May 19, 2010

Five men ordained as priests to serve Denver Archdiocese

By Roxanne King

As the Year for Priests draws to a close, five men were ordained to the priesthood May 15 to serve the Archdiocese of Denver.

The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception was filled to standing room only for the mid-morning ordination Mass of Father Matthew Book, Father John David Green, Father David Jerome Nix, Father José María Quera and Father Michael Rapp.

“A Church without priests is not possible,” Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., the ordaining prelate, told the congregation.

 For all but one of the newly ordained, priesthood is a second career. One man is foreign-born. And four of the five claim the same parish affiliation: St. Thomas More in Centennial.

St. Bernadette Parish member Father Book, 36, is a native of Wisconsin and was once an engineer. Father Green, 33, is a former electrician who was born in Denver but reared in Phoenix. Denverite Father Nix, 31, was a paramedic and Fellowship of Catholic University Students missionary—he is the first FOCUS missionary to be ordained a priest. The eldest of the group, Father Quera, 49, worked as an architect in his hometown of Barcelona, Spain. The youngest of the five, Father Rapp, 27, was born in Minnesota but reared in Centennial, Colo. He went directly from high school into seminary.

The men were in priesthood formation at the Denver Archdiocese’s two seminaries: three of them attended St. John Vianney Theological Seminary and two attended Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary. Although ordained to serve the Denver Archdiocese, the two men who attended Redemptoris Mater, Father Green and Father Quera, also received missionary training and can be sent at the archbishop’s discretion to serve anywhere in the world.

Concelebrants of the joyous Mass included Auxiliary Bishop James Conley, seminary rectors Msgr. Michael Glenn and Father Florián Martín Calama, and Bishop Emeritus of Scranton, Penn., Joseph Martino.
The Mass started with a grand procession that included a colorfully outfitted Knights of Columbus honor guard, several acolytes, numerous deacons, three bishops and scores of priests.  Scripture readings and hymns were conducted in English and Spanish.

The Rite of Ordination began with the men being called to the altar by Deacon John Neal and affirmed as worthy of ordination by Msgr. Bernard Schmitz, vicar for clergy.

“Relying on the help of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, we choose these, our brothers, for the order of the priesthood,” Archbishop Chaput said, accepting them for ordination and drawing enthusiastic applause from the congregation.

Pope Benedict XVI called for the Year for Priests, which started June 19 last year and runs through June 19 this year, to encourage spiritual perfection in priests.  Church tradition teaches that priestly ordination creates new men who are bestowed with the gift and office of teaching, sanctifying and governing. Archbishop Chaput highlighted those responsibilities in his homily.

“They are in reality, the three actions of the Risen Christ,” he said, referring to a priest’s duty to teach, to sanctify and to govern.

“You will act in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) in (these) three ways,” Archbishop Chaput said.

“Teach only those things which Christ teaches,” he urged the men.

“Make Christ present through the sanctifying power of the sacraments,” he added. “Get out of the way.”

Govern, he advised, “By being good shepherds.”

Referring to the Gospel the ordinands had selected for the Mass, St. Luke’s version of Jesus’ farewell discourse wherein the Lord tells his apostles, “I am among you as the one who serves,” Archbishop Chaput emphasized, “You need to be men of humility.

“It is a wonderful privilege to be a priest,” he said, “and a great responsibility.”

Entrusting the men to Mary, in this her special month, the archbishop paraphrased the words of her Magnificat prayer, saying, “The Lord is about to do great things for you; do great things for him.”

After the homily, each of the men took turns kneeling before the archbishop, placing their hands in his as they promised respect and obedience to him and his successors.

The candidates then prostrated themselves before the altar as the congregation sang the stirring Litany of Supplication, asking the intercession of the saints for the men.

Next, the archbishop laid hands on each of the men as they knelt before him for the pivotal moment of the rite.  Silently, the archbishop invoked the Holy Spirit and conferred the priestly office. Then, to symbolize the unity of priests with the bishop and the unity of the priesthood, the concelebrating priests also laid hands on the new clerics.

The new priests were then invested with a stole and chasuble, the outward signs of their ministry.

As each new priest in turn knelt before the archbishop, he anointed their hands with sacred chrism, symbolizing their distinctive participation in Christ’s priesthood.

The archbishop then presented each of them with a paten and chalice, indicating their duty of presiding at the celebration of the Eucharist and of following Christ crucified.

With a fraternal kiss the archbishop and the priests present warmly welcomed the new priests into their shared ministry.

Finally, the newly ordained took their places in the sanctuary, drawing sustained applause.

In his closing remarks, the archbishop thanked the seminaries for their formation of the men, and the men’s families and their parish communities for supporting their vocations. In sharing lighthearted comments about each of the new priests, the archbishop invited both the men’s biological and Church “families” to stand to be recognized.

Priestly vocations may be born in the family, the archbishop said, but they are also fostered in the Church.

“A family spawns a vocation, initially,” Archbishop Chaput told the congregation, “but … a parish family (does too) and we’re grateful for that.”

Noting that the seminarians attending Redemptoris Mater all come from the Neocatechumenal Way, a Vatican-approved, parish-based catechumenate that strives to bring Catholics to mature Christian faith, the archbishop expressed his gratitude to the Way.

Earlier, Archbishop Chaput had described the Year for Priests’ call to clerics to renewed commitment to the priestly office, and to the faithful to pray for and support priests in that vocation. Acknowledging the special year is nearly over, the archbishop had an exhortation for all.

“We thank the Lord for this Year for Priests,” he said, “and we ask him to help us use the remaining days well.”

FUTURE ORDINATIONS

Five men in formation at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary will soon be ordained to serve as priests in other dioceses. Their names are below.
Matthew Henry (Phoenix Diocese): June 10 in Phoenix, Ariz.
Timothy Martinson (Cheyenne Diocese): May 24 in Worland, Wyo.
Peter O’Donnell (Salina Diocese): May 22 in Salina, Kan.
David Price (Colorado Springs Diocese): May 29 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Kerry Wakulich (Tulsa Diocese): May 29 in Tulsa, Okla.