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(Editor’s note: The following is the homily given by Bishop James F. Checchio at a Mass, during which he ordained Father Ronal Vega Pastrana to the priesthood for the diocese, at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen, June 11.)
Deacon Ronal, what an honor to welcome you here on this joyful day for our diocesan family as you lay down your life, following Jesus’ urging in our Gospel today, in service of Christ and our local Church. ¡También damos la bienvenida a tus queridos padres, Lidys y Jorge Ivan que han venido desde Ceretay, Colombia. Ciertamente queremos agradecerlos por el regalo que tú eres para nosotros aquí en Metuchen! (“We also welcome your dear parents Lidys and Jorge Ivan who have come all the way from Ceretay, Columbia, and we certainly want to thank them for the gift you are to us here in Metuchen!”)
Likewise, we welcome our dear parishioners, the deacons and religious from St. Bernard of Clairvaux [Bridgewater], St. James [Basking Ridge], St. Thomas the Apostle [Old Bridge] and St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [Flemington] parishes where you have served while in the seminary who rightly take pride on this day. Through their love of Christ and His Church, you have already seen how thoroughly and effectively, we priests are shaped by the People of God.
I also want to thank the priests of our Diocese who have come today in such good numbers, some of whom have shared a special role in your formation as pastors, associates, vocation director or mentors. The priests and community of Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall [South Orange] deserve our thanks as well for the fine formation they have given you. Soon, you will kneel as one by one each priest will impose his hands upon you. They will be expressing the special bond of priestly fraternity into which we are welcoming you. In effect, they will be offering prudent counsel: “the priest cannot act by himself; he acts with the presbyterate, becoming a brother of all who constitute it.”
So, Ronal, see in this presbyterate your place of sanctification, and in turn, seek to support your brothers by faithful attendance at priest convocations, recollection days, conferences, prayer groups, anniversaries and funerals. How indebted we all must be to those in our number who creatively seek ways to gather the brethren socially, and showing special concern for those in difficulties.
Deacon Ronal, your formation for the priesthood has been unique in that these past two-and-a-half pandemic years have changed so much in our lives, and the life of a seminarian did not escape that. While the Church is always the same in so many ways, some of our practices and certainly the habits of us clergy and the lay faithful have been affected. In a very recent study about the practice of the faith, we are told that people’s faith has increased during the pandemic. That is wonderful news for us!
However, we also hear that some people have expressed that they have gotten used to attending Mass virtually rather than in person, not having to get dressed up nor drive, they just find it easier to tune in for a Mass on Sunday from wherever they happen to be. I have been praying about that and speaking with others while asking the Lord to enlighten us all on how we can better reach out as the good shepherds we are to be, to try to embrace these people more fully and keep them close to the Lord. Such will be one of your challenges as you begin your priestly ministry, along with shepherding a flock that has also had emotional tolls from this pandemic affect them in various ways, some perhaps not even recognized by themselves. Yes, we priests are called to be even more proactive in our ministry these days.
You have prepared yourself well for the priestly life, and I know of your deep love for Jesus, especially in the Eucharist. I know you are a man of prayer, committed to daily Mass, quiet time with the Lord in His Eucharistic presence each day, faithful to your breviary and having a lively devotion to our Blessed Mother and the saints. All of that, along with the giving of yourself in loving service to God’s people in your assignments will make you a true spiritual father for the faithful and will bear great fruit for our Lord. This is what our faithful need and expect.
So, I ask you to remember Ronal, that fathers always sacrifice for their families. We priests, as spiritual fathers, are called to a kind of sacrifice that occurs on the long road of fidelity, the day-by-day, year-by-year gift of ourselves to our pastoral and sanctifying ministry, often not in grand tasks but in being present to our parishioners and brother priests, and faithfully fulfilling the ordinary and sometimes unending, tedious administrative obligations that are at hand, day after day after day. This is our road to sainthood, to holiness. The habit and discipline of regular prayer is a joy for us, but will also call upon us to make personal sacrifices too, but it is this discipline that will strengthen and focus us for our sacred ministry.
Similarly, sacrifices will need to be made to be faithful to our commitment to celibacy, as we cultivate a lifestyle and friendships that help us to avoid temptations and further build us up in virtue over time. St. Joseph gives us such a good example of this. We read so little about him in the Scriptures, but we do know that he is called a just man, a virtuous man, who showed himself to be ever faithful in his fatherhood to Jesus and Mary, day in and day out. This does not just happen, but his worthy fatherhood came from good habits, virtues and sacrifice.
We priests have to make such efforts for our parish families, just like good fathers do for their own families:
• We are fathers who need to be with our family as much as possible.
• We need to model for our people how to live and even how to die.
• We need to model through the homilies that we preach.
The priest as spiritual father needs to learn how to give his people encouragement in the face of their daily grind, constantly encouraging them to fidelity when they are discouraged, and being a supportive presence to them in time of trouble, suffering and despair. Here, your pandemic formation should give you new insights into this!
Jesus, of course, is the perfect model for us priests and gratefully, He is incredibly patient with us, waiting for us to grasp the reality of His constant love for us in the Eucharist. He is incredibly humble with us -- waiting on us, on our schedules, on our slowness in responding to His constant presence and love for us in His presence in the Eucharist. He takes His time with us as we learn from Him, and He wants us to take time with our people, to be patient with them as He is with us. He teaches us gradually how to be true pastors, true shepherds and fathers of our people, so that in time we are able to put their needs ahead of our own, to love our people more than we love ourselves.
Yes, much patience and humility is needed by priests in our day, you must be willing, and I know you are, to make your life a sacrifice to the Lord, not only through your promises of celibacy, obedience and prayer, but also through your dedicated, constant service to your parishioners, your fidelity to them as a spiritual father.
So, Deacon Ronal, know of our prayers for you this day and our love for you, too! Take comfort in the fact that in the litany soon to be prayed, all the saints in heaven and the Church Universal on earth join their prayer to ours this morning for you. We thank God for you and ask the Holy Spirit to continue to conform you more and more into the very image of our Savior, who laid down His life for His flock! May our Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe wrap her mantel around you to protect and nourish you in a special way, as you become an image of her own dear Son this very day. God bless and keep you.
