|
Priests
Jubilee Celebration My dear brother Priests: May the peace and love of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be upon each of you now and for all eternity! Tonight it is a great joy and an honor to bring you here together as a presbyterate to celebrate some special jubilees of our brother priests. Thus, on behalf of the Church of this Archdiocese, I extend sincere best wishes and congratulations to the following jubilarians: 60 years Father Jim Ross 50 years Father Cletus Bash 50 years Father Richard Beckman 50 years Father John Vrana 40 years Father Jenaro de la Cruz, OCD 40 years Father Louis Vander Ley, OSB 25 years Father Juan Manuel Guerrero 25 years Father Don Wolf To each of you, I say “congratulations and thank you!” Congratulations on your special anniversary. Thank you for the many good and faithful years of priestly service you have given to our people. The occasion of this jubilee celebration also affords all of us a further opportunity to reflect on our priesthood itself. Saint Paul, in the Scripture reading we have just heard proclaimed, reminds us: “We do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord; and ourselves as slaves for the sake of Jesus.” Then he continues to emphasize the plan and purpose of God for priestly service “that we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.” Yes, it is by the Grace and call of God that each of us, unworthy though we are, can serve as priests of Jesus Christ. A priest is a mediator who offers to God oblations and sacrifices on behalf of the people. In return, God chooses him to communicate to the people His gifts of grace, of mercy and of pardon. The essence of our priesthood lies in this mediation through our call and our unity with Jesus, the eternal High Priest. The dignity of priesthood comes
directly from God. It is the Father Himself
Who established Jesus as the Eternal Priest.
This is revealed to us in
many places in the Scriptures but especially in the letter to the Hebrews: Thus the priesthood is a gift bestowed on the humanity of Jesus by the Father. As soon as the Word was made Flesh , the Eternal Father looked on His Son with infinite love and satisfaction. He acknowledged Him as the One Mediator between heaven and earth, a priest forever! As Man and God, Jesus was to have the privilege of uniting in Himself all of humanity. Thus He would purify the human race and bring us back to God. By this, He would render to the Father perfect glory in time and in eternity. Jesus did not need to be consecrated by an external anointing as we would. The soul of Jesus was not stamped with the priestly character as ours was on the day of our ordination. Rather, by virtue of the hypostatic union, the Word enters into and takes possession of the soul and body of Jesus; He (the Eternal Son of God) consecrates them. When the Son of God became Flesh, He took complete possession of this humanity. The moment of the priestly consecration of Christ was the moment of His Incarnation. At that moment, Christ was marked forever as the One Eternal Mediator between God and humanity. “He was anointed with the oil of gladness,” says Saint Paul, for the Word Himself was this anointing of infinite holiness. Jesus the priest par excellence. What a blessing for us to have such a high priest, one who is holy, innocent, undefiled and higher than the heavens. Thus until the end of time, priests of this earth will receive no power which is not part of His. Jesus is the one and only source of the whole priesthood which glorifies God in the manner conceived by Him. On the day of our ordination, each of us entered more deeply into the mystery of this marvelous priestly consecration. Thus each of us is rightly called an “alter Christus.” Day after day, month after month, year after year, we serve God by serving our brothers and sisters. “We do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as slaves for the sake of Jesus.” In this daily priestly service, we come to realize that we are earthen vessels carrying the divine gift. Yes, God has called us, even though we are weak and sinful. But by His Grace and love, we come to realize that we can only adequately respond to the call through service, commitment and sacrifice. In a word, through love. We can love God because He has first loved us and He called us to share in the priesthood of His Son Jesus, the Eternal High Priest. Tonight, we congratulate you, our brothers, who observe a special anniversary of your ordination as a priest. We pray and beseech our Heavenly Father to help us, the presbyerate of this Archdiocese, to become good and faithful and holy and happy priests of God for His honor and glory and for the salvation of all. Most Reverend Eusebius J.
Beltran |