at Fort Stewart, Georgia 1999-2002. I told her that I was honored by her invitation, especially since I was her “pastor” 20 years ago when she made her first holy communion. I eagerly flew to Huntsville, Alabama to celebrate the wedding Mass at St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church.

The wedding weekend was very special for another reason. In the Spring of 2000, the Archdiocese for the Military Services had contracted a media company to produce a video promoting vocations to the military chaplaincy. This short film was 22 minutes in length and it was called “Never Far from Home.” In the making of the film, the filming crew arrived to Fort Stewart to capture FRONT ROW: L-R: MS. NIKKI QUINTERO, MS. PATRICE QUINTERO, BISHOP NEAL BUCKON, MS. JENNIFER my ministry to soldiers (QUINTERO) STEVENSON, MR. DRA STEVENSON, MS. in the field and families EMILY QUINTERO, MS. STEPHANIE (QUINTERO) CLARK in the chapel. Gary and AND MR. COREY CLARK. BACK ROW: L-R: LTC GARY QUINTERO (USA-RET), CAPT AUSTIN QUINTERO (USMC), MS. Patrice Quintero's daughter, SAMANTHA QUINTERO, AND MS. VICTORIA QUINTERO. Samantha, was born on 6 April 2000 and with the chapel decorated for Easter, and the supporting cast of the Quinteros, I baptized Samantha as the cameras were rolling! Jennifer’s wedding was for me both a celebration of marriage and a cast reunion. It was a graced moment for me! During the wedding homily I spoke about grace. I said, “The grace communicated in the sacrament of marriage is not a one-time infusion, but an ongoing source of strength and power for couples in living out their vocations as spouses and parents. This grace is received and extended through the life of a family by regular practices of love, prayer, reconciliation, acknowledgment, and service. God’s grace is always operative, always at work, in the relationships and expressions of love, generosity, and forgiveness of the family! Grace is received and extended throughout families every Christmas. This is what makes Christmas extra special for marriage and family life. V

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