Priesthood Ordination Homily
June 18, 2022
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
A Day of Joy and Hope
We have gathered in joy for the ordination of five new priests for service in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Some of you are family members; others are their parish priests and mentors, still others are seminary formators, friends, and parishioners, and one of you, Bishop Nkou can rightly be called “a donor bishop”. All of you have played an important role in their journey towards this happy day.
The joy we now feel is therefore deeply personal, but it is more than personal. This is a day of joy and hope for the entire Archdiocese, stem to stern. As we ordain these men to the priesthood this morning, and as look ahead to the ordinations slated in the next two years, we have reason to hope that soon, 20 new priests will be serving in the Archdiocese. Such a thing has not happened in here for nearly 75 years!
And what does this mean for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, for its mission of evangelization, its sacramental life, and all its various ministries? It means that many new priests will join with their fellow priests who are now laboring in the Lord’s vineyard, often wearing many hats. The ordination of more priests means that new doors of evangelization will open as more priests serve in parishes, and also in ministries hitherto unfilled by priests, such as high school chaplaincies and in campus ministry, to name a few. This joyful day should stir up in us the gift and virtue of hope, prompting each of us to embrace anew our role in spreading the Gospel and building up the Church in the city of Baltimore and the nine Maryland counties that comprise the Archdiocese.
Let not our joy, however, coax us to rest on our laurels, that is to say, to assume that we now have a sufficient number of vocations, that we have no longer need to pray and work for priestly vocations – On the contrary, let our joy prompt us to redouble our prayers and efforts to promote priestly vocations, not only with an eye toward present pastoral needs, but out of love and concern for those who will come after us in this Premier See. With us today are some young men who are considering entering seminary formation and, indeed our seminarians currently in formation. With God’s grace, next year there will be nearly 60 of you! Let us give thanks to the Lord our God! But let us also petition the Lord all the more earnestly for laborers for the harvest!
Vertical and Horizontal Dimensions of Priestly Ordination
All this I address as well to you, my dear brothers, so soon to be ordained. You are being ordained not merely to preserve the status quo, but rather to bring new energy, new joy, new gifts of the Spirit to the mission of evangelization in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Ordination is God’s gift, given to you for the sake of his Church and her mission.
Like all sacraments, priestly ordination has a vertical and horizontal dimension. With the imposition of my hands, the Church’s prayer, and the anointing with Chrism, the Holy Spirit from on high rushes down into the depths of your soul, and creates in you a new reality, a newfound participation in the high priesthood of Christ. Just as God the Father appointed Jesus Christ to be our great high priest – the priest by whose sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection we have been saved – so too through the Sacrament of Holy Orders the Father anoints and sends you to speak and act in the very Person of Christ as head of the Church – sacramentally bringing to life Christ’s saving words and deeds among God’s People. You will offer anew the one in the same Sacrifice that Christ our high priest offered. In the power of the Spirit, you will change bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood. When you preach, Christ will preach, in and through you. When you baptize, Christ will baptize, in and through you. When you absolve penitents, Christ will forgive sins, in and through you. All of this is grace from on high that you receive in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. ‘No one,’ Scripture says, ‘takes this honor upon himself, but only when called by God!’
At the same time, your priestly ordination has a horizontal dimension – it puts you into a new relationship your brother priests and the lay faithful. As priests you do not stand alone, but are part of a presbyterate, a college of presbyters, who are united with me in the service of God’s People. So it is that I welcome you as my priestly co-workers, cooperators in the truth. As your brother priests impose their hands upon you, they will, by that gesture, welcome you as brother priests and as co-workers in the Lord.
The union of a bishop to his priests and the unity of the presbyterate is not a luxury. Rather, it is crucial for mission, for unless we are united, our mission will not succeed. In today’s Gospel, we read that, even as Jesus was instituting the Eucharist, the disciples began to argue among themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus admonished them not to behave like earthly rulers but as those who serve: “…let the greatest among you be as the youngest, the leader as the servant.” To illustrate his teaching, Jesus knelt to wash the Apostles’ feet. Receive, then, the incredibly beautiful gift the Spirit imparts to you today, but receive it in company with me and your brother priests, and in close concert with the whole People of God whom you shall serve. Receive this gift gratefully and humbly. Cherish and nourish it by daily prayer. Strive to be conformed to the Christ you proclaim and celebrate. Love the poor. Minister lovingly to the afflicted, the sick and the dying. Listen to the people you will serve. Get to know them. Encounter them in love. Win their trust. Discover their joys and hopes, their fears and anxieties. As you walk with them, open their minds to the understanding of Scripture and help them recognize and encounter Christ in the breaking of the bread. In so doing, you will lead them to discover the deepest desire of their hearts, namely, for friendship with God, for discipleship and fellowship in the midst of the Church. Invite them to share their wisdom, talents, and gifts with the Church as co-workers.
Bold Humility
As you receive the gift of priesthood surrounded by the love of the Church, I pray that you will exercise it with what I might call “bold humility”. After all, you do not preach your own word but that of Christ sent by the Father. You do not celebrate yourself but Christ who gave his life for us in obedience to the Father. Nor do you preach and celebrate as if you were an independent contractor. Rather, you do so in communion with Christ and with his Church. Your communion with Christ in the Church is not a constraint but rather the source, foundation and support of that boldness with which you are to propose Christ to your people and to the world around you.
When the prophet Jeremiah protested he was too young and unable to speak, the Lord answered, “Say not I am too young. To whomever I send you, you will go. Whatever I command you, you shall speak … Have no fear, for I am with you!” Courage and boldness in proclaiming the Gospel is not muscular bravado but rather, a humble awareness of the truth of God’s Word and the power of His love, and a readiness to bring that truth and love even where it is unwelcome. The mission of evangelizing is not becoming easier but more difficult, but that is no reason to give up – that is all the more reason for holy courage, boldness, and persistence in the exercise of the priestly ministry. Do not be afraid to bring the Gospel to the lapsed and the unchurched, to those whose minds and hearts seem closed to the Lord and to the Church. Do not be afraid to bear witness to Christ’s love for you and your love for Christ, for if you are a faithful witness, you will draw many to God’s household. And never be discouraged when the going gets rough, as assuredly it will. Like the apostles and their co-workers, let us be glad to suffer for Christ and his Name.
Beseeching the Mother of God
Finally, let us beseech Mary, the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church. In her virginity, she was supremely fruitful, just as your gift of celibacy must be. In her holiness, she gave us the Christ in the power of the Spirit, just as you must give Christ to those you serve in a spirit of holiness. In her unblemished faith, she was the Lord’s first and best disciple, just as you must strive daily to follow Christ so that you may lead his people. In her humility, she boldly interceded with her Son at Cana and was intrepid as she stood beneath the Cross, just as you must be both humble and bold in prayer and in proclaiming the Gospel. Turn to Mary daily as your spiritual mother, as your friend and intercessor. And may God bless you, dear brothers, and keep you always in his love!