ROCKFORD—Speculating that God’s angels rejoice not just over one sinner who repents but also over one new priest, Bishop David Malloy began his homily saying, “Perhaps on a day like this, when there are three of you, not just one, the joy of heaven is such that God is asking his angels to ‘Hold it down over there.’ ”
Before, during and after the ordination of Charles Fitzpatrick, Sean Grismer and Kyle Manno to the priesthood, joy prevailed. After the laying on of hands by the bishop and fellow priests, joyful emotions overflowed as the trio wiped their eyes and sniffled a bit amid their smiles.
“Taken all together, the joy today of heaven and earth is real,” Bishop Malloy said. “That joy of heaven even among the angels for the ordination of priests of Jesus Christ is not simply divine applause and personal best wishes. It is the joy of seeing you transformed into an alter Christus, another Christ … (for the angels) to look at you and to see Christ.”
Priesthood is “an unmerited honor … a profound responsibility … (and is) solemn,” the bishop said, adding, “While each of us is a priest in spite of our unworthiness and our flaws, we bear eternally the image of Christ.
“Your calling — your way to heaven — is to be with Christ, for your own salvation and for the salvation of others,” he said.
Bishop Malloy spoke of the prayers of priests, including that “the Mass will be entrusted to you …
Every Mass that you offer brings untold and even unseen grace to the world.”
He encouraged the three men to love the Church, saying that “one of the great struggles today is to show people — sometimes even Catholics — that love for Christ cannot be separated from love for the Church.”
He reminded them to “love the people you serve (which) won’t mean seeking favor by watering down the challenges of the Gospel; it will mean the sacrifices of love that people expect from us as priests.”
The bishop spoke also of their “free gift of celibacy,” calling them to “live joyfully that purity of Jesus that opens each priest to deeper prayer and to the love and service of all.”
Finally, he said, “Our priestly life is deeply joyful … Don’t let sufferings discourage you along the way.”
After thanking all who attended, Bishop Malloy called on them all to pray for the three new priests. Then he turned again to the men before him.
“The beauty of the priesthood is before you,” he said. “And the angels and heaven and all of us can’t wait for what is to come next.”
Father Fitzpatrick begins his service as parochial vicar at Holy Family Parish in Rockford; Father Grismer starts at Holy Cross Parish in Batavia; and Father Manno is assigned as parochial vicar for St. Patrick Parish in St. Charles.