L ast Saturday morning, before a full cathedral, two new priests were ordained for the Diocese of Rockford.

They are Father Jared Twenty, whose home parish is SS. Peter and Paul in Cary, and Father Andrew Deitz, who hails from St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Crystal Lake.

Father Deitz  will now begin his priestly ministry at St. Mary Parish in Huntley while Father Twenty will return to Rome for his final year of study.

If you have never attended an ordination to the priesthood, I would recommend that you make the time. Next year the ordination to the priesthood is scheduled for June 6.

The ceremony is very moving and a reminder of the indispensable role of the priesthood in our lives and in our Catholic faith. After the Gospel and homily, the men to be ordained are presented publicly. All in attendance signal their approval by applauding. Apart from the faithful expressing the approval of the Church, that applause also expresses to the men in a very personal way the support and gratitude that accompanies the beginning of their priestly lives.

The men then publicly answer questions before the bishop, their brother priests, and the faithful, expressing their resolve to carry out fully and faithfully all elements of the ministry of Christ entrusted to Catholic priests. They then prostrate themselves on the floor as the prayers of the saints in heaven are invoked for them. That gesture represents their total gift of self to Christ and their recognition of their weakness that needs to be strengthened by his grace.

The men then come before the bishop who imposes his hands on their head, the moment that they are consecrated priests forever. The other priests present also impose hands.

The hands of the new priests are then anointed with the sacred chrism, the sign of the gift of the Holy Spirit, and they are presented with the host and chalice as a sign of the sacred Mass being entrusted to their care.

The ordination ceremony is a sign of great hope. Two young men who have prayed and discerned and studied for years are now entering the priesthood. In spite of scandals and secular pressure, other dedicated and talented men continue to respond to the call of Christ. We have every reason to be grateful to God for these continuing gifts of priestly vocations.

But I must also express my worry because we need more priests. As in many dioceses, our clergy is aging and retiring. We need more young men who will answer the magnificent call to follow Christ and serve the Church.

Our first contribution as the Church to fostering vocations is simply this: prayer.

Jesus told us to ask the Master of the Harvest and He will send workers (Mt. 9:38). We need to take Jesus up on this and personally and in our parishes ask God for more priests.

I fear that we have for so long had priests available that we are not praying with sufficient urgency as a diocese. We must pray more, and more intensely, for vocations to the priesthood.

The second focus has to be on our Catholic families, and especially on Catholic parents. I hear from time to time about young men who express interest in the priesthood but they are discouraged by their parents. Perhaps it is the smaller families. Maybe it is because parents are worried that their sons won’t be happy, or that the life is hard.

But God’s grace rewards generosity. It helps priests, just as it helps lay people, to overcome challenges and adversities before which we might otherwise fail. And with that grace come joy, happiness and satisfaction. Just ask your parish priest.

Pope St. John Paul II taught that parents must learn to welcome the grace of a vocation in the family. The alternative is to pray for vocations … in someone else’s family. But that sort of prayer does not reflect the generosity and trust that the whole Church must demonstrate in asking God’s blessings.

Father Deitz  and Father Twenty, congratulations. The Diocese of Rockford welcomes you warmly. Your ordination has reminded us of God’s generosity and of our own obligation to be spiritually and personally supportive of other young men that the Master of the Harvest will send.