Ordination Day

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today I will have the privilege to ordain six men to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ in St. James Cathedral Basilica. It is truly a happy event for the Diocese since we have not ordained this many men at one time in several years. These young men, whose biographies were printed in last week's edition of The Tablet, truly are representative of the diversity of the people of the Diocese of Brooklyn. They offer a sign of hope for the future; their young lives exude the zeal necessary to be truly apostolic priests for the New Evangelization.

It has been my custom to spend the day before ordination in reflection and recollection with those men to be ordained. In preparation for the day I ask each candidate to write me a short paper on the priesthood, which gives me the information on which I base the day of recollection. They are not asked to give a theological paper, but rather a personal reflection on what the priesthood means to them and what they foresee in their lives as priests. I have always found these papers to be truly inspiring, confirming the readiness of these men to take on the great responsibility of the priesthood.

Some of the themes that they proposed to me are truly worth repeating. The priesthood is both gift and mystery; how true this is and how reflective it is of John Paul II's reflection on his priesthood in a book by the same title. They also have underlined the theological understanding that a priest is one whose very being is changed through ordination. In an irrevocable act, a priest is forever a changed person for the service of God and His people. The ministerial priesthood for these young men is one that involves service of the Word and Sacrament as other Christs acting in the person of Christ. They seem to be clear about the responsibility of a priest to be a man of prayer, committed to total self-giving, while at the same time necessarily developing a deep union with Christ. Most expressed an understanding of the New Evangelization, a theme so close to my heart, whereby they understood the challenge to love and serve God's people with a new zeal necessary in most challenging times.

Their excitement is truly inspiring; at the same time they also recognize the need for community and communion in priestly fraternity. How important their entrance into the presbyterate is as they described it. Through the laying on of hands, not only of the Bishop, but also the whole presbyterate, they are welcomed into a communion of love and service for which there is no equal. Finally, almost all called upon Mary's intercession, seeing her as Mother of Priests who can truly guide them to Christ.

As I read these papers with deep interest, I know that the ordination this Saturday will be a deeply moving experience. Several years ago, in my former diocese, I was able to bring my mother to a priestly ordination. I remember her comments on the way home. She said to me, "Now I understand what a Bishop is supposed to do." How right my mother was, a Bishop is supposed to make other priests. How important is that one role entrusted to the episcopacy, to continue the Sacrament of Holy Orders for the service of God's people.

Although we are blessed this year to ordain six men, which barely meets our needs, next year, God willing, we will have two men, and the numbers seem to be constant into the foreseeable future. That is why the work for vocations is so important. I requested several months ago that each parish establish a vocation committee that will, first of all, pray for vocations and also work to identify those who might have a vocation to the priestly or religious life. How important it is for each parish to be present in the vocation apostolate.

Father Kevin Sweeney, our new Vocation Director, works very hard, preaching in parishes each weekend and making contacts with young people through his ministry. I have asked Father Sweeney to live with me in the Bishop's residence so that I can be of support to him and also challenge him occasionally to be sure that we are doing all that we can for vocations. He occasionally challenges me to be present and to do the things so necessary for a Bishop in the life of the Church. It is most important that everyone in the Diocese take responsibility for the important work of vocation awareness and recruitment.

On May 30, I celebrated my 35^th anniversary to the priesthood. It is hard to believe that 35 years have passed. Last week, we had a celebration of the 35^th anniversary class from the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington, N.J., where I was educated, and also of the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, where the priests of Brooklyn and Rockville Centre were educated. The joint celebration brought together over 25 of us ordained mostly on the same day in 1970. It was also an encouraging sight to see the experience of many years of priesthood so well lived.

The work of vocation promotion is certainly a work of the Spirit, but at the same time we must cooperate with the Spirit by prayer and by action, doing all that we can to make the needs of God's people known and encouraging young people, men and women, to give their lives completely to the service of the Church in the priesthood and religious life.

As the vocation prayer that I composed for the Diocese says, we indeed put out into the deep in this area, asking the Lord to send many who will harvest the fields that the Lord has prepared for us.