« Did you cry ? Yes. And you ? Yes. And did you ? I didn’t but I saw so-and-so crying… No ? Yes, really !!! ». Everybody is laughing about it now… and far from being ashamed, they are almost proud of their tears. These Franciscan friars are talking about tears of emotion because this Mass ordaining deacons and priests was so moving. Very simple. Prayerful, intense.
On the feast-day of St. Peter and St. Paul, five seminarians were ordained deacons and six others were ordained priests in the church of St. Saviour.
When the priesthood has been so criticized in the Western media, the choice that these young men have made after much pondering, can only be further admired and accompanied by our prayers.
They come from Croatia, Poland, Mexico, Italy, Argentine and Brazil. Some of them have entered the province of the Custody of the Holy Land and so will be staying in the region whilst others will finish their studies here in Jerusalem and sooner or later will return to their original province. The families of some of them are present, whilst others were unable to join in the celebration or were already joining in from Heaven.
“Behind each vocation there is a story,” underlined His Beatitude the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Mons. Fouad Twal who presided the Mass surrounded by the Custody of the Holy Land and about a hundred priests of the Custody and from different religious congregations in the Holy Land, and before a large assembly of worshippers.
“A story that is one of a dialogue, a call, an answer. A story of love that begins in the intimacy of the heart.”
By offering themselves even more today to the Lord, these brothers show the joy they have in following Christ. It is without doubt this joy that moved them and others so greatly on this day.
We extend our best wishes to each and every one of them in their new ministry.
Mab
On the feast-day of St. Peter and St. Paul, five seminarians were ordained deacons and six others were ordained priests in the church of St. Saviour.
When the priesthood has been so criticized in the Western media, the choice that these young men have made after much pondering, can only be further admired and accompanied by our prayers.
They come from Croatia, Poland, Mexico, Italy, Argentine and Brazil. Some of them have entered the province of the Custody of the Holy Land and so will be staying in the region whilst others will finish their studies here in Jerusalem and sooner or later will return to their original province. The families of some of them are present, whilst others were unable to join in the celebration or were already joining in from Heaven.
“Behind each vocation there is a story,” underlined His Beatitude the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Mons. Fouad Twal who presided the Mass surrounded by the Custody of the Holy Land and about a hundred priests of the Custody and from different religious congregations in the Holy Land, and before a large assembly of worshippers.
“A story that is one of a dialogue, a call, an answer. A story of love that begins in the intimacy of the heart.”
By offering themselves even more today to the Lord, these brothers show the joy they have in following Christ. It is without doubt this joy that moved them and others so greatly on this day.
We extend our best wishes to each and every one of them in their new ministry.
Mab