To the newly-ordained priests of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati: Congratulations! Upon your ordinations today – May 18 – you are the largest class of new priests in the archdiocese in 40 years. And as you say your first Masses on Sunday, you will begin your ministries at a time of both deep crisis and profound opportunity. You will be ministering to a church and world that are simultaneously skeptical of your authority and integrity, but thirsting for your counsel and witness. I know that each one of you are well-equipped, and have been well-trained, for the challenge.
The Rev. Alex Biryomumeisho, Rev. Mark Bredestege and Rev. Zachary Cecil, you and your other classmates are called to be more scrupulous, circumspect and cautious in your personal conduct and speech than perhaps any generation of priests. Because of the fragility, failure and (let’s not mince words) betrayal of many of those who have gone before you, you begin your ministries facing a wary and suspicious public, both inside and outside the Roman Catholic Church.
It is not fair, of course, that the misdeeds of your predecessors cast a shadow on your moral witness. But fair or not, it is a legacy that you have been called to overcome.
You cannot undo the deeds of some of your predecessors. But you can begin to remedy the harm they have done. Of course, you are called to holiness as part of your ordination. But the mandate to be faithful to that call has never been more acute, and the scrutiny never more critical, than it is now.
Stay faithful to the life of prayer that you have learned in the seminary, rely on one another and your other classmates, and daily renew your priestly vows. As such, you and your fellow priests will restore and revive the trust in your offices and ministries.
The Rev. Christian Cone-Lombarte, Rev. Ambrose Dobrozsi and Rev. Andrew Hess, with your fellow ordinands, you will face the trials of serving a church that is undergoing unprecedented change in the United States. The parishes that you will serve have never been more demographically diverse and theologically challenging. The thankless demands on your time, patience and wisdom will at times seem insurmountable, causing you to wonder if you have taken the right path. You will face pastoral crises and theological doubt; challenges to the church’s authority and your pastoral competence.
Rely on, and return to, your reading and training in the seminary. Seek the counsel of professors and other priests, as you learn how to balance theological integrity with pastoral sensitivity. Never compromise true doctrine. But never fail to show the compassion of our Lord in applying that doctrine to the needs of us, your fragile flock of sinners. And always remember that charity is the form of all the virtues.
The Rev. Elias Mwesigye, Rev. Jeff Stegbauer, and Rev. Jedidiah Tritle, you and your newly-ordained brother priests are called to address an ever-changing and skeptical world outside the church. This is an audience that simultaneously thirsts for and denies the truth of the Gospel. And it is a world that will demand that you mold the Gospel to fit the mandates of the world, if you want to be "relevant." But relevance is not telling the world what it wants to hear so that it can confirm its prejudices. Quite the opposite in fact; that would render the Gospel irrelevant to the needs of the world and impotent to meet them.
The famous Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, is reported to have once said, "Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible."
You will face constant pressure to interpret your Bible according to your newspaper (or according to what is trending on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram). You have learned from me and others to resist that temptation. You know that you cannot bring the truth of the Gospel to the world if you compromise that Gospel to the false claims of the world.
Yes, continue to learn how to speak the truth in new and challenging cultural dialects. Stay current with the trends and idiosyncrasies of the age. Engage the world. But always remember that you are called to challenge the world to submit to the true story of the Gospel. Never submit that truth to those false stories that make the Gospel necessary. You have not been ordained to affirm the world as it is, but rather to be a witness to the way the world ought to be.
God has called the nine of you to the most demanding of vocations – to be good and holy priests. Thank you for responding to that call with a generous, courageous and zealous, "Yes."
Kenneth Craycraft is a professor of moral theology, a practicing attorney, and a member of the Enquirer Board of Contributors.
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