Priesthood Ordination

May 22, 2004

Bishop John T. Steinbock’s homily at the ordination of

José de Jesús Raynaga Amézquita

Robert Borges

Alfredo Arias Contreras

Efraín Martínez Franco

 

I.  “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.”    To me these are the greatest and most powerful words of all of Scripture.  As the eternal Father loves his own Divine Son, totally and completely, from all eternity, so Jesus loves each one of us.

A.     How incredible and yet true, how powerful and wonderful is the love of our Lord Jesus for each and every one of us. 

B.     “No greater love than this than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  And it is this total self-giving love for us and in obedience to His Father’s will, that led Jesus, Priest and Victim, to his self-immolation in his suffering and death on the cross.  And it is this mystery of love that we proclaim in every Eucharist we celebrate.

C.     The Priesthood and the Eucharist are two sacraments, born together, and inseparably linked until the end of the world.

 

II.  These four men in this ordination ceremony will be consecrated to be conformed to the image of Christ the High Priest and to the image of Christ the Good Shepherd.

1. They are consecrated into the sacramental Priesthood of Jesus Christ to celebrate the Eucharist for God’s people, so that they are able to be united with Christ in giving their lives in obedience to God’s will in everything in their lives.

 

2. They are also consecrated by this ordination to make present Christ the Good Shepherd amongst his people through their lives of total self-giving, healing the wounded, consoling the grieving, forgiving the sinner, nourishing God’s people in Word and Sacrament, leading Christ’s people through the confusion and doubt of this world to the Truth and Light of Jesus, which alone leads to eternal life.

 

III    As Jeremiah in the first reading, these men have been chosen before they were born, called to speak in the name of God Himself.

A.     But their lives of dedication, of humility, gentleness, and patience, of which St. Paul speaks about in the second reading of this Mass, will speak much more loudly than the words they proclaim.

B.     It is only through the power of Christ in their lives that they can persevere in the resolve they will soon publicly proclaim today in their “I am” to the questions directed to them.

C.     And that perseverance is only possible through steadfast attachment to Christ fostered by prayer everyday of their lives

 

May Mary, the virgin mother of Christ the High Priest, and mother of every priest, who closely cooperated in the work of Redemption, help them as they begin their priesthood, and help me as Bishop and all our priests to portray ever more faithfully each day the image and love of Jesus to the people entrusted to our care.  My dear people of God pray for these men and pray for your priests, that they be sanctified, live lives of holiness for the sake of you God’s people, which is the reason of our priesthood, that Christ be glorified in all of you.