Homily by Archbishop Thomas Wenski at 2026 Priest Ordination Mass. May 9, 2026. St Mary Cathedral.

Today we welcome the families and friends of these deacons – soon to be ordained priests. Many here have traveled long distances to be here; others are following the ceremony by live stream. Sejam todos bem-vindo! Bienvenidos todos, byenvenitout moun. Benvenuti. Witajmy. Welcome! 

We also welcome our seminary rectors, faculty members, our vocation director and we welcome our priests and parishioners and all who had a role in the discernment of their vocations and formation. 

Also, we thank God for the “yes” given to God by these young men so generously and uncompromisingly today. Just as we pray for them today, we must continue to pray for them and all our priests. By the “laying on of hands” in this sacred rite of Holy Orders, they are configured to Christ the eternal High Priest and, joined to the priesthood of the bishops, they are consecrated as true priests of the New Testament and sharers in the very mission of Christ — sowing the seed of his Word, dispensing his Divine Mercy in the Sacrament of Penance, and nourishing the faithful at the table of His Body and Blood. 

The Gospel reading is rather sobering. It is the reading for the Saturday of the firth week of Easter and, here in the Archdiocese, it is the gospel proclaimed at Ordinations since they often take place on this Saturday of the fifth week of Easter. 

I am reminded of the words of the mother of Saint John Bosco on the day of his ordination to the priesthood. Though illiterate, she possessed great faith and wisdom. She told him, “Giovanni, today you are a priest. You will begin saying Mass, so from henceforth, you will be closer to Jesus. Remember that to begin to celebrate Mass also means to begin to suffer. You will not realize this immediately, but little by little you will see that what your mother told you is the truth”. 

In an increasingly secularized world where many have lost the sense of the transcendent, the priest is an enigma, a sign of great contradiction. Today, many view religious faith with hostility, or at best, with indifference. In such a world, the Church will always seem “out of step” and irrelevant. Such a church will often be regarded, if not with scorn and ridicule, then with utter incomprehension. As Jesus said once, “If the world hates you, realize that it has hated me first.”  

Yet, by Christ’s design, though we do not belong to the world, we are "in" the world "for the life of the world." This call of the Church to be “in the world” and to be “for the life of the world” was strongly emphasized by Pope Francis. He criticized a “self-referential Church,” a Church closed in on herself.  A priest, Pope Francis told us, “Is not to build walls but bridges.” Pope Leo XIV says in similar words, that a priest is to be “a channel, not a filter.” We must leave the doors of the Church open, he insists, to a "suffering humanity" in need and not "be an obstacle to those who wish to enter," The priestly anointing we receive is not meant to just make us fragrant; rather, it is meant “for the poor, the prisoners, the sick, for those sorrowing and alone.” We are not men “out for ourselves” but men for others.  Our vocation to priestly ministry is a call to reflect Christ’s “patience and tenderness”. 

Brothers, imitate the Lord in his perfect charity towards all. Do not shun the excluded or sinners but help them to turn, to convert, and return to the right path. With simplicity and generosity, be close to the sick and the poor. Face the challenges of your ministry without anxiety or mediocrity and don’ tallow yourself to be intimidated or swayed by those who make power, wealth, or pleasure the main criteria of their lives. Rather, offer the witness of a life deeply rooted in Christ, a witness that will draw people to Christ by attraction. Your witness will be made more compelling by your detachment from material comforts and signs of status, by your readiness to obediently be available wherever your bishop to whom you pledge obedience, will send you, and by your chaste celibacy which affirms that all human intimacy finds its deepest meaning and fulfillment when experienced as a participation in intimacy with God himself. 

And remember, as a priest you will offer the Holy Sacrifice every day, therefore, sacrifice must also be the condition of your life. In giving Christ’s Body and Blood, we must also give our body and blood for the life of our people. 

You might not change the whole world by announcing the passion, death, and Resurrection, and the love of Christ. But by sharing this kerygma, this “good news” with people day after day, in season and out of season, there’s every chance that you could change their whole world... and who knows how many others in the process. 

The demands of the ministry with its inevitable trials and disappointments and the fact that we carry the “treasure” of the Gospel in “earthen vessels” can sometimes tempt us priests to give into discouragement — and, perhaps, sometimes even try the patience of our people. Priests, of course, forgive sins in the name of Christ and his Church. I ask you to be generous with your time making yourself readily available to hear the confessions of the people. At the same time, I encourage you and the other priests here this morning that you do not neglect to avail yourselves of the consolations of the Sacrament of Penance. The Mercy of God is always greater than their — or our own — weakness and unworthiness. 

No one wants you to burn out — a candle that burns out leaves a sooty mess. A burned-out priest is a mess too. But you are expected to work hard: you are not to burn out, but you are supposed to burn yourself up, to consume yourself in the service of Christ and his Church.