"For every high priest, chosen from among men, is appointed to act on behalf of
men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins."
Hebrews 5:1
PRIESTHOOD ORDINATIONS
July 27, 2007

Columbia Convention Center
Columbia, South Carolina

HOMILY
Bishop Robert J. Baker



I join Bishop Thompson, Bishop Cisneros, my brother priests, and the ordinands in thanking all of you for joining us for this happy occasion as we call forth from our midst six men to the Sacred Order of Priesthood.

The great mystery of the priesthood of Jesus Christ is unveiled for us in this ordination ceremony today in which we discover the breadth and depth of God’s love for His people in those who will be ordained today. Pope Benedict has said that the priesthood no longer is a question of lineage as it was in the former covenant, but it is a matter of discovering oneself in the mystery of Jesus Christ. “He is always the One Who gives, Who draws us to Himself.”

The Lord lays His hands upon us, “and He now wants our hands so that they may become His own in the world.” The pope says that anointed hands must be a sign of the human capacity for giving, for creativity in shaping the world with love. “It is,” he says, “for this reason…that we are in need of the Holy Spirit.”

We will witness in this ordination ceremony today the presence of the Holy Spirit in a powerful way, taking possession of these six men’s lives and conforming them to service in the priestly, prophetic, and pastoral ministry of Jesus Christ.

With our Holy father we invite you future priests to become every day more fully friends of Jesus Christ, Who entrusts Himself to us, so that we can speak with Him and on behalf of Him -- in persona Christi capitis, in the person of Christ the Head.

Pope Benedict says that the core of the priesthood is being friends of Jesus Christ. Only in that way can we truly speak In Persona Christi. Being a friend with Him means sharing in thought and will with Him, reflecting before Him and with Him on His words and actions. In a special way being a friend of Jesus “means being a man of prayer…we thus learn to live, suffer and act with Him and for Him.”

Being a friend of Jesus is also being a friend with His followers. “We can be friends of Jesus only in communion with the whole of Christ, with the head and with the body; in the vigorous vine of the Church to which the Lord gives life.”

How grateful we are to Pope Benedict for helping us deepen our understanding of Who Jesus is, especially through his recent book, Jesus of Nazareth. The pope hoped by writing this book to foster in his readers a living relationship with Jesus. May his goal for writing this book be the principle goal of our lives as priests, developing a living and vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.

I’d like also to call those being ordained to a deeper friendship with the saints of the Church, past and present. They are our big brothers and sisters in the faith who model for us the way to Jesus and help us realize that living a holy life is possible, even for ourselves. Cultivate a deep relationship with the saints. Celebrate their feast days as special days in the life of the Church and in your own life as well.

I think of the great influence the servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty had on my life. Both by her writings – The Gospel Without Compromise, Poustinia, and Dear Father, as well as her letters to me and my friends. She gave us and the world a solid direction in meeting the challenges of a secular, materialistic culture, separated from religious values. Her Friendship Houses and Madonna Houses provided spiritual oases to the cultural vacuum of western society. They still serve as beacons of light to the world of today. One of our future priests spent time at Madonna House in Combermere, Ontario in preparation for his ordination as a priest.

I mention Catherine because she was a product of our culture and times. She experienced “The first World War, the Russian Revolution, the Racial Integration Movement in the United States, The Second Vatican Council and its aftermath.” As her biographer, Father Robert Wild says, “She did not simply read about these events: she was part of them. It is,” he says, “because she came through all of them with her faith flaming and her love stronger than ever that she can serve as a safe guide for others in the life of faith.”

That is what the saints do for us. They help us by serving as safe guides for others in the life of faith. They come through all the events of their lives with their faith flaming and their love stronger than ever.

My prayer for our new priests of the Diocese of Charleston is that someone will be able to say the same about them. “They came through all the events of their service as a priest with their faith flaming and their love stronger than ever.”

As a holy priest many people will find their way to God through you new priests. You are the concrete, personal and personable face of Jesus Christ to many people who will otherwise not have the opportunity to be introduced to Him. Your priesthood is the means of their finding their way to Jesus.

Today is a very special and happy day for you, for me, for your family members, and friends, for the Diocese of Charleston, and for the universal Church. And we pray that by your closeness to the person and message of Jesus Christ, every day of your lives, will usher in many more blessings because of the sacramental grace of priesthood you receive today, and that you come through all the events of your life as a priest with your faith flaming and your love stronger than ever. May those who are searching for Jesus find Him in you -- today and always!