February 24, 2010

A Priest’s Chalice: Mentor’s chalice charged with meaning

By Father Gary Selin

On May 25, 1958, Father Perry Dodds was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Boise, Idaho.  He recently had finished his seminary studies at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver.  For his ordination his parents gave to him a gold-plated, Romanesque chalice and paten made in Holland.  Around the base of the chalice are the words of St. Paul from Philippians 2:8: “Obediens usque ad mortem” (Obedient unto death).  Father Dodds used this chalice daily until his death in 2009.

When I was 11years old, Father Dodds began his pastorate at my home parish, St. Edward the Confessor in Twin Falls, Idaho. For the years to come I grew to love Father Dodds and enjoyed serving his Mass. At every Mass we servers would prepare his beautiful chalice, placing the purificator, host and pall on top, and carry it to the sanctuary.  This chalice accompanied him in his subsequent assignment to a country parish and into retirement.  I still remember the daily Mass, scheduled for 12:10 p.m., a profound experience that awakened my soul to a priestly vocation.

Some time after graduating from high school, I moved away from Twin Falls but I would return on a regular basis to visit family and friends. As a college student and later as a seminarian I would serve his Mass in the private chapel of his apartment during his retirement years.  Finally as a priest I had the joy and privilege of concelebrating Mass with him. Father Dodds continued to use the chalice given to him by his parents at his ordination in 1958. These Masses were always scheduled for 12:10 p.m.

In 2009 Father Dodds became deathly ill due to kidney failure and other ailments. At one point he could no longer offer Mass, but in his bed of pain he offered his sufferings to the Triune God.  On May 17, 2009, Father Dodds offered up his soul to Jesus Christ in the last priestly offering of his earthly life.  The time of his death?  Precisely 12:10 p.m., the time of his daily Mass.

Father Dodds bequeathed his chalice to me and I am overjoyed to continue to use it for the greater glory of God and for the salvation of souls. In God’s ineffable providence, I use this chalice for holy Mass in our seminary chapel where Father Dodds prayed as a seminarian more than 50 years ago.

Father Gary Selin is a formation director at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver.