"Who do the crowds say I am?" (Lk. 9:18).
This question, my dear friends, put by Jesus to His disciples, "as He was
praying alone in their presence" (cf. Lk 9:18), seems to have caught them
unawares. They answered as best they could, interpreting the minds and comments
of those around them. This they could easily do, keeping themselves somewhat
at a distance from those comments. But, when He asked them directly: "But
you, who do you say I am?" (Lk. 9:20), they probably were grateful to Peter
when he spoke up: "The Christ of God" (Lk. 9:20). It was in response
to this act of faith that Christ made the promise to found His Church, because
He knew that Peter could not have made that assertion were it not for the Father
in heaven revealing it to him: "You are a happy man! Because it was not
flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven". (Mt.
16:17).
Andrew, from this day forward, you will be challenged by this same question
being turned on yourself. You may ask yourself: "who do the crowds say
I am " and you may come up with a variety of answers. But when you stand
before the People of God and ask them: "who do you say I am?", may
they readily answer "A priest of God". Oh! indeed, flesh and blood
will not tell them this, neither will your dress and composure. This answer
can only be given in the context of faith. In a few moments, by the laying on
of hands by the Bishop and the consecratory prayer, you will rise "a priest
of the order of Melchizedek, and forever"(Heb.5:6), totally transformed,
indeed ontologically transformed, in such a way that you will be endowed with
a "sacred power" (cf. L.G.10) which will enable you to consecrate
the Eucharist, acting in the person of Christ, "for the universal Church".
This does not mean that you will be removed somewhat from the People of God.
You yourself, Andrew, have had much experience in the world and have travelled
widely. You have benefitted greatly from the encounters you have had with people
of every walk of life. You were very impressed by meeting with one of the new
lay movements in the Church in Italy, Communione e Liberazione (Communion and
Liberation), impressed with their way of belonging to Church, of being Church.
In your own words: "for them 'lay involvement' didn't mean doing 'churchy'
things, but living the lay, secular life…. in a radical Gospel way, a way
that subverts all the enslavements that are relentlessly pushed at us nowadays
under the guise of liberation". Given your lay profession as a Scientist
and your consciousness of the vocation of the lay Christian in the world, you
still felt drawn to giving yourself to Christ in priesthood. You state: "I
wanted to be a priest so as to teach this exciting way of living the faith".
Today, Andrew, you become a Priest of God and you are being engaged by Christ
to carry on His mission in the world at a time when, here in Ireland, strong
cultural trends seem to want to make people forget about God, especially young
people and families. Because of the pressures prevailing in our society today,
both cultural and political, it is not easy for one, especially of the younger
generation, to profess adherence to Gospel values, much less to be openly known
as a practising Catholic. The sense of freedom to be oneself and to practise
one's faith is sadly lacking in our society today. This has serious consequences
both for the Church and society as a whole. I was made very much aware of this
recently during our Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes when many of our young people
- a dedicated group of teenagers who take care of our invalids - told me that
they do not feel free to give witness to their faith, that same faith which
they saw was being so openly and enthusiastically embraced and witnessed to
at the Grotto of Lourdes. You yourself, Andrew, also witnessed this reaction
of our young people when you wrote after the pilgrimage: "Recently, a young
man in Lourdes told me how much pressure teenagers are under nowadays to conform
to images and to spend money so as to achieve personal images which, the glitzier
and more lacking in substance the better". And you added: "Yet, here
am I called to Priesthood which has had almost all the 'image' knocked off it
in modern Ireland, but which is still full of substance. The substance of faith,
the substance of helping people discover the one Thing in their lives that fills
everything else with meaning". Now you are being given the task of engaging
with people in a collaborative ministry with them, empowering them to use all
the gifts of grace and nature in the proclamation of the Kingdom.
That 'one Thing' in people's lives that fills everything else with meaning is
a Person, Jesus Christ, and it is He who calls you today to make yourself available
to be a priest in His saving plan for the world. Jesus Christ, despite all the
tribulations and trials of His earthly existence, never had a crisis of identity.
His whole Being and existence was summed up in being "the Christ of God",
as Peter had witnessed and professed. As He now shares His priesthood with you,
Andrew, in a ministerial way, He asks you, Andrew, never to forget whom you
are, a Priest of God forever. A priest is empowered by Christ to be both a man
of the Word and a man of the Eucharist: a man of the Word whose task it is to
proclaim the Gospel to the men and women of his time. He must do this with a
keen sense of responsibility, always in harmony with the teaching authority
of the Church; a man of the Eucharist, through which he penetrates the heart
of the Paschal Mystery. Especially, as he stands at the altar and celebrates
"in persona Christi - in the person of Christ" the priest must always
experience the need to be intimately identified with Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
Our Holy Father admonished young deacons, he was about to ordain, in these words:
"Nourish yourselves, therefore, on the Word of God; converse each day with
Christ, truly present in the Sacrament of the Altar. Allow yourselves to be
touched by the infinite love of His Heart and spend more time in Eucharistic
adoration in the important moments of your life, as difficult personal and pastoral
decisions, at the beginning and end of your day". and he added: "I
can assure you that 'I have experienced this and drawn from it strength, consolation
and support (Ecclesia de Eucharistic N.25)" (Priestly Ordination, 19th
May 2003).
As you assume all the responsibilities of the ministerial priesthood, Andrew,
may I stress one further aspect of your priestly ministry which today, more
that ever, needs stressing. Today you become a minister of Divine Mercy. You
will henceforth administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation, thereby fulfilling
the mandate passed on by the Lord to the Apostles after His Resurrection: "Receive
the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those
whose sins you retain, they are retained"(Jn.20. 22-23). Be assured that
you will witness wonderful miracles of grace worked by God's mercy in the confessional!
But in order to be a faithful and available minister of God's mercy in the confessional
you must be and be seen to be a man of God, a man of prayer and, above all,
one who frequently experiences the mercy of God yourself by regularly going
to Confession. People need to encounter the God of mercy and compassion, they
need to experience the palpitating Heart of the God who gave His life for them
on the Cross so that they might rise, renewed and refreshed, by the grace of
reconciliation. Be then, Andrew, a faithful and generous minister of God's divine
mercy to His people.
I wish to express my deep gratitude to all those who have helped Andrew on his
journey to Priesthood. Firstly our thanks go to his family, particularly to
his parents. We remember his dear father, Denis, who passed away some seventeen
years ago. His dear mother, Gabrielle, who is here present with us today, has
the great grace of becoming the mother of two priests, as her other priestly
son, Fr. Michael, is concelebrating this Mass today. I congratulate the whole
Carvill family on this special day and thank them for the encouragement and
support, particularly in prayer, which they have given Andrew.
A word of gratitude is due to all those who have had a hand in forming Andrew
- in primary and secondary schools and in his third level education. I wish
particularly to thank the formation staff of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth,
represented here today by the Rev. Dr. Vincent Twomey. Part of Andrew's formation
entailed his pastoral year as a Deacon in this Parish of Fermoy. I am most grateful
to the Administrator of Fermoy, the V. Rev. Anthony O'Brien, the Diocesan Director
of Vocations, Fr. Eugene Baker, with whom Andrew stayed during his service in
Fermoy, and the Priests and People of the Parish who have encouraged and supported
Andrew throughout. Your role in the overall formation of this young man to Priesthood
was very precious indeed. Thank you!
Andrew, you are already incardinated in the Diocese of Cloyne through your
ordination to the Diaconate. Becoming a Priest today you become a member of
the presbyterate of the Diocese. I can assure you that the Priests of Cloyne
will welcome you among them as a brother and will always be there to support
and encourage you in your future ministry in a truly fraternal manner. I, your
Bishop, welcome you with all my heart and wish you many years of fruitful ministry
in the vineyard of the Lord.
Finally, I turn to Mary, the Mother of Jesus and of all Priests. Be a mother
to Andrew, today and always. Help him to be drawn ever more closely into the
life of your Son, Jesus, and may the 'present' he pronounced today, as he was
being called, be pronounced everyday in his generously living out his commitment
to the priestly ministry and blossom in the joy of the "magnificat"
for the "great things" the Lord will accomplish through him.
Andrew, the Church has called you to be ordained a priest of Jesus Christ. Do
not be afraid! Put your trust in Him who sustains you, in Him who loves you,
in Him who draws you into Himself to be a priest forever.
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