Editor’s note: Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco presented the following homily May 18 in the Cathedral of the Madeleine, on the occasion of the ordination to the priesthood of Fathers Omar Ontiveros García, Oscar Alfredo Martínez Tobón, Oscar Martín Picos Rentería, and John Joseph Schwall.
The people of Israel waited for a Savior, and the prophet Isaiah foretold what he would be like in our first reading this evening: he would bring glad tidings to the lowly, heal the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to captives and comfort those who mourn. When Jesus Christ our great High Priest began his public ministry in the synagogue at Nazareth, he claimed to be that Savior, and declared he had come to fulfill all those promises in Isaiah.
Now, on an evening in May in 2006, we are gathered in this beautiful cathedral church, because Jesus Christ has called four of our brothers to give themselves to him and to us as priests for the Catholic Church in Utah. Christ wishes to walk among his people once again, teaching, healing, nourishing and leading, but this time he will do so in Oscar and Omar and Oscar and J.J., alongside their brothers in the presbyterate gathered here, and others who we pray will gather in future years.
We have reason to hope: this ordination class of four is the largest ordained in this cathedral since 1940.
We give thanks with them to God for this gift of priestly vocation, and we give thanks to them for generously answering this call. We give thanks also to their families, their teachers and guides in the seminary, and all those priests and people along the way who encouraged and inspired them in responding to the call from our High Priest. We pledge to our four brothers our prayers, our encouragement, our support and our fellowship in Christ always.
Jesus Christ identified himself as the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep. He contrasted good shepherding with being a hireling, who works only for pay, and runs away at the first sign of danger or difficulty. Jesus says that the Good Shepherd knows his sheep, and his sheep know him. The priest in the Church is rarely asked to surrender his physical life for the People of God, but each day, all his life long, the priest lays down his life in ministry to his flock. Jesus Christ calls all his sisters and brothers to reach out to one another in selfless love. However, Jesus calls the priestly shepherd to break the bread of doctrine for the people, to gather them to celebrate the Eucharist, to baptize, to join in marriage, to absolve from sins, to anoint with healing oil, to counsel those who struggle with difficulties, and to gather all in fellowship and service to one another in community and to a world in trouble and need.
That is a formidable challenge. What makes it possible to live this life of priestly service with hope and peace and joy? An answer can be found in our second reading, the advice that the apostle Paul gave to a young priest in the first generation of Christians – the advice he gave to Timothy. First of all, Paul says, "Let no one have contempt for your youth." At least one of our candidates this evening will have no trouble along that line! Still, its good advice: priesthood is not a personality contest, but a ministry in which Christ serves and leads his people through the priest. Christ is so intimately present and active in this ministry that the priest says, "I baptize," "I absolve," "This is my Body," speaking in the name and power of Christ.
Then Saint Paul tells Timothy to live what he preaches, because the people will know it if he does not. Oscar and J.J. and Oscar and Omar will need for their own spiritual lives every gift that God gives to the people through them. The priest needs prayer, the Scriptures, the teachings of the Church, Eucharist, the forgiveness of his sins, and the companionship of other believers on his journey of faith.
Saint Paul tells Timothy – tells our four candidates here this evening – how to remain an authentic priestly minister: with love and faithfulness and purity. With love: remember the story of the late Cardinal O’Connor, Archbishop of New York, used to tell about his first assignment as a priest. There was a very elderly monsignor who lived in the rectory, and young Father O’Connor admired him very much. One day he asked the old priest to give him three pieces of advice for being a good priest. The elderly monsignor replied: "Love the people, love the people, love the people." Love the people unconditionally, unselfishly, seeking their spiritual and temporal welfare even when they are not seeking yours. It is true, the customer is not always right, but the parishioner is always Christ. Sometimes, of course, Mother Teresa would add, he or she is Christ "in a most distressing disguise!"
Fidelity demands that the priest remain present, committed and active not only when things are going well, but also in the midst of adversity and difficult circumstances. Christ does not expect that all of our programs and efforts will be successful, but he does call us to let him be present to the most needy, the most vulnerable, and the most challenging ones through us, his priestly ministers.
Purity for Saint Paul means all kinds of single-mindedness and single-heartedness. The priestly minister hears the call to have an undivided heart in all relationships, in all circumstances in his life and ministry. We Christians are weak and earthen vessels, but we pray and strive to let the light and power of the gift of the Holy Spirit guide us each day.
At the end of our second reading, Saint Paul says this to Timothy: "Attend to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in both tasks, for by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you." That’s not just nice-sounding advice for priests; salvation depends on taking it seriously. No one goes to heaven alone. One spiritual writer has said that the Lord, at the Judgment, will ask each of us, "Where are the others?" If, all along the way, we have found and served Christ in others, we will hear Christ say, at the end, "Come, you blessed of my Father." Then the shepherds and their flock will be home in the Lord.
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