From Archbishop Donoghue

Ordination of Priests
June 7, 1997
Cathedral of Christ the King
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[See Georgia Bulletin account]

Dear Friends in Christ,

For a bishop of Christ's Church, there is no happier day than a day of ordinations. And today, we have the rich blessing of five men here before us, who will soon rise to the call and to the dignity of Christ's eternal priesthood.

There are many reasons why this makes me happy, and all these reasons, I well know, are shared by you, the people of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. For some of you are the family members of these men - the mothers and fathers, grandparents, brothers and sisters and other kin, who have supported these men through the long years of preparation - the years of study and soul-searching, and of conflicts - as they have been patiently drawn, by the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit towards this day of fulfillment - and this day of great beginnings. And many of you are the friends of these men, who know their worth, their ability to bring the comfort of God's word, and their own trust in the life of the Church He has given us, to you, and to other people as well. And many others here may not know them at

all personally, but are here to participate in this great liturgy - with its rich symbols and gestures, and its well-rehearsed and executed music, and all the other care and attention which we bring to these feasts of Christ's Church. Whoever we are on this day, it is by the vocation of these men that we are gathered to play our part in the great sacrament of Holy Orders, and to take away, in our hearts and souls, all the grace which will come to us because we are here.

Indeed, this is a truly notable celebration of the love of Jesus Christ - the love that did not leave with His Ascension in to heaven, but that remains here below, with us, and safe in the keeping of our Faith, of our holy Church.

And though there are many ways of seeing, of realizing the love of Jesus Christ - today we are celebrating one special aspect of that love. The great saint, John Vianney, who was a parish priest, and who spent most of his waking life saying Mass and hearing confessions - this great saint and pastor once wrote, "The priest continues the work of redemption on earth. . . The Priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus Christ."

Dear brothers who are about to join me, and all these men who sit about you in Holy Orders - most of what passes through your ears today will eventually recede as your life takes on the fullness of what it is to be Christ's priest in His Holy Church - but I hope that you will never forget these words of the beloved Cure of Ars - that the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus Christ - for everything that we are and meant to be is found in this simple declaration.

The love of Christ flows forth in the Eucharistic Banquet, the Mass - and it is to us that the Mass is entrusted - we are the guardians of its form and its substance - and we are the first exemplars of all the reverence that is due, not only to the Mass, but to all of the sacraments which we are blessed to celebrate. If the love of Christ is to be perfect, then we must be perfect in our attention to this most important of the actions of the Church - the sacramental actions - the moments when we know that God indeed meets His creation, man - and the moments when all men and women may know that they are truly in the presence of God.

And the love of Christ also pours out upon the people through our preaching and our teaching of the Faith - for truth is as food to the soul, and if we are guardians of how the truth of God's Presence is celebrated in liturgy, then we are equally guardians of how the truth of God is celebrated by the Word. Every priest must speak to the People of God with certainty - the certainty of Christ's words in the Gospel, and the certainty of how He continues to lead us, through the Church, through her Holy Father, and through his Magisterium (teaching office). There can be no exceptions to this - for there is only one path to what Christ asks of us - spirtual perfection through charity - and though we may sometimes stumble and fall from it, the path persists in one direction, and to that direction we must be faithfully committed - for our own sakes, and for the sake of the Church, who we are called to serve, to teach, to sanctify, and to be with until our lives are over.

Dear brothers, only by these two means, or perhaps we should say, thank God, that by these two means - love for the liturgy, love for the Word - by these two means, we are able to become channels of the love of Christ, and to the extent that we learn to die to ourselves, then Christ will pass through us into the lives of those we serve. This is the consummate privilege of ordination to the priesthood, and my prayer and the prayer of all gathered today, is for you - that you will persist all your days in faithful service - celebrating, preaching and teaching - feeding the souls of Christ's faithful followers, and meriting by your service, the reward that the Father must have in store for men with such generous hearts.

My brothers and sisters all, as we proceed now with our Mass, let us continue to thank God for all our priests, who have heard the call of God, and by His grace, have answered that call and become servants of Christ's faithful Flock. We have before us - in our parishes, in our institutes of Christian charity, and indeed, upon the whole wide stage which is the Catholic Church, the strong example of their steadfastness, their leadership, and their generosity - clear indications of the fact that Jesus Christ cares for us, and stays with us always, upon the altars of our churches, and by the hands of His faithful priests.

Now, entrusting the souls of these men to the care of our Blessed Mother Mary, who welcomed Christ into her own body, and who served Him and loved Him perfectly throughout her entire life, I call them forward, to make clear before this holy assembly of God's people, and before His priests and Bishop, their intentions.

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This homily was delivered at the ordination of Fathers Guyma Noel, Samuel Porras-Gomez, Gordon Sidler, Tuan Quoc Tran on June 7, 1997 at the Cathedral of Christ the King.