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Summary of today\u2019s show: When a man is ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, he is made a promise that his medical, retirement, and other needs will be provided for now and in his elder years. The Christmas collection for the Clergy Funds is part of that promise keeping where the parishioners of the Archdiocese show their love and honor for the priests in their lives. Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O\u2019Connor talk to Fr. Michael Medas and Joe D\u2019Arrigo about the Christmas collection and Clergy Funds, about the priests who\u2019ve affected their lives, and the meaning of the priesthood as a vocation of spiritual fatherhood.\nListen to the show:\n\nWatch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: \nToday\u2019s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O\u2019Connor\nToday\u2019s guest(s): Joe D\u2019Arrigo, Executive Director of the Clergy Funds, and Fr. Michael Medas, Director of Clergy Personnel\nLinks from today\u2019s show:\n\n\n\n\nToday\u2019s topics: The Christmas Collection for Our Priests\n1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed Fr. Chris O\u2019Connor to the show. They noted that the seminarians from St. John\u2019s Seminary are taking their final exams and heading home for the holiday. Fr. Chris said he\u2019ll be celebrating Mass for Christmas in three or four locations, including for the men at Norfolk State Prison. Scot said he just went to a going-away party for our colleague Anna Johnson who is taking a new job in Seward, Alaska. He said she\u2019s one of the friendliest people in the Pastoral Center and has added a lot to our team. Anna and Karla take care of many of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the show.\nScot said today we\u2019ll talk to Joe D\u2019Arrigo and Fr. Michael Medas about the Christmas day collection for the care of our retired and ailing priests. Fr. Chris said all the priests are grateful for the generous contributions people make for the care of their priests.\n2nd segment: Scot said the theme of the show is \u201cpromises kept\u201d because the Clergy Funds is in the business of keeping the promises made to our priests. Joe D\u2019Arrigo said when a man becomes a priest he\u2019s told that his medical needs, his housing needs, his retirement needs are taken care of. The Clergy Funds are responsible for the health and medical benefits for active and retired priests, stipends for retired priests, and Regina Cleri where 55 of our priests live with assisted care today.\nJoe said when a young man becomes a priests, he\u2019s like other young men, not thinking about retirement or other factors later in life. Most men don\u2019t start thinking about retirement until they hit about 60. Many of our priests are still active in their 70s and they start thinking about a transition to a life where they\u2019re still active in the sacraments but they can slow down a bit. Clergy Funds makes sure they are taken care of. Many priests live on their own and Clergy Funds has a nurse who goes out to visit them. There are about 150 living on their own today, electing not to live at Regina Cleri.\nFr. Michael Medas said about 303 priests are assigned to parish ministries. Beyond that there are priests in other ministries, like hospitals or the seminary. That makes up about 350. Another 350 are in retirement. However priests enter a life of service, so they don\u2019t retire from ministry, but continue their service to the people of God. He can continue to live that life of service with the aid of the Clergy Funds. Generosity to the Clergy Funds directly impacts the lives of the people whose lives are touched by that priest. Every contribution allows ministry to continue to touch people\u2019s lives.\nScot said as we move forward in the Archdiocese, those senior priests will continue to be counted on as the number of active priests decline. Joe said the number of senior priests in ministry will exceed the number of active priests in a few years. The senior priests often allow the active priests to be able to take time off or to go to hospitals or prisons, allowing parishes to have coverage for Masses and other sacraments.\nScot said they are senior priests because priesthood isn\u2019t a job, like parenthood, it\u2019s a vocation. Parents don\u2019t retire from parenthood. Joe said he goes to Regina Cleri about once per week and every morning all the men are in the chapel at 8:30am celebrating Mass. It\u2019s great to visit with them after they come out and you hear lots of great stories. Scot said every man in the pews is vested as a priest for Mass. Joe said there 2,800 years of priesthood at Regina Cleri. At the moment of consecration, you see the hands of every man move, even those who aren\u2019t always coherent. It never leaves them. Those men are the history of the Archdiocese.\nJoe said Fr. Skip Jennings spent 46 years at St. Joseph in Somerville. He retired and went directly to Regina Cleri. He didn\u2019t want to retire, but had a fall and needed to go for respite. He went to Regina Cleri and loved it and stayed. He was loved by his parish and the people love their priests.\nJoe said they hope for $4 million from the Christmas collection. They spent $6 million in medical benefits this year and $4 million in stipends this year. Scot said the Clergy Funds has tried to focus on the individual priests in our lives, to personalize the collection so that we can each honor the priests in our lives. Most of us had multiple priests who have impacted our lives. Joe said they often don\u2019t know they\u2019re having an impact on us. Joe talked about the priests that have affected him. He said his wife became ill about 20 years ago and they needed the last rites for her. They called a particular priest who came in about 15 minutes in the middle of the night. There was no question that he would come. Priests touch your heart on a daily basis for many of us. Even for those who don\u2019t go to Mass on a regular basis, when they need someone, they are there.\nJoe said after the events of last Friday, people have turned to their priests. Scot said his own pastor said how proud he was of the pastor in Newtown, Connecticut, Msgr. Bob Weiss, who rose to the occasion. The loving representation of God in the person of the priest shows how priests can affect our lives on the toughest days of our lives. Joe said that could be any one of our priests in this Archdiocese on any given day. Fr. Chris said as he watched the footage and on that first night he wondered where was the Church, and it came out that Msgr. Weiss was with those parents receiving the terrible news.\nFr. Chris said in the Boston Globe this week was a front-page story about Fr. Doc Conway in Dorchester, walking the streets, bringing Christ to the people of his neighborhood, both parishioners and not.\n\n\n\nFr. Michael said he was inspired by Fr. Henry Ronan. You could see his love for God, as his face reflected his love for Christ. He was so unassuming, yet so faithful to God. He was full of joy and you could see he loved being a priest, because he was rooted in service. Fr. Michael said he is very much aware that it is the people of the archdiocese who value the service and sacrifice of their priests.\nFr. Chris said Fr. Dan Dunn at St. Mary\u2019s in Dorchester as a senior priest affected him. He was a gentle, humble soul. He remembers Fr. Haley in Holliston who had dinners for all the priests of the area to foster camaraderie. He remembers that Fr. Haley had battles with the people of the parish but yet at his parish they all expressed their love for him and Fr. Chris realized that it was just like a father and his children who sometimes disagree but that there was still love. Scot said growing up he worked in the rectory of St. Michael\u2019s in Lowell for six years. Fr. Paul Bailey was like a second father to him. Fr. Paul Sullivan spent time with Scot and his brother on the tennis courts. Fr. Lenny O\u2019Malley worked with a lot of the teens while they were there and gave him great advice. Fr. John Mendicoa taught him how to love to eat. The native of Spain cooked a feast every Tuesday for the Bingo crew. Fr. Charlie Higgins who is now in Newton was a deacon there and gave Scot and his brother Roger invaluable advice as they prepared to go to college.\n3rd segment: Scot said to promote this Christmas collection, the Clergy Funds team put together a video about the life of Fr. Skip Jennings. Joe said his reflection on his life as an active priest, what it meant for him, and his astonishment upon his retirement how his parishioners related to him were compelling. Our priests don\u2019t realize how much they are loved. At the annual Celebration of the Priesthood dinner brings out 1,400 people. One thousand people write personal notes to their priests.\nWhen he has shown the video to priests, every priest takes the story to heart as their own story.\n\nFr. Michael said he heard from Fr. Skip\u2019s story how he had become family to the parish, not in some abstract way, but in a concrete way. Because he is a priest, they invite him in where outsiders aren\u2019t usually welcome. Priests are blessed and honored to be brought int o the family circle. Every priest wants to become a good spiritual father.\nFr. Chris said he\u2019s been living at Sacred Heart in East Boston and St. John\u2019s in Winthrop for up to eight years and he knows them and they know him. Christ is the common denominator, using His priests to communicate His love. It hit him profoundly when Fr. Jennings said there was no other life possible for him because it was the Lord\u2019s calling for him.\nScot said Fr. Jennings was blessed to serve 46 years in one place, but how difficult it must be for other priests to receive that call that they are to leave the people they know and love to minister to a new parish. He\u2019s heard from priests how difficult it is to be sent somewhere else, but it\u2019s part of being a priest. They are always being sent and they serve the people of God wherever the bishop wants them to go. Fr. Michael said the life of a priest is not to be a member of one family, but to serve all. They are called to bring that life of grace through service to many places.\nJoe said Clergy Funds today has expenses today of about $15 million for health, dental, stipends, disability, housing and more. $4 million is about one quarter of what they need to remain stable and the Funds are stable. Scot pointed out that the numbers of priests in need at advanced ages are increasing. It takes all of us to be even more generous than we\u2019ve been just five years ago. Joe said it\u2019s an increasing challenge. Joe said a 4 percent increase each year in the collection will allow them to remain stable. They have three collections per year plus the Celebration of the Priesthood dinner to provide support for our priests.\nFr. Michael talked about how hard it is for priests to ask for people to be generous to themselves. But it is easier to ask them to provide for those priests who are retired now.\nScot said it\u2019s been since 1972 that the Christmas collection has gone to the Clergy Funds as a matter of equity. Previously the Christmas collection stayed in the parish for those priests, but those in wealthier parishes did better than those in poorer parishes. Joe said the driving principle in the Clergy Funds is to treat all the priests on an equal basis.\nScot said people often give the same amount to each special collection that comes up, but now people may want to be a little more generous to this collection. Fr. Chris said the priests do rely on people\u2019s generosity and costs for care are increasing. Fr. Michael said Christmas is about the gift of Christ to us. If you need more peace in your life or know someone who does, come to Christmas Mass to receive peace and joy.\nThe envelopes will be in churches this weekend to be brought back on Christmas. People can also . He said people should bring the envelope home and think about what priests have meant in their lives.