“No one has greater love than this, to
lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
Two weeks
ago, our Holy Father Pope Francis ordained 19 men to the priesthood at St.
Peter’s Basilica. As he began his
homily, he looked out at these men and in an uncharacteristically soft voice
said: “These our sons have been called to the dignity of the priesthood.” Today we gather in this beautiful church of
St. Agatha because this morning one of her sons was ordained and elevated to
the dignity of the priesthood. Father
Michael did not seek this honor by himself, for the Lord reminds us in today’s
gospel: “it was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” From this parish, from one of our beloved
families, this son of ours was called by Christ the Good Shepherd to lay down
his life for his friends. He was called
because Christ in his loving kindness listened to your prayers. This parish has always prayed fervently for
vocations especially under the leadership of one of Father Marco’s
predecessors, Bishop Felipe Estevez.
Fifteen years ago, I came to this parish as a seminarian and met the
Garcia family. Father Estevez had a
great love for them because this family lived that love that Jesus describes in
the gospel. Deacon Carlos led our
Post-Confirmation youth group who did so many great things for this community,
and it is there that I met an 11 year old Michael: quiet, reserved, faithful to
his service at the altar and to his prayers.
He was too young to join the vocation prayer groups that Father Estevez
would convene. These groups yielded many
religious vocations. Not coincidentally,
but providentially, during that time, this parish began Perpetual Adoration of
the Blessed Sacrament. It was Father
Estevez’s fervent belief that a parish dedicated to adoration of the Lord would
yield vocations, as Jesus tells us “so that whatever you ask
the Father in my name he may give you.”
Our God listened to our prayers and the future bishop’s hopes have been
realized because today the garden of prayer that he planted has yielded the
great fruit of a priest.
Allow me
if you will, to draw a parallel between an experience I had during my pastoral
year here and an experience that I had with Father Michael when he was doing
his pastoral year in St. Gregory’s.
Father Estevez would always instill in us the vital importance of
spending time before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament even if that meant
carving out a portion of your daily schedule to do this. Regularly you would find him around 3pm deep
in prayer in the chapel. Back at the
priest’s house, Father Estevez and I would regularly meet late at night after a
long day’s work in the chapel. No words
were exchanged, but the bonds of priestly fraternity were strengthened there
before the Blessed Sacrament. Three
years ago, Michael was assigned to me at St. Gregory’s where we also had a
chapel in our residence. One evening
after some event, I was sitting in the chapel reciting my night prayers when
Michael walked in to do the same. I
forget how much time went by, but again not a word was spoken. We walked out of the chapel at different
times, and later that evening Michael texted me to say how great it was to pray
together as brothers in Christ. He felt
what I felt with Father Estevez all those years ago. Our ministry, our priestly fraternity that
you experienced this morning when your brother priests offered you the kiss of
peace, our brotherhood is strengthened when you spend time on your knees before
the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Wear
out you shoes by kneeling in prayer. My
father is probably as demanding as your father, and for as long as I can
remember he has always needled me about how worn out the tips of my shoes
are. It wasn’t until recently that he
noticed an old religious priest whose shoes looked similar to mine. He pointed this out to this old, wise priest
and the priest responded, “this is a sign that your son spends time in
prayer.” Be faithful to your prayers, be
faithful to the Divine Office, be faithful to the prayers you offer at Mass,
but be faithful to your personal time with Jesus. Without this, a priest cannot succeed much
less be holy which is what the people you were ordained to serve deserve. Like Bishop Estevez, never be ashamed to let
your people see you in prayer because the people of God want their priests to
have their time alone with Christ the Good Shepherd. Pope Benedict XVI, who I know is a spiritual
hero to Father Michael, once said: “So I
would urge you sincerely to regard this as the fundamental task [of your
priestly life]: to be with him, to learn to keep your gaze on him, to practice
listening to him, and to get to know the Lord more and in prayer and in the
patient reading of Holy Scripture.”
This
morning was filled with emotion for all of us who have seen you grow up. The Ordination Rite is ripe with symbols, but
I want to focus on one aspect which ties into today’s gospel of laying down
your life for your friends. We saw this
tangibly when you prostrated yourself along with your brothers on the marble
floor of the cathedral, but the sign I want to focus on is the anointing of
your hands and your reception of the chalice.
You were anointed for God’s people just as Aaron was anointed and as
Pope Francis points out, the people long to be anointed as you were and when
you can’t give it to them they will take from you the very last drop. But going back to Pope Benedict, this moment
of the Ordination Rite of anointing has always moved him. Back when he was ordained, the new priest’s
hands were bound after they were anointed and they received the chalice with
the hands still bound. The Pope Emeritus
recalls: “The chalice—that recalled to
mind Jesus’s question to the brothers James and John: `Are you able to drink
the cup that I drink?’ (Mk 10:38). The
Eucharistic chalice, core of the priestly life always recalls this saying. And then the hands bound together, anointed
with the Messianic ointment of the chrism…The hands bound together are an
expression of powerlessness, of the renunciation of power. They are placed in his hands; they are placed
on the chalice. One could say that this
shows simply that the Eucharist is the core of the priestly life. But the Eucharist is more than a rite, than
liturgy. It is a form of life. The hands are bound together; I no longer
belong to myself. I belong to him and
through him to others.”
There is
no greater love. You have laid down your
life for your friends just as our Lord did.
You no longer belong to yourself, to your family, or even to this
parish. You now belong to him and
through him to all the people you will serve in St. Louis and beyond. To all the lives you will touch. To all the mouths you will feed from this
altar. To all the souls you will
absolve. To all the sick you will
anoint. You belong to Christ and to
them. There is no greater love than what
we witnessed this morning and what we are about to witness in a few moments
when Father Michael acting in person
Christi capitis will offer up the Divine Sacrifice for the very first time
and in so doing, as you will do every time you offer this sacrifice: with
Christ, you offer up your very self just as the Lord did on Calvary. Live the life of Christ always recalling the
words you heard when you received the chalice this morning:
Receive the oblation of the holy people to be offered to
God,
understand what you do, imitate what you celebrate,
and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord’s cross.
