You Are the Father’s Answer to the Prayer of the Church! (The Ordination Homily delivered by the then Bishop, now Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, DD., the ordaining prelate of the Presbyteral Ordinations of the MARAMISA Class of the Society of the Divine Word on December 5, 2009 at the Holy Spirit Chapel, Divine Word Seminary, Tagaytay City, Philippines) A GREAT BLESSING I am sure that everyone here feels blessed to be part of the assembly at this Eucharistic celebration where the ordination of our six brothers to the priesthood happened. You clapped…in a very joyful and generous way. They’re not yet priests…reserve, reserve some energy for …the end of the rite but, actually in the hearts of everyone they are already priests. This is a great blessing not only to their families, not only to the Society of the Divine Word but, as our reverend Rector told us in the introduction, this is a blessing for the whole church, for the whole Catholic Church. YOU ARE GRACE In the gospel, Jesus sees this vast crowd, they were weary, they were tired, they were like sheep without a shepherd, and Jesus told His disciples, pray, pray to the harvest master, pray to the Father, that He may send more laborers into the harvest, because the harvest is great but the laborers are few. Today, our prayer to the Father is answered. Six young, and …ah.. o sige na nga, dashing…are the response of the Father to our prayers. Dear brothers, you are supposed to be the answers to the prayer of the people. You are God’s response to the people who are weary and tired. And I hope for the rest of your life and of your ministry. The Church will always say, you are God-sent, you are the answer to our prayer, you are grace. I’m sure all of us everytime we hear of someone entering the priesthood or religious life, we know deep in our hearts that our prayer to the Father is answered, but please do not think that they are the only answers to our prayer to God for more laborers in the vineyard , in the harvest. THERE ARE MANY GIFTS In the 2nd reading, from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians, we are reminded that the Spirit animates the whole Church, the Spirit builds up the Church by raising men and women with different gifts for the ministry. There are many gifts coming from the one Spirit and in the list given to us by St.Paul in the 2nd reading, he mentions a few: some are apostles, some are prophets, some are teachers, and in another letter, the letter to the Corinthians, he has a more extensive list: you have those who heal, those who are able to administer goods, those who speak in tongues, and those who interpret the tongues but all of these coming from the One spirit so that everyone could serve, first and foremost, the Body of Christ which is the Church. And by serving the Church, all of us, as one community can respond to the mission that the Father gives to us through Jesus. Our six brothers are truly gifts of the father but all of us are gifts. Gifts to the Church, gifts to the world, gifts to each other. THERE ARE VARIOUS CALLINGS We just have to discern what is that particular calling that I have received from God through the Spirit. Do not think that after this celebration, you can approach any of the priests and say, Now the whole church is in your hand!…kayo na, kayo na lahat. No…today one is asked to examine herself or himself, what is the gift that I have received? And don’t be stingy…share your gift! I saw some of you teary-eyed when they were being blessed by their parents. Tears of joy…if all of you will discover your gifts and offer them for ministry, I will be teary-eyed. I will sob before you (huhuhu…)sa dami ng biyaya. So please, the 2nd reading reminds all of us, the Church is a charismatic Church, meaning, the Church has been gifted by the Spirit with various callings, all meant to be elevated into ministry. THE GIFT TO WATCH OVER THE COMMUNITY And the ordained ministry is just one of those gifts, and you dear brothers who will be ordained, your gift is to watch over the community…not to absorb all the gifts. Do not pretend that you have all the gifts. Into your hands, the gifts of the Spirit in the community are being placed for you to discern, for you to rejoice over those gifts…for you to develop those gifts so that the whole body of Christ entrusted to you will grow through your animating and nurturing ministry. PRETENDING TO BE EXPERTS Dear friends, once I received an invitation…to address a group of Biology teachers. I was asked to give a talk on how to teach biology. So that was surprising for me, so I telephoned noh, the number that was there..on the letter. So I asked them, was that letter really meant for me? They said yes…you want me to talk about how to teach Biology? They said yes. But I am not a biologist, I am not a Biology teacher. Then the woman at the other end of the line said, but you are a bishop! I said, precisely, because I am a bishop, I am not a biologist…ask me to talk about other things but not Biology, and then came the beautiful answer, you are a bishop, you know everything! Wow…it felt very good! I know everything…I have all the gifts…ask any question, I have an answer…ask me about the kidney…I can give you some advice…and I’ll just say, the kidney is part of God’s creation! But you see, you have put into the heart and the mind of the ordained that we possess all the gifts and so we play the game. We pretend to be experts in everything. In nutrition, in politics, in mining, in everything! THE FORGOTTEN HARVEST Where are the other gifts? And you dear young priests to be, don’t take care only of debit, credit…don’t think only of deficits and profit. The gifts of the Spirit in the community are the first that you should manage and the health of the community is seen in how those gifts are nurtured, developed for the good of the whole Body. That’s part of the harvest that Jesus is talking about in the gospel.. There is so much to harvest in the community. But sometimes the laborers sent there to harvest do not care to nurture and to develop. But aside from the gifts of the Spirit in the community, the Gospel alerts the priests about a particular harvest. Jesus saw the lost, the sick, those who were possessed, the weary, the tired and moved with compassion, Jesus begs the disciples to pray to the Father for more laborers, and the answer to that prayer was the group of the Twelve, and the 12, they are now sent by the Lord…to whom? Probably the 12 thought, wow! we are being sent to harvest, to harvest gold, to harvest food…offertory time is harvest time with so many vegetables, Red Ribbon…Goldilocks..all the harvest…I cannot handle everything…so help me, help me…more laborers…the harvest..yan dami sacristan, daming a harvest time…maybe that was the thinking of the 12…but where were they sent to harvest? They were sent to the sick, the lost, the weary, the possessed…that’s the forgotten harvest…and that’s where the harvest is bountiful because even numerically, they form the majority. THE TREASURE OF THE CHURCH That’s the vast field we should go…and proclaim that they are truly blessed…God cares for them and bear the compassion of Jesus…that moved him to pray and to call you. Let that compassion be the source of your pastoral and missionary outreach, and rejoice, rejoice that there are many poor that hear the good news, rejoice that there are blind who see the light, rejoice that there are many lame people who can walk again, that’s the harvest. The gifts of the Spirit and the treasure of the Church – the poor! DO NOT BE AFRAID What will you give to them? Have no fear…like Jeremiah, the Lord promises you His presence…Do not be afraid…I will be with you and that’s the same promise that Jesus makes to his disciples – I will be with you to the end of the ages. That is enough for you! You have a companion – Jesus. And you have His word, the Lord touched the mouth of Jeremiah – I put my words into your mouth, and so what do you give to the poor, the hungry – first and foremost – the Word, the words of everlasting life that comes from Jesus and of course, you have each other…you have the Society of the Divine Word, you have your brothers, you have the whole order of presbyters with you. Don’t cry! You’ll never be alone in this great harvest…and when you look at us here, you see the effects of that work…of that sending…look at us…ang gagwapo ng mga yang mga paring yan…mga mukhang-bata pa – nakaka-bata ang harvest. Nakakabata yan…huwag na kayong pumunta sa kung saan-saan pa…belo man yan…cadayaan man yan…hindi…mag-ministry kayo, magmumukha kayong bata. Yan…kasi kasama nyo ang Panginoon. PRAYER AND PENANCE Let me close, thanks be to God…this ordination happens within the year for… declared by Pope Benedict XVI, the year for the priests…so don’t forget that…you’re truly a blessing to the Church at the time when we are commemorating the hundred fiftieth anniversary of the death of the patron of priests Jean Marie Vianney…you are given this singular grace, and let me just tell you something about St. Jean Marie Vianney. When he was sent to Ars, the vicar told him there is not much love for God in Ars. The vicar did not hide anything from him. It will be tough. I don’t know whether you will have a bountiful harvest. There is not much love in Ars for God. Then came the punchline: You will put the love of God in their hearts. What a description of the presbyteral ministry. Very simple but direct! You will put the love of God in their hearts. Bt St. JMV knew who he was…his limitations. He was like Jeremiah. How could I ever do this? How could I accomplish this? How could I have or present to God a bountiful harvest among a people who reject God? The first thing…the first pastoral approach decided upon by SJMV was prayer and mortification. Prayer and Penance as a pastoral approach. I cannot accomplish it. Only God can accomplish it. So I pray and I mortify myself for love of my people. NOT TO RELY ONLY ON HUMAN CAPACITIES Pope Benedict XVI says that the ordination to the priesthood is a sacrament because the mission cannot be accomplished if we rely only on human capacities. We need this surge of grace from God, and so we pray and we even deny ourselves all for the love of God and the love of the Church, the Body of Christ. My dear friends, let us pray for our six candidates. Let us join them in service, let us rejoice at our own gifts and offer them to the service of the Church, let us do our best…wherever we are.. in neighborhoods, in families to look for the lost…the lonely…those who are looking for meaning in life…let us join our new priests in bringing the Word of God the presence of the compassionate Jesus into the lives of so many people, and pray for all priests that we may, like SJMV, be open to the Spirit that will make us humble, dedicated and truly holy!
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 23:09:59 +0000
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