Location: St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, People of God: Today, we gather in joy and reverence to celebrate the ordination of these beloved brothers into our Lord Jesus Christ’s ministerial priesthood. Their sacred calling echoes through the ages, resonating with the divine commissioning found in the readings we have just heard.
In the first reading, from the book of Isaiah, this moment is foretold with the proclamation, “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me…” These words, which Jesus himself applied to his own ministry, now find fulfillment in the lives of these men, who are being called to share in the priesthood of Christ. We are reminded of the profound mission entrusted to those anointed by the Lord.
So, brothers, as you assume the mantle of priesthood, you are called to embody the Lord’s own spirit of compassion and liberation, to be beacons of hope for all who are in need.
The priesthood in the line of Melchizedek is not bound by earthly limitations. It is an outpouring of heavenly splendor and authority, the authority of God Himself, who is love. It is a reminder of the everlasting covenant between God and His people, ultimately completed in Jesus Christ, true God and true Man; at once the priest, the victim and the altar; “the face of the Father’s mercy.” As Melchizedek prefigured the Lord by blessing Abraham with the offering of bread and wine, through the power of the Holy Spirit you will stand in the person of Christ, offering the Eucharistic Sacrifice on behalf of all the people.
Christ, the High Priest, offers Himself as a sacrifice for the salvation of humanity. You, brothers, have been chosen from among the people to be configured into Christ, the Eternal Priest.
Through Christ, with Him and in Him, you will serve as mediators between heaven and earth, bringing the people to God and God to the people. Like Christ, every priest is called to humility and obedience, remaining a member of the people. Moreover, every priest must recognize his own weakness and dependence on God’s grace. It is through this acknowledgment of vulnerability – by his own experience of God’s compassion – that the priest becomes a channel of divine mercy, capable of exercising the ministry of Christ on behalf of the ignorant and lost with patience and compassion.
The poignant exchange between Jesus and Peter, where three times the Lord asks the apostle: “Do you love me?”, emphasizes the calling and the bestowing of great responsibility as an expression of the Lord’s mercy. This is the same theme of Pope Francis’ motto, “miserando atque eligendo”, which in that case is referred to the calling of Matthew. Upon gazing at the sinner with mercy, Jesus chooses him for a mission of great responsibility.
In the gospel, each time, Peter responds with an affirmation of his love, and each time, Jesus entrusts him with the sacred duty of shepherding His flock. This serves as a profound reminder of what lies at the heart of your being ordained today.
By your configuration into Christ the Priest – through the sacrament of Holy Orders in the degree of the presbyterate – today your baptismal calling to witness to the mercy that has been bestowed upon you through the gaze of the Lord, is manifested in a new way. The gift of your priestly ordination is a pure expression of the mercy of the Lord, who wants to sanctify you through your participation in the work by which you yourselves have been saved. The Lord’s question: “Do you love me?” is an invitation to devote your lives to the service of Jesus, hidden in disguise in those who need the service of your ministry. It is a call to a radical commitment to love as Christ loved, and to serve as Christ served. “Do you love me?” Then, “Feed my sheep.”
For the Good Shepherd’s sake, you have accepted the loss of all things, which you must consider rubbish, that you may gain Christ. (Cf. Phil 3:8). You are saved and chosen by God’s mercy for God to protect, save and choose his sheep as a fruit of your ministry. Imitate and become what you celebrate.
May the Mother of the Church continue to inspire you, with her perfect obedience, to promptly follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, adhering to the divine guidance confirmed in faith by the voice of the Successor of Peter and your Ordinary. As the Lord continues to repeat to you – in many ways and at all times – his question: “Do you love me?”, may Our Lady of Guadalupe form you as she raised the Lord who “learned obedience from what he suffered…” (Heb 5:8). And as she guides you along the path to true freedom and spiritual fulfillment – guided by pure love and self-sacrifice – we entrust you to her tender care.
