Priest from Hamilton delivers opening
prayer on House floor
Thursday, July 17, 2008
BY JEFF TRENTLY
Congressman Smith and Fr JC
Garrett
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Welcome back, Father.
A Hamilton priest delivered the opening prayer
before the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday -- 26
years after he served on the House floor as a
congressional page.
Father John C. Garrett of Our Lady of Sorrows-St.
Anthony parish in Hamilton spoke from the House floor as
guest chaplain at the invitation of his old boss, Rep.
Chris Smith, R-Hamilton.
The last time Garrett was on the House floor was
in 1982, when he was Smith's first congressional page.
"It was nice to come back, see some old faces,"
Garrett said. "My old boss is still here."
His old boss -- Smith -- hired him as his first
congressional page back in 1981 when Smith first came to
Washington and Garrett was still a senior in high
school.
"He knows how Congress works," Smith said
yesterday, after hearing his old page give the prayer
before the room full of representatives. "This was his
home for a year."
And it was quite a homecoming, Garrett said.
He met with Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the
house, and then visited Smith in his office, catching up
on old times.
Garrett particularly remembers the day former
Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was assassinated -- Oct.
6, 1981 -- when Garrett heard all the members of
congress give their reaction.
"I was there when some history was being made," he
said.
Smith was proud to see how his old page is doing
these days.
"He has really come far, a very good priest," he
said.
Garrett wrote the prayer he delivered to the
representatives but had to follow some guidelines from
the House's Office of the Chaplain.
The biggest?
"Don't make references to controversies," he said.
And he wasn't nervous to address the nation's
leaders on the House floor, he said.
"For people who don't watch C- SPAN, they might
not realize it, but it's really not that crowded,"
Garrett said.
But Garrett did notice some changes from the old
days.
"The dais is smaller than I remember," he said. "I
guess that means I'm bigger than I was as a kid."
Contact Jeff Trently at jtrent ly@njtimes.com.
The above picture is of my sister Jennifer (who works in
Rep. Smith's district office), Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Christopher Smith, myself, and
Fr. Daniel Coughlin, the Chaplain of the House of
Representatives.
The above picture is James Oliver, who recently retired as
the Head of the Republican House Page Service (my old boss),
Rep. Smith, Speaker Pelosi, myself, and Tim H. , the
supervisor of the Republican Cloakroom, where I worked for 6
months as a Page (Tim was my supervisor).
©2008 Times of Trenton
© 2008 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
Fr. JC Goes to
Washington
Wednesday I had a great honor. I was
invited, at the request of Rep. Christopher Smith, NJ-4, to
be the guest chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives.
While I had “floor privileges” for the entire day, my only
real duty was to say the opening prayer, which follows, at
the start of the session.
Opening Prayer
U.S. House of Representatives
July 16, 2008
Fr. John C. Garrett
“We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the Pursuit of Happiness.” (Declaration of Independence)
God, Creator of Heaven and Earth,
The Founders of this Great Nation, recognized the basic
principle that You are our Creator and we are Your noble,
yet humble, creatures. As such, all men and women are loved
and treasured by You. Send your blessings on the women and
men of this honorable House, so that they will be guided by
your Divine Law in their deliberations. Grant them the
wisdom to seek the common good for all people. May all their
actions demonstrate respect and reverence for all people;
each made in Your Divine image and likeness. Let all this be
done for Your greater glory. We ask this in Your Divine
Name.
Amen.
How did I get selected for this honor?
Well, it is a long story. I first met Chris Smith back in
1976. He was the Executive Director for New Jersey Right to
Life, and was the campaign manager for a Pro-Life Democrat,
Steve Foley, who was running in the primary for the U.S.
Senate. My father was the Mercer County campaign manager for
Mr. Foley. I was 12 at the time, and spent many an evening
stuffing envelopes and other campaign type activities with
Chris and his then girlfriend, Marie, whom he married. The
Smiths became friends of my family. In 1978 Chris decided to
switch parties and run for Congress, so my family was back
into stuffing envelopes. He lost that election, but he ran
again in 1980, and won. By that time I was a junior in high
school, with an interest in politics and law. My father told
me that when he went to Washington, D.C. on his high school
senior trip he met a Congressional Page. When Congressman
Smith was first elected, in 1980, during my junior year, I
asked him about applying to become a Congressional Page.
Right at the end of my junior year I found out that I had
been selected, so I spent my senior year of high school as a
Congressional Page in the U.S. House of Representatives. I
was Congressman Smith’s first Page. It was a wonderful year,
and I learned so much about the legislative process, and had
a unique vantage point on moments of history.
My family continued to be friends with
the Congressman and his family. My mother worked in his
district office for nearly 20 years. Now my sister Jennifer
works in his district office.
Wednesday actually started on Tuesday.
After having a funeral here in the parish, I drove down to
DC. A friend of my sister, Ann, from medical school is now a
Jesuit priest teaching at Georgetown, and he was good enough
to allow me to stay there. We had a great visit.
Wednesday morning I was to report to
Congressman Smith’s office at 9:15 a.m. Not sure of
Washington traffic, I left a little after 8 a.m. Parking was
arranged for me at the Capitol. Of course there was a lot of
security to go through. There was a pleasant surprise for me
at Congressman Smith’s office—my sister Jennifer came down
to work that day in the DC office. We were escorted to the
Speaker’s Lobby (a room just off the House Floor), and I was
told where I would stand and the procedure that would be
followed. Mr. Oliver, the man in charge of the Pages on the
Republican side when I was a Page, was there as were two of
my other supervisors. Mr. Oliver retired a few months ago,
and we had dinner later that evening with one of my Page
School classmates. My sister was escorted to the gallery,
and I waited on the dais for the Speaker to call the House
to order. She then introduced me, and I said the prayer.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Speaker Pelosi invited me
back to her office for pictures. My sister joined us. While
I do not agree with the Speaker’s position on Life Issues
(e.g., abortion, embryonic stem cell research, etc.), she
was very pleasant to speak with. She asked me about what it
was like to be back after 26 years, the parish I am assigned
to, my friendship with Congressman Smith. After pictures
Congressman Smith took me back to the House Floor where he
gave a 1-minute speech about, well, me. Then it was back to
his office for a nice visit. Eventually he, and my sister,
needed to get to work.
I spent the afternoon at the Basilica
Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, said Mass there for
Deacon Joseph Malloy, and visited with a friend from the
seminary. I met my Page School classmate and Mr. Oliver at
“Chef Geoff’s Downtown” for a most delightful dinner. Then
it was the long drive back to New Jersey. It was a very nice
day.
Fr. JC
Garrett
|
