In yesterday's post, I wrote about the death of Father Tim Vakoc, the first military chaplain seriously injured in the Iraq war. He was returning from presiding at a Mass for soldiers when his vehicle was struck by an explosive device. It was the 12th anniversary of his ordination, May 29, 2004. He was 45 years old. He lost his left eye in the blast and suffered trauma to the brain causing paralysis and loss of speech. The years since then have been filled with medical scares, emergencies, and achingly slow rehabilitation.
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A few days after he was injured, Father Vakoc was transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. On his arrival there, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien told him, "You are still a priest. This bed is now your altar, and this is where you are now called to serve as priest."
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Father Tim suffered long and courageously, inspiring love, prayers, and the admiration of thousands as he accepted the difficulties and pain of his situation without complaint. Father not only talked about living in God's will--he lived it. Brother Conrad Richardson, a member of the Franciscan Brothers of Peace, once said of his visits to Father Vakoc, "Every time I visit him, I feel the presence of Jesus on that altar of his bed, and I see Jesus in his brokenness."
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On June 10, 2009, there was a special Mass in celebration of Father Tim's 17 years as a Roman Catholic priest. As recently as June 11th, the prayer petitions on his CaringBridge.org website included :
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"That he be able to swallow, so that he can receive Holy Communion.
For full use of his right arm, especially now as he attempts to do blessings with his right arm."
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What a man! What a priest! What a hero! What an alter Christus! God bless Father Timothy Vakoc!
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Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests, and our Mother, help us to respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.
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