Mass for Deceased Priests
Resurrection Parish, Ellicott City
November 17, 2025
Laying Down One’s Life
When possible, I offer a votive Mass for vocations to the priesthood, on the score that, if we want priestly vocations, we have to pray for them. What’s striking about the antiphons and prayers of that votive Mass is their many references to laying down one’s life for others. True to her principle of lex orandi et lex credendi, the Church encourages vocations to the priesthood by portraying it in its truest light: in sacrificial terms.
Many other walks of life are also portrayed in sacrificial terms. Take, for example, the Marine Corps. Its recruiting slogans include, “Forged in the Crucible”, “First to Fight”, and my favorite, “Strength, Courage, and Dedication”. Muscular Christianity might present the priesthood in similar terms. But there’s a world of difference. The priest follows the One who did not resist when put on trial and crucified. The priest follows the One who was meek as a lamb before the shearer.
Priest-Martyrs
The history of the Church, including recent history, shines bright with priests who have enacted in their flesh what they celebrated on the altar, priests who literally laid down their lives in witness to Christ and for the sake of the Church. I think of St. Maximillian Kolbe or the Mexican Martyrs, among them, courageous priests like St. Miguel Pro and St. Jose Maria Robles Hurtado. They persisted in serving their people in spite of persecution. I think also of the courageous priests I met on my visits to Ukraine, especially the Knights of Columbus Chaplains from Eastern Ukraine. Their parishes are constantly being shelled, yet they stay on the job, putting their own lives in danger for the sake of their people. One of them gave me a gift: a piece of shrapnel removed from his body.
These are heroic priests. They live and die for others, just like the Christ. But they are not the only heroic priests. There is an every-day heroism and generosity in our own ranks that all-too-often goes unrecognized – the daily process of laying down one’s life for others. Often it is undramatic, often it is gradual, often it is hidden. Laying down one’s life is embedded in thousands of little decisions, decisions to serve, to extend ourselves, to leave our comfort zones, decisions that, at times, lead us where we would prefer not to go. These daily decisions for the sake of those we serve soon form a pattern, a beautiful mosaic. It’s the image of the Good Shepherd, living and acting in us and through us. God’s People, gifted with the sensus fidei, know how to spot that image.
The Priests We Commend to the Lord
This past year, we commended two brother diocesan priests to the Lord: Father Tom Gills and Father Joe Simmons. Father Tom’s death hit us hard because he took his own life, yet none of us doubts that he gave of himself most generously both to the Church and to his country, and none of us doubts the mercies of the Lord.
Fr. Joe Simmons went home to the Lord at the age of 89. He served actively for over 61 years. He was a parish priest through and through. He was down to earth and knew everyone in his parish and in the communities he served. He was also a happy priest – “I’ve had a great life,” he said in an interview. But his longevity and happiness did not annul the countless, hidden sacrifices he made for his people and for his Church.
A large number of priests from religious orders and societies died last year. We were blessed by their service here in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. They are our brothers and formed part of our “presbyterium”. Of the 16 who went home to the Lord, 5 were Jesuits, 5 were Redemptorists, 3 were Conventuals, 1 was a Josephite, 1 belonged to the Society of Christ, and 1 was a Vincentian. Their passing reminds us the great debt of gratitude we owe to priests in consecrated life serving alongside us.
Together, all these priests, diocesan and religious, show us the image of Christ the Good Shepherd who laid down his life. In the short space of a homily there is no way even to sum up their sacrifice and to thank them adequately.
Christ the Good Shepherd Accompanies Them and Us
These priests shepherded many in the name and person of Christ. Now it is our turn to commend them to the Good Shepherd, asking that the Lord walk with them through the valley of death and lead them to the good pastures of the heavenly Kingdom. With much love and gratitude, we offer for them the same sacrifice they offered so often for others.
We also honor the memory of those who died by honoring those who continue to follow in their footsteps – those among us celebrating anniversaries of their many years of service, especially Cardinal O’Brien and Msgr. Tillman celebrating 60 years, and those celebrating 50 years, 25 years, and 6 months. They have done “the work of an evangelist”, as St. Paul says, in “season and out of season, when convenient and inconvenient.” Our celebration is more than an occasion for memories and nostalgia. It is a moment when, in the name of the Good Shepherd, we offer one another encouragement and strength for mission, for, as we all know, it can be easy to become discouraged amid the daily sacrifices and high expectations placed upon us.
Let us rejoice and give thanks for privilege of laying down our lives with Christ. Please be aware that your daily sacrifices do not go unnoticed by the people you serve, by our many seminarians, and even by me. May we shepherds allow the Good Shepherd to lead us and guide us and give us repose in the Kingdom where he lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.