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Ordination Homily Brother Boniface: You have just been presented to me by your ecclesiastical superior, Abbot Lawrence, for ordination to the priesthood. I and all who are gathered here today have long awaited this moment. It is truly a great joy and a blessing for us to be here today for your ordination. I thank you for answering God’s call. I congratulate you and assure you of my prayers and support. Congratulations to you and all your family members. More than one hundred and thirty years ago, Father Isidore Robot and Brother Dominic Lambert crossed the Arkansas River at Fort Smith and entered the Indian Territory. They were Benedictine Monks from France who came here to be missionaries. Within a relatively short time, they established Sacred Heart Monastery near Konawa on land given them by the Pottawatomie Tribe. The first parish they opened in this new mission territory was Saint Patrick Church in Atoka. They had a dream and a purpose. Therefore, within a few decades, the Sacred Heart Monastery was thriving along with the schools, services and missions the monks provided. Eventually much of it went up in smoke in the fateful fire of 1901. Fortunately the decision previously considered had already been made to relocate the monastery to Shawnee and was now fully confirmed. Again, their vision and purpose guided those early missionary monks. Throughout the twentieth century, Saint Gregory’s Abbey has experienced bad times as well as good times. Consequently, visions and plans had to be changed with the times, the circumstances and opportunities. Thus, Saint Gregory’s entered into the twenty-first century and it is here, Brother Boniface, that you bring your vision and your hope for Saint Gregory’s because of your dedication to the Church. Brother Boniface, like Father Isidore and Brother Dominic before you and like all the other monks of Sacred Heart and Saint Gregory’s, deep within your soul you have heard a call. It is a call from God. At times itseemed clear and compelling. At times there was confusion and uncertainty. And so you prayed, you studied and you discerned God’s call. Today, you come here with a dream and a vision. You are already solemnly professed and now ready to become a priest of God. Priesthood is a very special gift of God to His Church. Like the diaconate you have already received, priesthood is a sacrament. Today, through the imposition of hands, you will be ordained a priest. You will be empowered to consecrate bread and wine, the gifts of the people, into the Body and Blood of Jesus. You will be authorized to absolve the sins of penitent people in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will be able to pray over sick people, anointing them and strengthening them in faith, hope and love. As a priest, you will be able to minister to your brother monks here at Saint Gregory’s and to the members of Christ’s Mystical Body in this Archdiocese and indeed throughout the whole world. As a priest of the Catholic Church, you will represent Jesus to your brothers and sisters. The sacramental acts you perform are initiated and brought to completion only by the power of God working in you and through you. In your ministry as a priest, Jesus will be forgiving, nurturing, feeding and blessing all whom you serve. As an ordained priest, you can effectively serve only in the Name of Jesus and on His authority and by His power. The fundamental responsibility of all priests is to serve God’s people. Jesus Himself said He came to serve and not to be served. This service of the priest is generally rendered by preaching and teaching, (proclaiming the Good News of Jesus) and by celebrating the sacraments. But for you, Brother Boniface, as a priest of Saint Gregory’s, you must focus your attention on two additional areas of ministry. First, your ministry must redound, support and build up the community of Saint Gregory’s Abbey. Secondly, since the principle external ministry of this abbey is the university, then you must apply your talents and efforts there as directed by your Abbot. An abbey or monastery is an integral part of the structure in the practice of our Catholic faith. A monastery is a place of prayer, a place of communion with the Lord. As the monks, the members of the monastery grow in faith, so will all those who have contact with you. As monks sacrifice their lives to God, you obtain graces and blessings from God for all His people. The prayers, the sacrifices and the works of the monks give encouragement, inspiration and example to believers and non-believers alike. Thus, as a priest member of this monastery, you have a very special obligation to support, to serve and not to be served! The other obligation I mentioned is the university. The abbey of Saint Gregory struggles diligently to provide Catholic education to young people. Unlike any other college or university in Oklahoma, you can definitely lead young people to Jesus Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Here you can nurture vocations to the priesthood, to the religious life, to a good and holy marriage and to become effective leaders in our crumbling secular society. So, Brother Boniface, these are two opportunities you will have. Therefore, in the Name of Jesus, I urge you, as His priest, to serve the Church and God’s people through your dedicated efforts at Saint Gregory’s Abbey and Saint Gregory’s University and wherever the Lord calls you. Now, for the last time, I address you as Brother Boniface. Now we turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Gregory, Saint Benedict and Saint Boniface and all the other saints. We ask their intercession that through the imposition of hands, Almighty God will send His Holy Spirit upon you and you will rise up as Father Boniface, a priest of Jesus Christ forever. |