Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton
HOMILY
Ordination to the Diaconate and Presbyterate – May 28, 2011
Jeremiah 1:4-9; Acts 10:37-43; Matthew 20:25b-28
We gather together today in faith and with great joy. By the grace and power of God – our brothers Gregory Loughney and Jeffrey Tudgay – will be ordained a priest and a deacon. Their lives will be changed forever as will the lives of the people whom they serve through their ministry.
I begin this reflection by offering gratitude – first to Almighty God – for the particular call to the priesthood and diaconate that he planted in the hearts of these two men – a call that is built upon the universal call to holiness which all of us have received in Baptism. I offer gratitude as well to all who gather in this great cathedral today who have helped these men discern and respond to God’s call. I thank all of you, who, by your example and willingness to embrace your baptismal calling, have given these men the powerful example of lives of faith and virtue. I thank those who have been particularly involved in their formation – priests and deacons from the Diocese of Scranton and those who provided for them in their respective seminaries. I particularly welcome and thank Father Joseph Bongard, Vice Rector of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, and Father Michael Spitzer and our own Father James Rafferty who serve on the faculty of Saint Charles Seminary. Finally, I thank the friends, family and parents of Greg and Jeff. Mr. and Mrs. Loughney – Mr. and Mrs. Tudgay – thank you for your commitment, your example, your support and the gift of your sons to the Church.
At the beginning of the promises of the elect that will take place following this homily, these words will be spoken to both Jeff and Greg. “Dear Son, before you enter the Order of the Diaconate/the Priesthood, you must declare before the people your intention to undertake this office.” You must declare before the people of God your intention. Why is that reality so integral to this moment in the life of the Church? Because at the heart of the Diaconate and the Priesthood is a ministry focused on the People of God whom you – Jeff and Greg and all of us as deacons, priests and bishops – have been called to serve. For as meaningful and significant as this moment may be to both of you personally, the ministry that you will embrace is not yours alone. It comes from and is rooted in the life of the Lord Jesus – who came to save us from sin and the brokenness of our world – who came to bring us new life – who, as noted in the second reading today from the Acts of the Apostles “commissioned us to preach to the people – the People of God – and to bear witness to them that he is the one set apart by God as judge of the living and the dead.”
A great deal of time and effort has been expended by both of you and so many others who have helped you to discern the will of God for your lives. Today you respond to that call to be a co-worker with your fellow deacons, priests and with me, your bishop. Consider carefully the nature of your call to which you’ve responded. Jesus articulates the nature of your calling very clearly in the gospel. Listen again to what he says: “Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus’ teaching about the servant leadership that HE exemplified is opposed to any fascination with power and precedence in church life. The church of every age must be wary of imitating those oppressive structures of power and prestige that characterize the rulers of this world, and must imitate the kind of servant leadership embodied in Jesus – who washed the feet of his disciples – and who gave us an example of how we should live so that others might be free.
We are all grateful today for your willingness to embrace Jesus’ call to servant leadership in the Church. I have no doubt that your hearts are genuinely filled with zeal and hope. Perhaps they are also filled with dreams of all that you will accomplish as a deacon and as a priest: homilies that will instruct and inspire; lapsed Catholics who return to the Church; people disconnected from God brought to faith and to the sacraments; young people brought close to Christ and the Church; sins forgiven, Masses celebrated, the sick consoled, the dying prepared, vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life encouraged; responsibilities that you will shoulder in and for the Church … and this list goes on.
These are the hopes and dreams that you and every one of us as deacons and priests should have. Yet, in his call to you, the Lord has something in mind other than what you might be able to accomplish personally as a Deacon or Priest. Jesus calls you to servant leadership among his people. … He also understands the constant struggle that you will face in ministry – as we all do – that constant struggle between living the life of God – or our own.
It’s interesting to note that in the verses just prior to those proclaimed in today’s gospel, we hear how the mother of two of Jesus’ disciples approached Jesus and asked for a favor for her sons: positions of prominence in the Kingdom. Mark’s version of the gospel is a bit more unsettling. Mark doesn’t affix blame for the outrageous request on the mother of the two disciples. He goes right to the heart of the problem and reveals that the disciples themselves ask Jesus for the favor.
My brothers, the context for your response to the Lord’s call is ever so human. The disciples of Jesus didn’t always understand and often allowed themselves to get in the way of the Lord working in and through them. All of us in this cathedral today are no different than James and John, Peter, Thomas and the other disciples – and neither are you. We are called to serve the People of God but sometimes WE get in the way.
If you want your ministry as a deacon – a priest – to be fruitful, you must remain in the Lord’s love by faith and hope. If you seek to be an effective teacher of the faith and a witness to the hope of the Resurrection, then allow the Lord, ever and always, to draw you into the inner circle of his friendship and listen attentively as he speaks to your heart. Imitate in your daily lives the love that you celebrate in the Mass and sacraments. And if you desire to lead effectively the people to whom you will be sent, have in your heart the same joy that Jesus had: the joy of doing his Father’s will, namely to give his life for us and for our salvation. As Blessed Pope John Paul II once observed regarding priestly ministry: “The authority of the priest coincides with the authority of Jesus ‘who came not to be served but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many.’”
Make no mistake about it Jeff – Greg, the Spirit of God will work in and through you in spite of your own human frailties and in ways far beyond your imagining. Yet that guarantee itself demands that you give yourself – whole and entire – to the ministry entrusted to you this day – not only by working hard – but indeed by a life of holiness and intimacy with Christ, whom you shall proclaim and also make present in the Church’s sacramental life. So seek to live with integrity a life of celibacy, obedience and simplicity. Why? So that in the grace of the Holy Spirit you will make a sincere gift of yourself to Christ and to the Church, leading a life that is marked, molded and characterized by the way of thinking and acting that is proper to Christ.
Our gathering this day is somewhat unusual insofar as we will celebrate the ordination of both a Deacon and a Priest. This gathering, however – far from being unique – exemplifies the blessing and totality of the Sacrament of Holy Orders as it focuses upon the relationship between Deacons, Priests and Bishops. Indeed, Pope Benedict, a few years ago, reflected upon this reality during a meeting with the clergy of the Diocese of Rome. During the meeting, the participants were given the opportunity to ask the Holy Father questions. The first was asked by a Deacon. In the course of his reflections upon diaconal ministry in the Church, Pope Benedict offered these thoughts:
“On this occasion, I bring to mind … a simple experience that Paul VI noted. Each day of the Council, the Gospel was enthroned. And the Pontiff told those in charge of the ceremony that he would like one time to be the one who enthrones the Gospel. They told him no, this is the job of the deacons, not of the Pope. (As an aside, if they dare to tell the Pope “no,” you can imagine what masters of ceremonies do to Bishops.) Pope Paul wrote in his diary: But I am also a deacon, I continue being a deacon, and I would like to also exercise this ministry of the diaconate placing the word of God on its throne.”
Jeffrey – as one preparing for diaconal ministry, you are called to be a minister of the Word of God – to bring God’s living Word to believer and unbeliever alike, to preside over public prayer, to baptize, assist at marriages, to give viaticum to the sick and lead the rites of burial. As a minister of the altar, you will prepare the sacrifice and give the Lord’s body and blood to the community of believers. You will become a minister of charity and will serve the People of God in the spirit of Jesus who washed the feet of his disciples in humble service and said to them and to us: “What I have done, you must also do.”
Gregory – as one to be ordained to the Presbyteral Order, you are called not to set aside your diaconal ministry but to continue being a deacon and to bring that ministry to the Priesthood. Your ministry as a priest will be about gathering the scattered – a ministry of reconciliation, unity and mercy in the midst of a broken world. In addition to imparting to the faithful the Word of God, you will exercise in Christ the office of sanctifying – uniting the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful to the sacrifice of Christ, which will be offered through your hands on the altar, in union with God’s people, in the celebration of the Eucharist. You are called to assume all of these roles within the Church – always in the spirit of servant leadership as embodied by Jesus himself.
In short, Gregory and Jeffrey – God’s People are looking for meaning and purpose and peace in their lives – and they look to you to see Jesus. They look to see Jesus in your prayerfulness – in your words – in your hard work – in the simplicity of your life – and in your love. They look to you for so much – and in return, they assure you that you are not alone on your journey. They walk with you and they will support you every step of the way.
So Gregory and Jeffrey, “have no fear,” as Jeremiah the prophet proclaims. And trust that God who has begun the good work in you will bring it to fulfillment.
