Priesthood Ordination
Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
June 24, 2023
Introduction: In the Spirit of St. John the Baptist
Dear friends, we’ve gathered on the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, for the ordination of eight new priests in service to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Let us ask the great herald of Christ’s coming to intercede for us – for those being ordained as priests and for the entire Church of Baltimore. May the prayers of John the Baptist help us absorb the abundant graces of the beautiful mystery unfolding before our eyes.
From My Mother’s Womb
And so, dear sons and brothers about to be ordained: How does the Nativity of St. John the Baptist illumine what is about to take place? What light does this great feast shed on your priestly ordination? Let’s begin with what the prophet Isaiah said of his vocation … words that found their fulfillment in the vocation of St. John the Baptist: “The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name … …for now, the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant in my mother’s womb.”
What was said of Isaiah and of John the Baptist can now be said of you, dear brothers. As you know, the path to the priesthood can be long and winding, but that path has led you and the Church to the conviction that from the first moment of your existence God has called you, not only to be the disciples of his Son, but now to be ordained as priests. This conviction undergirds the solemn promise you are about to make – to serve the Church faithfully and lovingly, as priests, all the days of your life. May the Lord who formed you and called you, bless you – each moment of every day.
Mission Impossible
Yet, when you think of the varied demands of the priesthood and the challenging pastoral situations you will face, you may wonder if the Lord has not entrusted you with a mission impossible. After all, Moses and the prophets keenly felt the weight of their mission. Even the Lord experienced anguish in the Garden before accomplishing our salvation. So also, every good priest recognizes his inadequacy for the mission entrusted to him. Every good priest knows that the demands of ministry outstrip his native abilities.
Where, then, might you and I look for guidance and encouragement? I would suggest that we turn our gaze to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. In the midst of what must have been a difficult pregnancy, Elizabeth welcomed her cousin, Mary, at the entrance of her home. She greeted Mary, who was carrying Jesus in her womb, as “the Mother of my Lord”, and at that moment, John, the infant in Elizabeth’s womb, leapt for joy. At once, the luminous vocations of Mary, Elizabeth, and John shone forth and were captured in Mary’s ageless hymn of praise, the Magnificat.
If you would embrace your priestly vocation and mission, dear brothers, then you, like Elizabeth, must allow Holy Mother Church to bring Jesus, each day to your doorstep … to the entry way of your heart. This happens as you pray the Liturgy of the Hours, meditate on the Gospels, avail yourself of spiritual direction and sacramental Confession, and celebrate the Mass and Sacraments with reverence and love. It happens as you encounter Christ in those you serve – young people and families, the disaffiliated, the immigrant, the aged, the sick and the dying, the poor… In all these ways, the Lord will arrive each day at the threshold of your soul, to nourish and strengthen you to be a priest after his own heart. When the Christ arrives, leap for joy, and welcome him anew.
Loosening the Tongue
Among your most formidable tasks is proclaiming the Word of God. Because of your sound seminary formation, you know well that preaching is more than a matter of content and technique. Rather, as the Gospel passage about Zechariah demonstrates, it is foremost a matter of deep trust in every word that comes from the mouth of God. When the angel approached Zechariah in the temple and told him that his wife, Elizabeth, was to have a son in her advancing years – he couldn’t believe it – just as we can be incredulous when God surprises us. For his incredulity, Zechariah’s powers of speech and hearing were taken from him. Only when Zechariah acceded to God’s will by naming his newborn son, not after himself but rather John, as God wished – only then was his tongue loosened, and in response he uttered his prophetic canticle, the Benedictus.
Key to preaching the Gospel with courage and love is listening to God’s Word in prayer. Openness to God’s will, openness to his teaching and to the needs of those we serve, coupled with daily conversion and striving for personal holiness – all this is foundational to preaching the Word of God well and wisely. When our lives are attuned in all respects to the saving will of God the Father, then we are free; our tongue is loosened; we preach with credibility, and our proclamation bears the good and lasting fruit of the Gospel.
Preparing the Way for the Lamb of God
And the good fruit of the Gospel is measured not by personal success or acclaim, but rather by the extent to which our preaching leads others to encounter Christ. Like John the Baptist, it will be your mission to herald the coming of the Savior, to help people make a pathway for the Lord in their hearts, so that as individuals and communities of faith they can encounter the Lord – and in opening their hearts to the Lord, to encounter others – inactive Catholics, fellow parishioners, family, friends, enemies, the poor, the sick and the vulnerable.
Like John you will call people to repentance and newness of life, but unlike John, you won’t baptize Jesus in the Jordan River! But you will baptize many in the name and power of Jesus, bringing to life in those you baptize his death and resurrection…and inserting them into the life of the Trinity upon which the Church is modeled and founded. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you will free many from the burden of their sins, helping them to repair their relationship with God and the Church, bringing pardon, forgiveness, peace, and joy. Like John, you will proclaim the Lamb of God but more than that, in the Mass you will be the living instruments of his true presence as you offer the very sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world . . . his saving death and resurrection. Let the Eucharist be the center of your priestly life, its source and summit, the raison d’etre of your life and ministry.
Witnessing to the Lamb of God
Even as we celebrate today the birth of John the Baptist, the liturgy also references his greatest act of witness to Christ, viz., his martyrdom. There is no vocation worthy of the name that does not entail some measure of suffering meant to bear witness to the crucified Lord. Make no mistake, dear brothers, in your life as a priest, the Cross will assert itself. Yet it is in the crucible of suffering that love, especially pastoral charity, is perfected. It is in the crucible of suffering that our hearts learn to love like Christ’s own heart. It is in the crucible of suffering that we decrease so that Christ might increase!
Reflecting on John the Baptist, Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women, there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet, the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.” Called from your mothers’ wombs to be ordained as priests, may you aspire to the true greatness of that Kingdom where Christ our High Priest lives and reigns with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.