Mexican Diocese ordains 70 new priests in one week
Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega, Archbishop of Guadalajara, ordained 70 men to the priesthood on June 4 and 5 at the Mexican Martyrs Shrine in that city.
As many as 33 priests were ordained on the first day and 37 on the following day.
On June 3, the cardinal called seven deacons to the altar, also at the shrine in Guadalajara.
"It is a blessing in this time when we are surrounded by an environment without God," said Father Juan Carlos Lupercio Gómez, vice-rector of the Guadalajara seminary.
The fact that the Word (Jesus Christ) remains in the world despite adversity is a sign that he keeps calling.
"The call of God is still strong, and young hearts are willing to continue to listen to His voice," he said.
During the religious persecution in Mexico during the 1920s, Lupercio also spoke of St. Christopher Magellan and several other martyrs who also received their formation at the Guadalajara seminary.
In his homily, Ortega on June 4 said that the new priests are not serving the world, but God and His people.
"The flock of Our Lord Jesus is not even your flock, it's not even our flock, it's the flock of the Holy Spirit, the flock that has been entrusted to you beginning today," the cardinal said.
He told the new priests, "Never forget your origins" because "a priest is a man who was called, who was chosen from among men”
By forgetting the origins of a priest, Ortega warns, a priest does not create "distance between himself and the community he serves."
The cardinal continued, "but when he acts this way, he usually conveys the message that I am superior, that I am much more important, that I am the one who needs to be recognized and served."
In addition, when a priest appears to be superior to his fellow man, he enters into an evil that sadly affects the Church and many; clericalism, the cardinal said.
According to the archbishop of Guadalajara, priests are called to serve men in matters concerning God and people expect that of them in priests: a person of God, a person who speaks to them about God, a person who will be a presence of God among them and will express God's love, mercy, and salvation.
The cardinal warned, "We belong to God, not to the world, and the world can own us if we forget that we belong to him for God's sake and the sake of the brothers."
On the Solemnity of Pentecost, Ortega said in his homily that the election, the consecration, and the sending forth of these brother priests were very clear evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Every one of these brothers who are about to be ordained will be given the gift of making Christ present to his people, and that means making Christ present as head, pastor, husband and wife of the Church.
According to Robles, when the Holy Spirit inspires in the Catholic Church "a variety and a wealth of charisms," these do not obscure or nullify any other charism.
The charism you have is not greater, greater, or the only charism there is. The Holy Spirit raises other charisms in his Church that you can serve as well," he told the new priests.
He encouraged them that the Spirit of the Lord would always animate, renew, drive, comfort and guide them.
He added that "the Spirit of the Risen Lord has descended as a gift, and it is a gift that will remain as long as the world endures." - Anbu Selvam
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.