Yesterday, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon ordained 5 priests at St. Raymond Nonnatus Cathedral in Joliet. While I wish that I was there, I was definitely thinking about the ordination and praying for them all day yesterday. An ordination Mass is an absolutely beautiful liturgy, where the men being ordained priests physically lay down their lives for the Church. The Joliet Ordinations are easily my favorite Mass of the whole year and I really wish that I could have been there to see these great men get ordained. The Mass itself is very moving and it is just incredible to see the joy in the men being ordained as they finally are becoming the priests that the Lord has called them to be. When these men were baptized, God placed the desire for the priesthood in their hearts, and after years of prayer, studies, and formation, they can finally fulfill that desire, acting in the Person of Christ as they administer the sacraments and bring people to the Holy Catholic Church. It is an incredible gift and I am so happy for the five men ordained yesterday. Please remember to pray for all of them: Fr. Michael Pawlowicz, Fr. John Lovitsch, Fr. David Mowry, Fr. Marcin Michalak, and Fr. Marek Herbut. These men will serve as priests for the Diocese of Joliet for many years to come and it has been a great joy of mine to call these men my seminarian brothers for the past three years and I look forward to the day that I can be counted as one of their priestly brothers.
In other related news, today marks a very special day in my own pursuit of the priesthood. That is right, 5 years from today, if everything goes according to plan, I will be getting ordained as a priest. And while you may be thinking to yourself,
Really Jim? Five Years? You're excited that something is five years away? And the answer to that question is absolutely yes. And there are quite a few reasons for that. First, five years is a lot better than the eight years that I had at the beginning of seminary formation. Second, I can now count the number of years left in formation on one hand. And lastly, the number just keeps on getting lower. While I still have tons to learn, knowing that I am doing what the Lord has created me to do brings me great joy and fulfillment.
And the last piece of exciting news is that today is Ryan Adorjan's Birthday! So I would just like to take this opportunity to wish Ryan a very happy 21st birthday. He has been a great travel buddy this semester and I look forward to seeing him in a few weeks while we enjoy a cold one at his favorite place in the world, Chili's! So Happy Birthday Ryan and here he is with our good Totus Tuus friend, Miss Anna Dlesk!
The Cathedral was hot. It was cooler in the area where the priest were One of the Concelebrating Bisops was Archbihop John Nienstedt. Ryan was thereso we know he is not in Italy. Some flannelmouthed priest told him he was all over the internet. By the way Fr. Marcin is going to St. Walters and so is some guy who is retiring. Glad you are so looking forward to ordination.
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