New Every Morning

I have had the unique opportunity of attending a couple of weddings and a couple of ordinations in the past month or so. I have done much reflecting on weddings and marriage. I think I am due for a reflection on the priesthood.

The first ordination I attended was the ordination of a diocesan bishop. This was a wonderfully glorious occasion and one that does not occur very often in any given diocese. It is rare enough for a diocese to receive a new bishop. It is even rarer for that bishop to be new to the office of bishop. 

The mass for the ordination of our new bishop was one of the most incredible and grand masses I have ever attended. Each detail was perfectly planned and the weight of the task this humble man was being called to hung heavy in every moment. Each prayer and song was filled with emotion, not just because they were beautiful, but because the reality of what was happening was so beautiful. The new bishop addressed the people at the conclusion of mass with confidence, emotion and reverence towards God and towards his new office. This new bishop is a man of faith and a man of wisdom. I am honored and blessed to reside in his diocese. I admit that I may have shed a tear hearing him reflect on the day and upon his mission.

Just a short month later this same bishop ordained his first priest. The young man who was ordained was one that I had met before and one that I would call a friend. The mass for his ordination was similarly as beautiful as the one for our bishop. There was an emotion in the air present from the talent of the musicians and liturgical participants, but the emotion present from the seriousness of a priest's mission was even more noticeable than it was for the bishop's ordination.

The following morning, in the church that my wife and I were wed, our new priest presided over his first mass. At the conclusion of mass, much like our bishop, he addressed the congregation. He began his remarks stating plainly that he was so happy to be a priest. He repeated this phrase countless times in his ten minutes of reflection. He also regularly returned to his need to praise God for bringing him to where he was that day. He was excited, afraid, giddy, overwhelmed, sad, happy and, much more and somehow he was able to express all of these emotions in his unscripted address to all of his friends, family and a whole lot of people he did not know very well. Our new priest is truly a wonderful, intelligent, authentic, and great man. I admit that I did indeed shed many tears hearing him reflect upon the day and upon his mission.

These two seemingly ordinary men have been called to live out lives of ultimate sacrifice and service. They approach their call with excitement, fear, and reverence. These men knew what they were called to. Their words of reflection served as a reminder of what a life of pursuing Christ looks like. It is indeed full of excitement, but it also is full of moments of suffering and loss. It is full of successes and failures. To be done properly one must fully commit to each day and to each moment. If I approached each day of my life with the reverence that our new bishop did at the end of his ordination mass and with the giddiness that our new priest did at the end of his first mass of thanksgiving, then my life would be happier and probably much more fruitful.

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