Pastor’s Letter: May 24, 2026

Pastor’s Letter: May 24, 2026

22 May 2026 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

Blessings to you all this joyful weekend! By the time of our weekend Masses, Deacon Blake will be Fr. Blake!  Each year, ordinations are such a deep joy for our Diocese as we celebrate the gift of the priesthood and how God calls forth servants for His people here. It takes me back to 2003 when I was standing there at the Cathedral with Fr. David and our classmates—it has been an amazing and grace-filled 23 years! Please continue to pray for all our priests and especially Fr. Blake as he begins his priestly ministry here at St. Philomena.

Since we are reflecting on the Sacrament of Holy Orders and this is ordination weekend, perhaps it would be fruitful to walk through the liturgy.  For anyone watching online, hopefully this will serve to pull out the highlights of what you see.

In our Diocese, we have a long tradition of gathering together in the Cathedral Rectory with the Bishop to pray the Rosary before ordinations. For me, this prayer together was a great reminder of our Blessed Mother’s watch and care over us, as well as our unity together as priests in service to our Diocese. In the room where we gather, there is a painting of our first bishop, Archbishop Spalding. I remember looking up at that painting and thinking about the good history of our Diocese—how special for this year’s new priests to pray there as we celebrate 150 years for our Diocese.

As the Mass begins, we have a grand procession with all the altar servers, seminarians, deacons, and priests of our Diocese. Many people often comment on how amazing it is to see so many priests together at once (typically almost all of our priests are present)! The first part of the Mass is like a typical Sunday—sung Gloria and opening Collect, followed by the Liturgy of the Word. The readings will focus on God’s call to ministry and service. One interesting note for me—this year the Gospel is John 15:9-17…and the verse from my ordination holy card came from that Gospel:  “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you” (Jn 15:16).

After the Readings, we have the calling of the candidates by name. There is a dialogue that follows as the Vocation Director asks the Bishop, on behalf of the Church, to ordain these men to the Priesthood and testifies to their readiness. At the end everyone will say “Thanks be to God!” and applaud. Following the Bishop’s homily, we get into the elements of the Rite of Ordination itself:

• The Bishop questions the candidates about their commitment to priestly ministry, reverence, prayer, and striving to be more closely unified with Christ each day. They respond “I do.”
• We pray the Litany of the Saints, asking all of God’s family for intercession.
• The Bishop, followed by all the priests present, lays hands on the head of each candidate. Referring to this ancient gesture, the Catechism says, “The essential rite of the sacrament of Holy Orders…consists in the bishop’s imposition of hands on the head of the ordinand and in the bishop’s specific consecratory prayer [which follows laying on of hands] asking God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his gifts proper to the ministry to which the candidate is being ordained” (CCC, 1573).
• The newly ordained are vested as priests, assisted by a priest they have chosen.
• The palms of the new priests are anointed with Sacred Chrism, consecrating them for the work of the Sacraments. Traditionally, people kiss the hands of a new priest when receiving a blessing, honoring their special consecration for the holy work of the Church.
• The procession/presentation of the gifts follows, including the chalices the new priests will use in ministry. In our Diocese, typically the new priests’ parents present these chalices.
• The kiss of peace—the gesture of the sign of peace is given by the Bishop and then by all the priests. This is a wonderful “welcome to the brotherhood of the priests” moment.

After ordination, the Mass continues in the usual way, with the newly ordained priests con-celebrating with the Bishop for the first time, generally taking various parts of the Eucharistic prayer. Following the prayer after Communion, the Bishop traditionally asks the new priests to give him a blessing and then join in blessing the people for the Solemn Blessing. Following the Mass and the classic picture on the steps of the Cathedral Rectory, everyone makes their way down to the pastoral center for a reception and opportunity to receive individual first blessings from the new priests. There is longstanding Catholic belief that the blessing of a new priest is especially grace-filled. This is why Fr. Blake will offer blessings after all of our Masses next weekend, May 30-31!

As we celebrate with joy these ordinations, let us pray and ask God’s continued blessing upon our Peoria Diocese! Know of my prayers for you all!

In Christ,
Father Luke