Dear Friends, it is a great privilege to be here this afternoon to confer on Eamonn the Sacrament of Priesthood, to welcome him as he joins us who are ordained and takes up the unique role of service to the people of God that priesthood is. Eamonn I welcome you sincerely not just to this sacred moment but to membership of a family, the family of the priests and deacons of the Diocese of Ferns. Eamon, I welcome your family who together with your late wifeAntoinette was your first vocation. I welcome your sons, Brian, Edward, Terence, your daughter Gillian, yourgrandchildren who are here with us, Ralf, Alex and Heidi and family and friends who have travelled from Europe and the USA.
Eamonn, we thank you for your generosity of spirit and faith which encouraged you to take this path to priesthood after the death of Antoinette. It is a measure of your awareness that all lives are given to be lives of service of God and of others and by taking the road to priesthood, you affirmed your continued commitment to a life of service begun in marriage and family life and now continued in priesthood.
There is an old Irish Seanfhocal – “an té is annamh is iontach” – what is rare is wonderful and in a time when vocations to priesthood are scarce, it is wonderful for us to be here to celebrate with you Eamon and with your family.
Eamon, I want to reflect for a moment on the future, what you will receive and what you will give. It is a healthy understanding of ministry when you keep both of these in balance.
What you will give.
As a priest, you will celebrate the Eucharist for those in your care, you will forgive sins in Christ’s name and support the sick with the Sacrament of Anointing. You will celebrate the love of God visible in those who come to you for the Sacrament of Marriage. But perhaps above all, you will welcome people into God’s presence through the Sacrament of Baptism. Why do I say above all? Principally, because the Sacrament of Baptism is rooted on the very understanding that our God is a welcoming God who earnestly longs for us to belong to him. It is no accident that one of the key themes that has arisen in our Synodal discussions here in Ferns, but also across Ireland and the Western world particularly, is the great modern feeling of being disconnected from each other and yearning to belong. Eamonn your life as a priest in a Synodal Church will be one of seeking out ways to gather people to each other and consequently to God. As Pope Leo said at a ceremony similar to this last month in Rome –“being a person of God connects us to the earth, not the ideal world but to the real one”. When you do this, the gift of yourlife that you today generously give to God and God’s people in Ferns will be the living presence of Christ.
What you will receive
But as us priests who have been in ministry for a number of years know well, you will also receive gifts in abundance to sustain your ministry. All of our families have been and continue to be a source of support and encouragement. They remind us that while we may be ministers we are also simply men. Often men who need to be taken firmly in hand but always with love. Eamonn, you are privileged to have your own family around you and we pray that your ministry will be blessed by their presence. As you celebrate the Sacraments and as you reach out to God in prayer, you will receive all the graces that you will need for your ministry. It is a great privilege above all to celebrate the Eucharist and it is a blessing and gift to us as priests as well as those who participate in it. You will also be blessed by your friendships with other priests. Those who trained with you and with whom you built long-lasting friendships. But it is also important to build and nourish relationships with the priests of the Diocese. In those friendships you will find the support and encouragement when the work gets difficult as it sometimes will. Pope Leo referred to the moment of ordination as existing priests and bishops making room for the newly ordained. He then reminded the new priests, that this image of making room should be at the heart of their ministry, by making room for all God’s people and by not setting limits on who should be included. It was a message of welcome.
In the years ahead, the picture of ministry will change here in Ferns and indeed across Ireland. In every parish, pastoral area and Diocese, we in ministry will be joined by committed lay people who will share ministry with us. Here in Ferns youwill be sharing your ministry with those who are now training in Maynooth, and also with those who are learning to lead communities in prayer, those who lead scripture groups and those who give their energy to youth ministry. Our role together will be to make room as Pope Leo suggested.
In the Gospel of this great feast day of St’s Peter and Paul, Jesus takes as his starting point, what the people on the ground are saying but then he encourages his disciples especially Peter, to give their own answer, their deeper answer to his leading question. It is an answer supplied by the Holy Spirit but also based on their real experience of what they saw Jesus doing. Eamonn, may the years ahead be filled with joy and happiness for you and for those whom you minister to and those you minister with and may each day provide you with the opportunity to declare for Christ and his mission.