You are a priest forever and are called to be a loyal steward.
On the day of the Lord, Sunday August 11 of 2013 at 12:00 in the parish of Our Lady of the Candelaria in the district of Guarne (Antioquia) Juan Ismael Castrillon Valencia was ordained to the priesthood. The celebration was well attended by friends and family members and was presided over by Monsignor Fidel Leon Cadavid Marin, Bishiop of the Sonson-Rionego diocese. In his reflection Bishop Leon quoted the Gopel of Saint Luke (Luke 12, 38-42) to say: ¨Juan Ismael, from this moment you are a steward in the Lord´s vineyard which you should keep your belt fastened tightly and your lamps full of oil in order to faithfully complete the mission which the Church imparts to you this day ¨
After the laying on of hands by Monsignor Fidel, with help from the privincial priest and various other priests from the order of St. John Eudes, and from other diocese, Juan Ismael was clothed with Estola and Casulla befitting a priest. Dressed in this way he joined his fellow priests with the same prayer that St. John Eudes once offered as a token of his life in the priesthood: ¨Take possession of my heart which I commit to Your hands forever. I acknowledge and worship You as my King and Master. Give me the grace do die before offending you; that I might be a vessel both living and dead¨
It gives us great pleasure that God´s plan has been realized and He continuous to plant in the hearts of men the desire to answer his call and to cry aloud with joy ¨Give thanks to the Lord for this ineffable gift.¨
The bishop offered a lovely sermon inspired by the Gospel of this Sunday XIX and some texts from the pastoral doctrine of St. John Eudes. The following is a transcription of that sermon.
Fabio Nelson Garcés
Theology student, St. John Eudes
Sermon at the ordination of Juan Ismael Castrillon Valencia to the priesthood
19th Sunday according to ordinary time
Guarne, August 11-13
Mons. Fidel León Cadavid Marín, bishop of Sonson-Rionegro
The Lord illumines us with the text from this Sunday´s gospel that we may grow as disciples of the Lord and to better understand some of the priestly duties which today our brother Juan Ismael Castrillon Valencia receives by the laying on of hands and consecration through the prayers of the bishop.
Everything Christ says is intended for the formation of his disciples while on their way to Jerusalem where they would ultimately die and be resurrected.
¨Fear not Little lamb, for your Father has mad a place for you in His kingdom¨
With these words, Jesus imparts to his disciples an attitude of confidence. He invites them to be without fear before their mission which was to suffer and die the same death as Jesus and the consequence of the smallness and impotence that existed in the Christian community. These are words which communicate the gentleness and the protection that God offers to those who participate in His kingdom.
Juan Ismael, the experience of all those chosen by the Lord´s favor is that of the ¨small and unworthy¨. God´s love overflows within us. Today affection He says to you: fear not, my son; y reveal to you and I make you a participant in my father´s kingdom according to my authority as savior. I invite you to confide in me, an indispensable condition for all disciples. Do not depend on your own strengths but on God. Remember to see yourself as small before God, because the power of God is made more manifest in the weak and the simple, and not in the pretentious strength of this world.
St. John´s Edudes´ words are descriptive: ¨What are we that God should impart to us such sublime mysteries? For what purpose has he deigned to choose us, miserable and sinful as we are, as instruments of his divine mercy?¨
Give thans to the Lord for he has entrusted you with His sacraments for the coming of His kingdom, the kingdom of the Father, who desires the salvation of all mankind.
• ¨Go sell all that you have and give to the poor. Store away treasure in heaven which cannot be lost for there there are neither thieves nor moths that destroy. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
If God gives us His kingdom and invites us to confide in Him, He liberates us from the preoccupation of accumulating temporary goods. The real treasure is to have God, the only treasure. Only God is enough! For that reason ¨sell all that you have and give it to the poor¨ If we have God, we are free of possessions and fears. Riches take away our freedom and cause injustice in the world.
Juan Ismael, the ordination, for your part, is the acceptance of the call and the mission which the Lord has put in your heart. Today you answer ¨Here am I!¨ with a clean conscience ready to be delivered wholly. The Lord consecrates you so that you may consecrate yourself to Him. What fills your heart is the kingdom of God. If you forsake earthly belongings it is because you have found in the Lord the only treasure for which you can lose everything else. Today you have no doubts about putting trust in no one and nothing else but God, who loves you. That is what is expressed in the prayer printed on your card:
¨Take possession of my heart which I commit to your hands forever. I acknowledge and worship You as my King and Master¨(St. John Eudes)
Think of your pastoral life as a brave testimony of the values that do not fade, that do not run dry. Accepting the invitation of the Father to be unafraid ¨go against the grain¨ to defeat the illusion of material well being and the consumerism as a key to human happiness. The need does not fill our heats. Possessions are the not the key to happiness.
You have chosen Christ and his Gospel, as a true treasure, inexhaustible stream of life, of beauty, of hope. This is the treasure that no one shall take away from you and for which you must give cause with your priestly life.
• Keep your belt tightened, and your lamps full of oil, as one keeping guard in the night.
All are invited by the Lord to live a state of perfect vigilance.
This is the time of the Church, the time to be ready, of the decision to take or reject definitively the salvation offered to us. It is the attitude that corresponds to he who lives with the knowledge that the future belongs to God.
¨Tighten your belt¨: the Jews tightened the belts of their tunics in order to move better when doing work. What the Lord suggests with these words is that His disciples who await his second coming must be hard at work and no fall into mediocrity. A follower of God must be willing to work. More than a condition, this must be the way of life for he that is clothed in Christ and dedicated to His kingdom.
Juan Ismael, a priest is someone who is vigilant in a special way, equates to a loyalty to his obligations, and to not shrink from the task. Maintain a desire to live and to serve, to build and to be responsible; light your lamp, with hope alive in your heart.
When the Lord comes he will reward his faithful servant not for what he has, but for his vigilance while the master was away. Without communion with the Lord, you cannot maintain joy during that wait. You must keep tension with your prayer, with the Word, with an intense spirit. In this way you avoid falling into a superficial world, mechanical, and indifferent, of routine, comfortable, impoverished by projects and illusions… make yourself useful, ¨run in the race¨
Happy is that good servant whom the Lord finds waiting!
• “I refer to that good and faithful steward whom the Lord places to impart to each his portion so that all may eat.¨
The exhortation of Christ concerning the significance of acting and persevering in vigilance is primarily given to those who are the head of their community, those who are ¨in service¨ to the community. To Peter and to all who have been placed before their servants, the Lord asks for fealty from the rest.
Juan Ismael, you are called and consecrated by the Lord, in order that you might be a ¨servant of Christ and steward of the mysteries of God ¨(First Corinthians 4, 1) You are anointed by the Holy Spirit to act in the name of Christ the Head as a representative of the Lord. ¨what is asked of a steward is that he be loyal¨ (First Corinthians 4,2), that he be disposed to answer to his master.
To be a priest, another concept clearly defined by St. John Euedes, a zealous pastor, is to be an ¨instrument of the love of God¨.
It is to announce to man in need of salvation the good news of the love of God the Father, who through Jesus Christ sends his love to those who are like ¨as sheep with no shepherd¨ and has come to save what was lost. You are called, Juan Ismael, definitively to be a ¨missionary of mercy¨, steward of all of God´s gifts to give to each what is needed, to the suffering, to the lost or disoriented. You are the pastor made strong by God, who is ready to give his life for each of his sheep.
Pope Francis has insistent on the importance of not being trapped within ourselves, in our parishes, in our communities, in our groups. The people need the Gospel. It is not simply a matter of waiting and giving, but rather of going and searching. ¨Seek out those in need of attention, of protection, of help, to bring them close to the warmth of God´s love¨ (Francis). This is what is meant by being a ¨loyal and faithful steward¨.
• ¨To whom much is given, much is required; to whom much is entrusted much will be expected¨
The Lord will give to each according to his actions, and to the grace received. To whom much is given much will be required. We will be judged in love. You have received Juan Ismael, a great love of predilection, an act of trust, the kingdom, the unction with the Holy Spirit, the very saving grace of Jesus Christ.
You, the followers of John Eudes, exist because of the great conviction of your founder who in sainthood and the sanctity of the priests radiates the salvation of the Church. Part of your labor, of your charisma, will be to help the candidates in seminary. That they be formed in the spirit of Crist, in self-denial and poverty, in the pure love for God, in obedience to God, in fraternal charity, in devotion to the Virgin Mary, in fealty to the Church.
You, Juan Ismael, receive from the Lord, from the Church and from your congregation of Jesus and Mary, a great treasure, a magnificent gift, a long tradition. Much is given to you, much is commended to you, all the confidence is bestowed on you.
With the grace of the Lord and the protection of Maria be a faithful servant, fortunate for the Lord has found you always laboring faithfully.
Amén.
+ Fidel León Cadavid Marín
Bishop of Sonsón - Rionegro
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