Priesthood Ordination Homily
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
June 20, 2026
The Journey of Formation
Dear brothers, so soon to be ordained: I hope you know how happy I am to ordain you as priests of Jesus Christ. For most of you, priestly formation has been a nine-year journey. During that time, I have seen the Lord at work in your lives, fashioning and molding you after the designs of his heart. And you have opened your hearts to the Lord, inviting him to examine and shape every facet of your life, growing in the ways of prayer, opening your minds to his wonderous mysteries, and fostering a deep and abiding love for the People of God. You have become the Lord’s disciples, and more than that, his friends. Now, he calls you, consecrates you, and sends you.
Called
When you name was called moments ago, you heard both the voice of the Lord and of his Bride, the Church. It was not the first time you heard their voice. The call to priesthood has long echoed in your hearts, and you have devoted years of your life preparing to answer it. And today you did so, with one simple word: “Present!” “Adsum”. By that one word you indicated, not merely your physical presence, but a well-founded commitment to give the entirety of your life to the Lord and to the Church. Only a heart aflame with the love of Christ can pledge this.
Present! It is a word to live with and a word to live by. You will repeat it when you present yourself to the Lord in your daily Holy Hour, when you allow him to sanctify your day through the Liturgy of the Hours, and when celebrate the Mass and the Sacraments with and for God’s People. You will repeat and renew your “adsum” as you give yourselves wholeheartedly to the demands of priestly ministry, engaging in the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the people you will be privileged to serve. Just as Jesus was present to the woman at the well, Zaccheus, & Nicodemus, so you must be present to those who are searching for meaning and purpose— to young people and families, to the sick & dying, to the poor, to the perplexed. By your readiness to listen and to engage, by giving your “all” to the parishes and ministries you will be assigned to – you will reiterate that word you solemnly pronounced today: “Present!”
Consecrated
In the Gospel, we see how deeply the Lord loved his own in the world. So deep was his love that he gave them something more than a word of encouragement or a bit of sage advice. More than that, the Lord Jesus drew them into the love of his heart, and in that love, he consecrated them. He set them apart. Made them holy. Transformed them. He made them participants in the exchange of self-giving love between himself and his heavenly Father, in the Holy Spirit. He consecrated them in truth – not only true ideas – but the truth that is himself. From that moment on, they were to share in his high priestly identity, forever dedicated to and immersed in all that Jesus said and did for the salvation of the world – his preaching and mighty deeds, his Death and Resurrection.
Just as the Lord looked with love upon his first disciples, so now, dear brothers, he looks upon you with love. In that love, he consecrates you in truth. He envelopes you in his love and forever sets you apart for his service: first, by the Imposition of Hands by which the Holy Spirit is invoked; then, by the prophetic word, that is, the Prayer of Consecration; and finally, by the Anointing with Chrism, so that, in the name of Christ and in his Person, you will “sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifice to God.”
From this moment onward, you will speak and act in the very Person of Christ, Head, Shepherd, and Spouse of his beloved Church. Configured to Christ in your very depths, you will bring forth daily his great and mighty deeds of salvation – as you share the healing, reconciling, and sanctifying power of the Sacraments, doing so with the humility and love of the Lord Jesus himself.
Sent
Called and consecrated, you are now sent. You are sent, just as the Father anointed his beloved Son with the Holy Spirit, and sent him into the world . . . sent him “to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, release to prisoners . . . to comfort those who mourn . . . to give a glorious mantle in place of a listless spirit.”
This is the liberating mission for which you are called and consecrated, and for which you are being sent at this moment in the history of this Premier See. It is moment when many, especially young adults, are experiencing a renewed openness to the Faith. It is moment when we are blessed with many priestly vocations. It is not a moment for resting on our laurels, not a moment for saying, ‘many hands make light work.’ The mission field remains vast and the work of harvesting arduous, whether in our parishes, schools, healthcare ministries, prisons, or charities; or in the challenging work of engaging non-practicing Catholics, and those who are searching – bringing them home to Christ and to his Church. Just as St. Paul urged Timothy to proclamation, exhortation, and teaching, so I urge you to proclaim, to encourage, and to teach – in a word to evangelize: to spread the Gospel, to win minds and hearts for Christ. I thank God for you! I thank God for you as co-workers in this mission field, together with all our brother priests, deacons, religious, and lay faithful.
Ardent Yet Gentle
Dear friends in Christ, Join me in praying for these men about to be ordained. Pray that they will be preserved from all taint of evil and worldliness. Pray that they will be “ardent yet gentle heralds of the Gospel.” Pray that in celebrating the Sacraments and ministering with kindness, compassion, integrity, and generosity they will lead many to Christ – our great high priest and the lover of our souls… he who lives and reigns with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen! Mary, Our Queen, pray for us!