“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life
for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
This homily was
preached at my 10th Anniversary Mass at St. Brendan in Miami.
I look around this room and see so many friends and so many
faces. Each face tells a story of my
priestly journey. Every picture that I
have seen over the last few days comes alive with a memory filled with
grace. We are not here to simply honor
me for reaching a decade of priestly service, but rather to celebrate the love
that we have for the Church and for the ministerial priesthood. (I’m just here because I wanted an excuse to
party!) For the last ten years, I have
been inspired by you, loved by you, consoled by you, lifted up by you, and in
awe of your incredible faith. Every day
the people of God remind me of the love that they have for the priesthood, and
it even happened today with a lady that I never even met.
We went to pick up the cake that was graciously donated for
tonight and what a cake it was! These ladies
had created my cake for my ordination day which was a replica of my ordination
card. For my 10th
anniversary, they used heavenly inspiration to come up with a new design that
moved me. It was a three-tiered cake
with fish cascading down a waterfall and at the base were two hands, priestly
hands, making sure none of the fish got away.
On those hands were inscribed the words, “Bonus piscator”. For ten years I have endeavored to make sure
that not one gets away and here was this cake made by someone I didn’t even
know reminding me of my sacred mission.
Yesterday, I watched the homily that Father Mario Vizcaino
preached at my first Mass. Two things
jumped out at me at this point in my journey.
The first was his explanation of the simplicity of the rite of ordination. I knelt down before Archbishop Favalora and
through the imposition of hands and the invocation of the Holy Spirit I became
a priest. Through such a simple gesture
something transformative took place. The
second thing was how Father explained how I was chosen from among men to
sanctify men. This reflects what Jesus
tells the disciples in today’s gospel:
“It was not you who chose me. It
was I who chose you.” Unworthy as I am,
God chose this imperfect instrument for the sanctification of his people and to
be a minister of his joy: “that your joy
may be complete.” I do not know how to
be anything less than a joyful priest.
Yes there are days that I may be cross or in an unpleasant mood, but
when I sanctify God’s people through the sacraments and especially in the
celebration of the Eucharist, I must do it with joy. I do not know how to do it any other
way. I became a priest because I felt
this joy that Jesus speaks of in the gospel.
This joy that overwhelms our hearts and must be shared is a joy that I
spend every Sunday trying to pass on to God’s holy people.
And as a minister of God’s joy, I realize that I am also
called to serve. Today’s gospel was read
at my ordination and the verse that still jumps out at me is “no one has
greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” I joyfully lay down my life for each and
every one of you that I call friends, parishioners, family, and strangers
because I was called to serve all. I lay
down my life so that you might know Jesus and then share his joy, his love, and
his presence with the entire world. When
I was Vocations Director, I used to tell the seminarians and candidates that
the Church needed a new kind of priest:
ones that are joyful and courageous.
We need priests that will set the world on fire, will boldly proclaim
the truth of Christ no matter the consequences, and sanctify the world through
their words and actions. But the Church
needs committed laity as well who are joyful and courageous. These are difficult times that we are going
through and we must have the courage to stand with our priests on the truths
that Christ taught us and spread the joy of Christ to a broken world. As a priest, I am called to sanctify you so
that you may in turn bring that joy and that holiness into the world.
Ten years of service and I realize that I am just getting
warmed up. Ten years of fruits that I
see here before me and others who through God’s grace received fruit from this
imperfect servant in an unexpected way.
Even after all this time, I am still humbled when I approach this altar
to break the bread and to share with all of you the living presence of Christ. There is no greater adventure than the
priesthood. There is no greater
life. And on this day, I thank you for
allowing me to serve you, to absolve you, to feed you, to preach to you, to
anoint you, to love you, and for simply allowing me to be your priest.
Thou Art A Priest Forever
To live in the midst of the world,
Without wishing its pleasures;
To be a member of each family,
Yet belonging to none;
To share all sufferings;
To penetrate all secrets;
To heal all wounds;
To go from men to God
And offer Him their Prayers;
To return from God to men
To bring pardon and hope;
To have a heart of fire for charity
And a heart of bronze for chastity;
To teach and to pardon,
Console and bless always--
What a glorious life!
And it is yours,
O Priest of Jesus Christ!
--Author
Unknown
