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A Priest Forever: The Life of Eugene Hamilton

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When Mother Teresa passed away, it was obvious to anyone with even a pea-sized brain that she was ready. Her lifetime of good work and unwavering devotion to God through bold acts of faith had inspired the world for decades. There was very little sadness when she went home to a richly deserved reward.

In A Priest Forever, we meet another individual who was thoroughly prepared to meet God. Unfortunately, there is great sadness in the life of Father Eugene Hamilton because his time on earth was so short and the promise of all the good work he could have done will never be fulfilled.

From an early age, Gene Hamilton showed a maturity, grace, and reverent nature beyond his years. The tale offers no surprise by his decision to enter a seminary. Heartache awaits the reader as Gene is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and we witness his heroic battle to live and follow his dream of being ordained. When the facts obviously point to his not lasting long enough to complete priestly training, the Vatican responds to his seminary's and Cardinal O'Connor's request granting a rare dispensation allowing early ordination.

Just days before this speeded up sacrament is to be bestowed upon him, Gene takes a major turn for the worse. Due to the quick thinking and actions of his brother and the bishop at his seminary, an impromptu ceremony was held on Gene's deathbed in his living room just three hours before his earthly existence ended. Catholics belief in the permanence of ordination so the title is apt. knowing that Father Eugene Hamilton-who never even donned priestly vestments in this life-is indeed a priest forever.

As sad as the story is-knowing that he could not live out the dreams of his priesthood, seeing the family and loved ones left behind after the loss of this extraordinary 25 year old, and learning the pain that perdured throughout his final months-there is nonetheless a powerfully upliftng result from reading this book.

His life will never be as well known as Mother Teresa, and he did not have the opportunity to touch nearly as many people, but in his brief quarter-century he set a brave example and was completely ready to meet God.

God bless Fr. Eugene Hamilton! I, being a seminarian, could not have found a better time to read the life of this saintly young man than now while I'm undergoing my Pastoral Year. In two years, I hope to be ordained a Priest for service in Miami, Florida. I happen to remember Gene vaguely as we grew up in our hometown Haverstraw, NY. I remember him as a young little boy serving mass at St. Peter's. I played and sang the guitar Mass at the parish.

The book was very inspiring to me as a future priest. Gene's love for the faith and the Church inspired and rekindled my somewhat dry faith (a strange phenomena that happens to us seminarians as we undergo formation). Gene's spiritual life, commitment to celibacy, love for the liturgy, friendships, all helped to mold my own life and viewpoints. I highly recommend this book to all of us seminarians who need a spark, a ray of hope during those bleak dark nights that we seminarians undergo. Groeschel's book about Fr. Gene inspires us to continue on our call and strive for holiness in the priesthood. I couldn't help but cry when I read the section on how Gene died...such a holy death! I plan on visiting my hometown (my dad still lives there) and pay a visit to his grave.

An extraordinary book masterfully written by Fr Benedict Groeschel. A book that touched my very soul. A book that every human being, including every priest, would do well to read. God is so good to have given us Fr Eugene Hamilton who taught us through Fr Benedict Groeschel how to carry our cross with Jesus. I can only pray to do as well. And, Fr Eugene's family? Incredible faith. What an example for all of us. Thank you God for the blessings and thank you Fr Benedict for this wonderful work. By the way, I have purchased several books that are now circulating with priests and lay people. I plan to keep them moving.

Eugene Hamilton's life was a life of faith. To me, a college student, it was a life of example. In a society that is seeing morals go into extinction, his life of adoration to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was a refreshing reminder that our life should be of service to God. To the seminarian, I can only imagine this book is a book of hope. Eugene proves that becoming a priest is not giving up a fulfilling life. His quest for the priesthood not only filled his life with grace, it allowed us, the reader, to taste how fulfilling a life of service to God can be. Thank you Eugene for your life. Thank you Fr. Groeschel for putting into words this powerful testimony.

I felt uplifted to know that as a worshipper at Saint Patrick's I had once prayed for the healing of this young priest at Mass. I feel like in a minute way, I've participated in the story of a saintly soul and a spiritual flower. As Cardinal O'Connor once put it, being a saint meant doing THE best that you can. It is not lost on me that Fr. Hamilton was truly a gifted and happy young man who desperately lovingly wanted to do the will of Jesus by becoming a priest and offered his very self in the process. His story reminded me of St. Therese, for his life seemed to consist of doing little things with great love, including his seminarian studies day by day. How I wish I could have had him as a parish priest or a friend. God bless his memory and spread his story of abandonment to Providence.. .

It was my privilege to have Gene Hamilton as one of my best friends in college and in life. I was honored when Gene allowed me to be one of the first of his friends to know he was to begin studying to become a priest. In everything he did, Gene exemplified the priesthood, and I looked forward to the day that Gene performed his first mass. I visited Gene occasionally in the Seminary, and he was so at home and enthusiastic about his journey. As the sad news of his illness came, his enthusiasm never waned. His courage and eagerness to seek and serve the Lord was an unbelievable testimony to this young man's faith. Fr. Groeschel captures this in his book so perfectly. Gene's life and death had a profound impact on my own life. My mother suffered from cancer along with Gene, and they always asked about and prayed for each other. My mother prayed to Gene every day after his death. Gene's life inspired her own faith during her battle with cancer. Mom passed away three months ago, and there is no doubt in my mind that they are together in heaven praying for all of us who love them and continue to live in their memories. May this book serve to inspire the faith of each of us who read Gene's story.

The story of Father Hamilton, as told by Father Groeschel, is not only riveting and heroic, it also clearly demonstrates that God has a vocational plan for every human being. Father Hamilton's response to God's call to the priesthood, in spite of his illness and immanent death, should encourage every reader to have the same determination and enthusiasm to live one's vocation to the fullest. Priests who read this book will be humbled that they are able to exercise their ministry as Gene wanted to do so badly. Those considering a vocation will want to emulate the heroism of this young priest. We all benefit from the heavenly ministry of Father Hamilton. Father Groeschel's description was so vivid that as I offered Mass today, an activity Gene could not perform, I knew for certain that my earthly worship and his heavenly worship were closely united. That demonstrates the power of this book!

I just finished reading the book... WOW!!!! What an amazing accounting of Fr. Gene; I was really moved by this and INSPIRED more than I could have ever been before reading this, the words of the Holy Father sent to Fr. Gene in hopes of his recovery, "Tell him I LOVE him with my whole heart - in toto corde" that is the true priesthood, embodied in one word, 'LOVE', it couldn't possibly be described any other way - Fr. Gene chose to use Cardinal Cooke's definition - a priest is: a Servant, a Victim, a Brother, a Listener, a Friend. I am very greatful for this story and will never be able to thank my Priest enough for giving me this book.

This book, a heartwrenching biography of a young man who was ordained a priest just three hours before he died of terminal cancer, is a beautiful look at an often overlooked aspect of the sacramental priesthood: the call of a priest to emulate Christ's example of being a sacrificial victim -- literally offering his life to the Father, in union with Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, for the salvation of the world.

The parallels between Father Hamilton's last hours and the passion of Jesus Christ are striking. Christ was but 33 years old when he laid down his life; Father Hamilton was only 25 when he was called home by the Father -- both were at the point in life when life is just beginning, not ending. Christ spent three hours on the cross before he died, every moment of which was his priestly sacrificial offering of his life to the Father. Father Hamilton was ordained to the priesthood three hours before he died, every moment he spent, in union with Christ, preparing himself to meet his heavenly Father, while not neglecting to give what comfort he could to his family and friends (he managed to trace the sign of the cross in his best friend's palm because that friend had previously asked him for his first priestly blessing upon ordination). Crucifixion is literally a death by suffocation. Medical science has shown that Christ likely literally gasped for every last gulpful of air he took. Father Hamilton's death was marked by a very similar gasping for each and every breath. The parallels are so striking that it is easy to see why Father Hamilton's family and friends remarked that their beloved son and friend's agony on his deathbed reminded them of Christ's agony on the cross.

Father Hamilton never baptized a baby; he never heard a confession; he never sacramentally prepared anyone for death; he never celebrated Mass. But those three hours he spent as a priest were as much a true share in the sacrificial priesthood of Jesus Christ as the fifty years of his priesthood have been for John Paul II. The Holy Father recognized that this young man would have such a share, even if he didn't live long, and sent Father Hamilton, along with the necessary dispensation, his apostolic blessing "with all my heart."

Thank you for writing A PRIEST FOREVER, Father Groeschel. The world is richer for the opportunity to know that Father Hamilton is now praying for us, perhaps already fulfilling the ultimate vocation of the priesthood: in union with Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, continually interceding for all mankind as priest and victim before God the Father.

This book should be required reading in seminaries around the country. And be sure to buy a copy for your parish priests, perhaps as a gift for the anniversary of their ordinations.

Eugene Hamilton's insight into the nature of the priesthood shows that his personal suffering produced great wisdom in a very young man. A page turner, in spite of knowing the ending. Put this book in the hands of any young man considering the priesthood. A great gift for a seminarian. A powerful story, a blessing.