Archbishop Peter A Comensoli delivered the following homily at the ordination to the priesthood of Fr Jean-Sébastien Géry on Saturday 21 September 2024 at St Patrick’s Cathedral.
There is a fascinating juxtaposition at play between Jeremiah and Timothy, the two protagonists from the initial Scripture readings we’ve just heard. Jeremiah was clearly older than the child he portrays himself to be when God calls him, while Timothy is probably younger than we might think of him when his calling from God came through Paul. Both were likely to have been teenagers at the time in their lives when they received their mission—one a prophet, the other a teacher, but both sufferers for the sake of speaking God’s Word.
That isn’t a bad definition of what a priest is. By the mission given, a priest is principally a preacher, a speaker, of God’s words into and among God’s people, whether it is heeded or not. Praedicamus Christum crucifixum: we preach a crucified Christ, as St Paul put it rather bluntly; a speaking, a proclaiming that to some is folly and to others a scandal, but which is, for all who hear them, words of the power and wisdom of God. ‘There,’ says God to those whom he has called to be priests, ‘I am putting my words into your mouth.’ To which we might add, as if from God’s own intention, ‘Now, do something with them.’
The Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests (of Vatican II) makes it very clear that the priest is principally ordained to preach the Gospel.
God gives priests a special grace to be ministers of Christ among the people. They perform the sacred duty of preaching the Gospel, so that the offering of the people can be made acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (Presbyterorum ordinis, §2)
The Catechism puts it more succinctly: ‘[Priests] are consecrated in order to preach the Gospel and shepherd the faithful’ (CCC, §1564). Or we might simply go to Jesus Christ himself, the High Priest of the New Covenant: ‘Let us go on to the neighbouring towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came’ (Mark 1:38).
It is to this mission—to preach the crucified Christ—that Jean-Sébastien is configured today. It will take on many hues and exhibit many forms, each according to the circumstances into which this proclamation is directed. But at heart, priests are configured to be the proclaiming Christ. It is why priesthood is service and sacrifice, the giving of one’s whole life, in the image of Christ himself.
This is captured in the Prayer of Ordination, which will be prayed over Jean-Sébastien soon. That prayer says, in part,
May he be a worthy co-worker with [the order of bishops], so that by his preaching and through the grace of the Holy Spirit the words of the Gospel may bear fruit in human hearts and reach even to the ends of the earth.
May this prayer, and ours for Jean-Sébastien, come to fruition in the mission that is to be entrusted to him, and by which he will be configured, to preach Christ to God’s people.
Banner image: Following his ordination to the priesthood, Fr Jean Sébastien Géry speaks with Archbishop Peter A Comensoli. (Photo by Casamento Photography.)