HOMILY
Ordination to the Priesthood – 28 June 2025
Isaiah 61:1-3; I Peter 5:1-4; Matthew 10:1-5
Brothers and sisters, today is a day of great joy for the Church of Scranton and particularly for you, Tom and Andrew, together with your family and friends, your brother deacons and soon to be brother priests, as well as countless numbers of faithful souls who have journeyed with you to this day.
On behalf of the Church of Scranton, I offer thanks to those of you present in our cathedral this morning who have helped these men discern and respond to God’s call. In particular, I thank their pastors and the faithful of the parish communities in and through which their faith was nurtured and sustained. … I thank those who have been involved in their formation – Father Alex Roche and priests, deacons, religious and members of the Christian faithful from throughout the Diocese of Scranton and beyond, including Father William Burton and the faculty of St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. … And I especially thank Tom’s and Andrew’s parents, Tom and Stephanie and Todd and Judy. How grateful we are for your support and the gifts of your sons to the Church.
Finally, Tom and Andrew, thank you for saying “yes” to the Lord’s call to serve his Church as priests.
By now, both of our ordinands should know that their presence in my life at least, will always in some way be linked to an incredible adventure that the three of us undertook during a visit two years ago to the Diocese of Sunyani in Ghana, Africa. As the two most senior men in seminary formation at that time, I asked Tom and Andrew to accompany me as I traveled to Ghana to preside at the ordination of fourteen new priests on the occasion of the Diocese’s 50th anniversary of its founding.
For all its unique cultural adaptations, including the four and a half hour duration of the Mass, what struck me from the Rite of Ordination that I celebrated in Ghana, was the way those to be ordained priests responded when their names were called, as we just witnessed a moment ago with Tom and Andrew. Each man was accompanied by his family – his parents and siblings – who walked forward with him in the midst of an assembly of thousands of people, reverenced the bishop and then stood with their son for a significant portion of the ordination ritual.
In a very vivid way, what we so often affirm about priestly vocations was ritualized for me that day. Priests don’t just miraculously emerge in the Church. They are born into families and nurtured within them. They come to the Church with faith, buoyed by the wisdom and values imparted to them by parents, grandparents and other family members. And they also come with baggage – baggage packed by their families – filled with blessings and challenges, skills and struggles. Yet, baggage that when used wisely and transformed by God’s grace, equips each priest to respond in unique and generous way to Jesus’ call to service in his Church.
Today’s gospel, chosen by Tom and Andrew presents a straightforward roster of names and facts. Just the other day, I asked them why they chose it, presuming that they must have had some profound rationale for doing so. Their response: “Both our names are mentioned in it!” … I guess your course on the synoptic gospels was pretty early in the morning!
But in fairness to our ordinands, scratch the surface of this passage and probe its context within Matthew’s gospel and we discover so much more than merely a roster of names. We discover that the apostles – and all of us – are called by the love of God as we are – from particular families and parishes and walks of life. And we are called for a purpose: to embrace the great mission of evangelization – the mission of proclaiming Jesus, his life and his saving grace.
Just look at the individuals on the list of the apostles that Matthew presents. James and John, along with their mother, were ambitious. Matthew’s career as a tax collector speaks for itself. And Peter, who seemed to have a soft spot in his heart as he asked Jesus to heal his mother-in-law, denied even knowing Jesus as he embraced his passion.
Yet, what becomes clear throughout the scriptures is that the obvious liabilities of the men whom Jesus chose as his apostles proved to be their greatest asset. Despite their shortcomings, they quickly came to understand that they were being invited into a unique fellowship of believers that based its very existence on its radical dependence upon the one who called them to mission. Saint Paul put it best in his letter to the Church of Corinth, noting that the very treasure of the ministry entrusted to him by the Lord is held in “earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.”
As encouraging and hopeful as Jesus’ willingness to accept us as we are may be, it is the urgency of his invitation to the twelve, discovered in the context for today’s gospel, that is far more compelling. In the verses just prior to what was proclaimed this morning, Matthew describes Jesus being moved with pity for the crowds “because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” One respected translation describes the crowds as “harassed and torn apart.” And so, for the sake of a suffering world not at all unlike our own, after calling his apostles, Jesus sends them – and us – out into this world with these instructions: “Make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
Our Holy Father, Pope Leo, put Jesus’ invitation to mission into perspective during a priestly ordination homily just a few weeks ago. “Dear ordinands,” he began, “imitate Jesus! Conceive yourselves in the way of Jesus! Being of God – servants of God, people of God – binds us to the earth: not to an ideal world, but to the real one. Like Jesus, those whom the Father places on your path are people of flesh and blood. Consecrate yourselves to them, without separating yourselves from them, without isolating yourselves, without making the gift received a sort of privilege. Pope Francis has warned us against this many times, because self-referentiality extinguishes the fire of the missionary spirit.”
He went on, “The Church is constitutively directed outward, just as the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus are directed outward. In every Eucharist you make his words your own: for you and for many’. No one has ever seen God. He turned to us; he went out of himself. The Son became his exegesis, his living narrative. And he gave us the power to become children of God. Do not seek, let us not seek, another power!”
Tom and Andrew, today you declare your willingness to embrace this divine power and to do the work of God within the life of the Church. You affirm your desire to participate in Jesus’ work as Teacher, Priest and Shepherd, by embracing his priesthood and joining as co-workers with the Order of Bishops in service of the People of God. In so doing, trust in the grace of God present to you in this sacrament. But always remember, when you teach in the name of Christ the Teacher – when you work for justice, truth and freedom – when you gather others into the Church through Baptism – when you forgive sins in the name of Christ and the Church – when you comfort the sick and the dying – when you serve the poor – and when you celebrate the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist – you are both a servant of the Church and a member of the People of God. So be faithful to the teachings of the Church. But remember too, that while you are appointed on behalf of the Christian faithful for those things that pertain to God, you, like all of us, need God’s presence, God’s life and God’s saving grace. So nurture your relationship with the Lord and listen carefully as he speaks to your heart.
As a priest, the Church will call you “another Christ.” Remember well, however, that this title has little to do with rank or status among the People of God. Instead, it carries with it a perpetual challenge to be like Christ. If, then, you truly desire to effectively lead God’s people, always hold in your heart the same selfless commitment to love and service that so characterized Jesus’ ministry. Seek to live with integrity the life of celibacy, obedience and simplicity. Lead a life that is characterized by the way of thinking and acting that is proper to Christ. And embrace beyond this Jubilee year the spirit of hope that must permeate the ministry that you share.
Recently, in an address to the Italian Bishops Conference, Pope Leo offered words that should be seared into the heart not only of every bishop but of every priest. He called them to return “to the foundations of our faith, to the kerygma. … This means placing Jesus Christ at the center, and, following the path indicated by Pope Francis’ exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, helping people to live a personal relationship with Him, so they may discover the joy of the Gospel.”
Tom and Andrew, God’s People are looking for meaning, purpose and peace in their lives. While today, they will love you, encourage you, and embrace you with pride, tomorrow, they will look to you for answers to their questions. And they will look to you to find Jesus and the joy of his Gospel – in your words of forgiveness – in your service of the poor – in the simplicity of your life – and in the depth of your love. So, for all that you will preach and teach and do on behalf of the People of God, make certain that at the heart of your ministry is an authentic relationship with the person of Jesus whom you have not only come to know well but gladly share for the sake of the people God gives to your care.
Brothers and sisters, let us give thanks to God for calling these two men to be his priests. And Tom and Andrew – know and believe in your heart as you embark upon this life-long journey, that God who has begun the good work in you will bring it to fulfillment.
HOMILY