Week of
December 13, 2000
Inside the Register
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New priest ordained for northern Colorado
By Jeff Richmond
Hundreds
filled the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Dec. 9 to witness the
ordination to the priesthood of Father Felix Zermeno Martin.
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., presided at the ordination, which took place on the feast day of Blessed Juan Diego, to whom the Blessed Mother appeared as Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Acknowledging his lack of fluency in Spanish, Archbishop Chaput asked seminarian Patrick Reidy to translate the words he wished to direct to Father Martin's family, in Denver from Mexico for the ordination.
"We know a vocation comes from God, and God begins that vocation in the womb of the priest's mother and in the love that the mother and the father have for the child," Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., said, as Reidy translated. "The domestic church is a family- which is mother and father and brother and sister ... we are all an extended family. So today, as we give thanks to God for the gift of Father Felix's vocation and we give thanks to Father Martin's mother and father."
Following the ceremony, the new priest's mother, Guadalupe Martin Zermeno, told the Register she was filled with joy at the ordination.
"I am glad Felix is here in Denver and thankful to all those who have helped him," she said, speaking in Spanish. "I feel sadness he will be a priest far away, and at the same time, I feel joy knowing that Felix has chosen to become a priest here.
"I am very happy God chose Felix as his son," she continued. "I consider myself so lucky that God chose my son, though I don't feel I meet the standards for such a privilege," she added.
His father, Salvador Zermeno Vazquez, added, "I feel joy and am extremely happy knowing my son will continue with his faith and his vocation.
"I wish for my son to continue to help other people around him, and so we need prayers for him - and we need to follow his example," he added.
Father Martin also shared his thoughts with the Register.
"The ceremony was wonderful, filled with feelings of mixed emotions of happiness and joy," he said. "It's wonderful to reach this point. I feel secure and decided I was ready, not because I'm perfect, but because the Holy Spirit is going to continue working on me to secure this vocation and his mission," he added.
Father Reinhold Weissbeck, pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Brighton, where Father Martin served his internship, said the new priest offers many gifts to northern Colorado.
"His gifts to the priesthood in Colorado will be his knowledge of the Mexican culture, his dedication to simplicity and his understanding of what it means to be transcultural," Father Weissbeck said.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Archbishop Chaput promised the Martin family that the local Church will take care of their son.
"We will be like his brothers and sisters, and you will be like our parents, and we will come to your house for dinner next Sunday," he joked.
The new priest has been assigned to serve at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Loveland.