Last Friday evening, Bishop Thomas ordained 8 men priests in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist downtown. It’s always inspiring to attend an ordination: to witness enthusiastic, pious young men making the commitment to lay down their lives in priestly service.
Bishop Thomas gave an extraordinary homily in which he reflected upon one of the unique parts of the ordination ritual: when the ordinandi, those to be ordained, lay down on the cold marble floor of the sanctuary. I’d like to share with you some of his words.
He said, “These 8 men are about to lay down their lives; they are about to prostrate themselves on the floor of the sanctuary of this cathedral. The prostration of the candidates is always one of the most memorable, moving, and yes, photographed moments of any priesthood ritual. But why? What is so mesmerizing about people lying on the floor? As all the saints are invoked for these candidates in the litany we will sing, they take a posture of awe and reverence in the presence of the All-Holy. It is a posture of abandonment, of complete self-offering, of utter humility, of total surrender to the Lord, a posture of dying to the “old man”, so that they might rise to the “New Man”, Christ Himself.
Now when does anyone, let alone 8 healthy vibrant young men, ever lie on the floor before anybody else for any reason? It is perhaps the most vulnerable surrender-position one can take. But they won’t lie here, prone as unwilling captives, waiting to be murdered, hands behind their heads, lying before terrorists. No, they will lie on this floor as willing victims, longing to be transformed, heads resting on folded hands, prostrate before the three-fold-terror of Love, the Holy Trinity.
This evening in prostration, we witness an act which signals something that is counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. In this symbol is contained the very essence of what Jesus did for us, the very essence of what these 8 men will do for the rest of their lives as priests.
In a world fixated on power and influence, the prostration symbolizes their dying to themselves: in the promise of respect and obedience to the bishop, a respect and obedience born of the love of a son for a father, for the sake of an openness to the will of God and a readiness to do that Holy Will.
In a world, drunk on sexual perversion and pleasure, confused about identity and marriage, the prostration symbolizes their dying to self in their already, chaste celibacy, to offer a loving commitment to the Body of Christ, to love for Christ’s sake, as Christ loved.
In a world deaf to God’s word and ignorant to recognize his presence, the prostration symbolizes their openness to the inspiration they will receive in prayer and their commitment to offer themselves in the sacrifice they offer each day at the altar.
Is what they are about to do crazy? One author, a protestant minister, wrote an article titled, “Why I am not a celibate, but I’m glad priests are”. And in the article, he said, I am so glad I have priest friends who are celibate. Is being celibate crazy? Absolutely! As crazy as a young man in the military, throwing himself on a grenade to save his fellow officer, out of love. That’s how crazy, what they do tonight is!”
“Dear sons and brothers,” the bishop said to the ordinandi, “lay down your lives through your reverent celebration of the Holy Eucharist and the Sacraments and living each day in that mystery. Lay down your lives: revealing His mercy within and without the saving Sacrament of Penance. Lay down you lives: healing the wounds of body, mind, and spirit, in Holy Anointing. Lay down your lives: praying the Liturgy of the Hours faithfully and fervently for and with your people. Lay down your lives: caring for the poor and needy, being a voice for the voiceless, and teaching the saving truth of Christ and his Church. Lay down your lives: loving with celibate chastity those entrusted to your care. Lay down your lives: inspiring all, especially young people, to become holy disciples and follow the vocation the Lord has for them. Lay down your lives: joining men and women in Holy Matrimony. Lay down your lives: for Christ and His Church.
I share these words of the Bishop, not only because they are beautiful and powerful. They are pertinent to the feast we celebrate today, the Feast of the Lord’s Ascension.
40 days after his resurrection from the dead, before the very eyes of his closest followers, Jesus Christ ascended body and soul in heaven. He ascension—his glorious and victorious return to the Father—was possible because first, he laid down his life.
The prostration of the ordinandi teaches all of us, the posture we must all take if we truly wish to follow Christ. We must prostrate, if we wish to ascend. We must surrender, in order to attain victory. We must lay down, in order to rise up.
In explaining the significance of the Ascension, the Catechism begins with the cross. It says, ““The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his Ascension into heaven”. On the cross, Jesus, according to the will of the Father, laid down his life, that we might be lifted up from sin.
Pope Francis echoed this recently. He said, “We should be clear in our Christian life that entering the glory of God demands daily fidelity to His will, even when it demands sacrifice and sometimes requires us to change our plans.”
The Ascension is one more proof that following God’s will leads is the road to becoming the people God made us to be, it leads to victory, it leads to eternal life. Following his will for us demands change, conversion, sacrifice, laying down our life for the good of others, but all that effort, all that suffering, will bring eternal life, because Christ has transformed those things, he has transformed the cross to be the royal road to eternal life.
May we take that posture of prostration before God through daily prayer, through acts of charity. God will never spurn a heart truly prostrate before Him. Rather, the soul prostrated before God, surrendered to God is transformed into an instrument of his goodness and his love for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment