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Msgr. Michael D. Harriman, celebrating his 50th anniversary of priestly ordination, spoke to Archbishop Cordileone, fellow jubilarian priests and guests during vespers May 9 at St. Mary’s Cathedral. (Photo by Dennis Callahan/Catholic San Francisco)
May 24, 2018
Christina Gray
Five priests celebrating their 50th vocation anniversary and one marking his 25th gathered at St. Mary’s Cathedral on May 9 for evening prayer and fellowship and a message of inspiration from 50-year jubilarian Msgr. Michael D. Harriman, who spoke to his fellow priests about the ongoing challenge of helping the faithful assimilate the Gospel message.
“I would say that one of our greatest challenges as priests, especially in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, is to help our people to assimilate the Gospel message, especially with the culture we are surrounded by and the sometimes lack of religious freedom,” Msgr. Harriman told a group including Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, fellow priests and guests in remarks during vespers.
Msgr. Harriman was one of five honored priests who were formed during the years of the Second Vatican Council from 1962-1965 and ordained in 1968. The other 50-year honorees were his childhood friend Bishop Emeritus William J. Justice, Father Donald S. D’Angelo, Sulpician Father Gerald D. Coleman and Father Brendan McBride. The event, organized by the archdiocese, also honored Father Paul O’Dell, who is celebrating 25 years of priesthood.
Msgr. Harriman, who retired in 2017 and served as pastor of San Francisco’s St. Cecilia Parish for 23 years, said he had not considered a vocation until a group of seniors at Junipero Serra High School sat around talking about where they were headed after graduation.
His friend Bill Justice announced to the group that he was going to St. Patrick’s Seminary in the fall.
“He had never talked to me about that before, and I remember very clearly asking him, ‘How do you know as a senior in high school that you are going to be a priest?’” Msgr. Harriman, said, retelling the story of his own vocation. “He said to me, ‘You don’t go down to the seminary saying you’re going to be a priest, you go down to the seminary to find out if you’re being called to be a priest.’”
No one had said that to him before. “Suddenly I thought, ‘I wonder if I might be called to be a priest,’” Msgr. Harriman said.
Msgr. Harriman noted the significance of the Second Vatican Council in his priestly formation and the blessing of having then-Archbishop Joseph T. McGucken return from Rome to share the conciliar process and document drafts.
He described the time as “alive” and exciting and said he was fortunate to have been a part of it.
“The beauty of our church is that the church comes together, meets and talks and comes to conclusions, and has documents and ways of implementing something,” Msgr. Harriman said. “We’re a centralized church and we can do that very well.”
Getting people to assimilate what was decreed, he said, “takes time.”
An important role of the priesthood, in trying to imitate the one true priest Jesus Christ, is to “help our people and ourselves to assimilate the Gospel message,” Msgr. Harriman said.
Among jubilarian priests honored May 9 and pictured here at the event with Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone are, from left, Father Donald D’Angelo, 50 years; Father Paul O’Dell, 25 years; Bishop William J. Justice, 50 years; Msgr. Michael Harriman, 50 years. (Photo by Dennis Callahan/Catholic San Francisco)