In the Letter to the Romans today, we heard this sentence from Saint Paul: Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. As Catholic Christians, we must be a people of hope, a people rooted in the trust of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works in different ways in the Church β it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the Gifts about to be brought out in the Great Entrance are transformed in substance from bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
It is through the Holy Spirit that we receive the Seven Gifts in the mystery of Chrismation or Confirmation: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and reverence of God.
The Holy Spirit is at work in all of the Holy Mysteries of the Church, but also the Spirit is at work in our own personal spiritual lives. We saw this living Spirit of God at work on Thursday when two men received the mystery of holy orders at the hands of two bishops at this altar β Deacon Joshua Johnson, who will be ordained a priest for the military archdiocese next year, and our own Father Thomas Donlin. These vocations are surely the result of the faithful years of prayer by our parishioners who have hosted the Vocation Icon in their homes, and it is remarkable that a parish which has never had more than 95 households at any time has produced this many vocations in 20 years.
There is not another parish in the eparchy of the Holy Protection of Mary that can come close to this record. Doing so in the modern world is difficult β as Father Thomas is aware, American society has changed drastically in the last 43 years since I was ordained, and the moral and spiritual changes have not necessarily been good ones.
Father Thomas, and Deacon Tyler who will soon be ordained a priest, I ask you to consider these particular points. Our Byzantine Catholic Church stands at a crossroads today β as priests, as ministers of the Gospel, as stewards of the Holy Eucharist, as spiritual fathers, as future pastors, you face a challenging time.
