Dozens of priests, from those ordained on May 17 to those marking 60 years of priestly ministry, gathered May 20 in St. Basil the Great Church in Brecksville to celebrate their vocations.
Attendees represented diocesan priests with 60, 50, 40 and 25 years of ordained priestly ministry.
Principal celebrant of the Mass was Bishop Edward Malesic, with Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost, Auxiliary Bishop emeritus Roger Gries, OSB, Bishop Martin Amos, retired bishop of Davenport, Iowa, and several other priests concelebrating.
Father Tim O’Connor, pastor of St. Joseph and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parishes in Amherst and a 50-year jubilarian, was the homilist.
(See photo gallery above.)
He recalled the 25th anniversary of his ordination for which he helped coordinate the music. “I can’t help but remember how old the 50-year jubilarians looked,” he recalled. “And today, the 25-year jubilarians look so young,” he quipped.
“Bishops come and go,” Father O’Connor said, alluding to the diocesan bishops under whom he has ministered. “And so do priests, but in far greater numbers.”
Father O’Connor shared a story about his friend and fellow 50-year jubilarian, Father Jim Ols, who was pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Elyria for many years. As he prepared to move to a new assignment, some parishioners lamented his departure, wondering what would happen after he moved on. He reminded them that someday, they and others would gather around his casket as he moved toward eternal life.
He also recalled a personal story of encounter that changed both his life and the other person.
Father O’Connor said a young boy asked him to bless a rosary after he received his first Communion. “I asked him his name and he said, ‘Joseph.’”
He remembered the boy’s name and learned that he was the child of a single mother whose father was not part of his life. As the years passed, he continued to encounter Joseph. They stayed in touch and grew to be friends. Joseph is now an adult and they are still in touch. “All because I asked his name and remembered it – a simple thing that we do as priests.” Father O’Connor said this encounter is an example of “how God writes straight with crooked lines through us. There is always a lot to be grateful for,” he told his brother priests. In the Gospel used at the Mass, he said Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Holding up his hands, Father O’Connor said he used to play the organ at the seminary and at diocesan events. However, arthritis now precludes that.
“But think of all the hands they have touched, pressing sacred oil on the sick and dying, baptizing, handing on the Eucharist to pilgrims of all ages, touching the hands of couples entering into marriage and writing homilies,” he said.
“Inside of every old man is a young man asking, ‘what happened?’” he said.
“Jesus shared his priesthood so we could do what he did at the Last Supper: Give of himself -- body, blood and divinity. ‘Do this in memory of me.’ Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, so go therefore, and make disciples of all nations … and do this in memory of me,” Father O’Connor said. He also noted how pleased he was that there were two priestly vocations from St. Joseph Parish and another from Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish who was ordained a transitional deacon this year and is preparing for priestly ordination next year.
After Mass, Bishop Malesic thanked the priests for their vocations and years of ministry.
“Gentlemen, you don’t recognize how many lives you have touched,” he told them. “Sometimes, it’s humbling to think about it, to think that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, configured to him. That’s how you are and how important you are. You are Christ present to us sacramentally. I look at you as brothers in the one Christ,” he said, repeating the episcopal motto of Pope Leo XIV: “In the One, we are one.”
After Mass, the jubilarians posed for photos with the bishops and then enjoyed a catered lunch in the Parish Life Center.