I managed to avoid it for 10 years, but no longer. In the Legion, we have an internal e-mail service called LaRed that delivers news about apostolates, professions, travels of the General Director, books published, etc.
Somehow I flew under the radar and even my perpetual profession wasn’t on LaRed. I was mentioned for participating in a few events. I was even accidently put down as the sole author (rather than one of several) when we published some Conquest material a few years back. However, I have never had a picture where you could identify me.
When I received the ministry of Acolyte at the beginning of January, there was finally a picture of me. In a way, I don’t like it because I was one of 24 and some of the others would have been a better representative. However, at the same time, I got half a dozen e-mails from various Legionaries congratulating me and offering prayers.
You may recognize the brother beside me: he is our chief master of ceremonies in Rome. He’s usually just over the bishop’s, Cardinal’s, or Fr Alvaro’s shoulder in photos. For the ordinations last December, he was studying maps of the Church in between classes for 2 weeks beforehand.
When he ended the rehearsal, he mentioned that the next time we line up like this will be for Diaconate. I don’t know if I am ready for that but if he is right in front of me, I know I don’t need to worry about making any wrong steps. Just watch and repeat.
