Pope Leo XIV celebrates an ordination mass in the Saint-Pierre basilica and urges priests to welcome the grace of God so that they can remain close to the people they serve as credible witnesses.
By Devin Watkins
Pope Leo XIV ordered several priests for men on Saturday during the Mass of the Saint-Pierre Basilica, reflecting on their mission and their identity.
In his homily, the pope underlined the relationship between the people of God and their priestly identity, who, according to him, will grow to make a part of the people to whom they are sent.
He urged new priests to always keep in mind “that the identity of a priest is rooted in union with Christ, the eternal and high priest”.
Priestly ordination, he added, shows that God has never abandoned his people, remaining with us as “a sweet breeze” which restores hope and unity.
“The joy of God is not noisy,” he said, “but it really changes history and brings us closer to each other.”
Pope Leo invited all the priests to model their life after Jesus by binding to the real world, because the people they serve “are flesh and blood”.
“Do you devote yourself to them-without separating, isolate or transform the gift you have received into a privilege,” he said. “Pope Francis has often warned us, because self -centeredness extinguishes the fire of the missionary spirit.”
Pope Leo XIV noted that the Church is apparent outside by its very nature, reflecting the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus who present themselves with each mass they celebrate.
“The kingdom of God,” he said, “unite your personal freedoms now, ready to go beyond themselves, annoying your mind and your young strength in the mission of the Jubilee Jesus entrusted to his Church.”
Pope Leo encourages the altar at the start of the mass (@vaticica media)
Looking towards the ministry of Saint-Paul, the Pope said that the Priestly Ministry is one of the guards, not suzerains, because the “mission belongs to Jesus” and no one is called upon to replace him.
As they become priests, they are invited to make room “for the faithful and for each creature with whom the risen comes closer and likes to surprise us”.
Pope Leo then underlined the words of Saint-Paul to the community of Ephesus: “You know how I lived all the time that I was with you.”
Ours, he said, should be “a transparent, visible, credible life!” We live among the people of God so that we can hold them before them with a credible witness. ”
It is only together that Christians can rebuild the credibility of an “injured church, sent to injured humanity in an injured creation,” he said.
The Pope underlined the injuries of the resurrected Christ, which are both a sign of the rejection of humanity and a sign of forgiveness of God and the missionary mandate to the Church.
The love of Christ, he said, “is a love that releases and allows us to have no one. To release, not to own. “
In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV invited the 55,000 people present to mass to gratitude these new priests in their ministry.
“Together, we are a paradise and earth,” he said. “To Mary, mother of the Church, this common priesthood shines – submitting the modest generations and linking generations and allowing us to be called Blessed.”
