THE PRIESTHOOD

JUNE 7, 2008

Last Saturday May 31, I ordained Mishael Johanan Koday to the Catholic Order of Priesthood at Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville. It was an occasion of great joy for the Church in the Valley to receive the gift of a new priest from Christ. Father Koday, with the Lord’s help will serve and lead his people for many years to come. I am proud of Mishael for renouncing all things in order to follow Jesus Christ and act in his name for the sanctification of the world. I offer prayers of thanksgiving for the support and encouragement that his parents and other family members have given him. I pray, too, that Father Mishael will glorify God by fidelity to the priestly service to which he has been called and which he has irrevocably embraced.

I rejoiced, as I placed my hands on his head and pronounced the prayer of ordination, conferring upon him the sacred powers of the priesthood. As you rejoice with me, let us not forget that he is the only priest we will ordain this year, and that our Valley church needs many more than one new priest each year.

Of the approximately 100 priests currently in active ministry in our Diocese of Brownsville, only a small minority are Valley natives. The rest have come here from other parts of the country or from other nations, including Mexico, Ireland, Africa, India, the Philippines, Spain, Portugal, and Brazil. We are grateful to them for the service they render to our church. As the Church in the Valley, nonetheless, we must begin to generate our own vocations sufficient to meet the needs of our people and to send missionaries to other lands. With over 800,000 Catholics, we have approximately one priest for every 10,220 Catholics. In comparison, the national average is one priest for every 1,200 Catholics!

The need for priestly leadership and service will never fade away. The priesthood is always of crucial importance, most of all because it is through the sacramental ministry of the priest that Christ comes among his people, makes them sharers of his paschal mystery, and bestows on them a share in his life.

The priest is important not only because Christ makes himself present through the priest, but also because the world is ever in need of men who can give it spiritual leadership. The need is greater than ever in our highly secularized society, in which we find so many manifestations of unmet spiritual need. All the material riches our nation has amassed, and all the entertainments we have devised, cannot satisfy the needs of our souls. Our deepest hunger is for God, but how can we find our way to God or fulfill God’s will for us without spiritual leadership?

Priests’ lives are filled with taking care of the spiritual needs of people, and with attending to their material needs as well. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11). After his death and resurrection he gave Peter this instruction: "Feed my lambs... feed my sheep" (John 21:15-16). This is what the life and ministry of the priest is about: devoting his life to caring for God’s people.

He spends his life seeing to it that the people’s spirits are nourished by the word of God and the grace of Christ. He works to protect their human dignity, and to promote all that will foster human solidarity and authentic human development, so that all people may come to the fullness of life God desires us to possess, both in this life and in eternity. He is dedicated not just to the internal needs of the church, but to all people. Jesus Christ identified with all people, and so also does the priest. Jesus gave his first attention to those most in need -- the poor and afflicted; so also does the priest. His love does not exclude anyone, but simply focuses first and foremost on those with the greatest need.

It is true that what a priest is called to do, all who are baptized are also called to do. What distinguishes the priest is his institutional responsibility within the Church not just to dedicate himself to imitating Christ in laying down his life for God's people, but in organizing and leading the local community of faith in putting the energies and resources of its members at the service of feeding Christ's flock.

As a moral teacher, the priest is responsible to discern what does or does not conform with God's plan for our happiness, as revealed by Christ. Consequently, the priest is sometimes compelled to address issues within the arenas of politics, economics, society, and culture, without endorsing or embracing any political party or candidate. He addresses the moral issues that voters keep in mind in the exercise of their rights and responsibilities in a democratic society.

Because the Church is not of human invention but of divine origin, the priest must assist the bishop in insuring the integrity of the Church's great Tradition and the preservation of all that is essential to the faith, while allowing as much freedom as possible for adaptation and innovation. He particularly articulates the everlasting truths of our faith to the reality of our life.

In all this, the priest is the agent and servant of unity in the truth and charity of Christ within the local faith community. Day to day, a priest can get caught up in a host of menial and mundane tasks like everyone else, but his essential role is to give his life for the life of God's people. To be a servant of so many beautiful people is more humbling, more agonizing, more joyful, and more rewarding than almost anyone could imagine. Pray with me for Father Mishael Koday and for all our priests. Pray, too, that young men across our Valley may open their minds and hearts to God’s great call to the priesthood, and that they respond with generosity and courage.

+Bishop Raymundo J. Peña

last updated 17-Jun-2008 8:33 sitemap