MAKING CONNECTIONS: A priest lays down his life to minister to the Church in the person of Christ
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Bishop McKnight preached the following homily Dec. 7 during the Ordination Mass for Father Gregory Clever:
In this season of Advent, a season of joyful expectation and hope, we remember the first “advent” of Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh as a little baby more than two thousand years ago; and who in his public ministry proclaimed good news to the poor, preaching the kingdom of God with a special anointing of the Holy Spirit.
He definitively won salvation for us by his death on the Cross, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension into heaven, and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the birth of his Church.
During the season of Advent, we also renew our hope in the final “advent” of our Lord at the end of time, when he shall come in glory and majesty, gathering all who believe in him, the living and the dead, to share in the eternal banquet, our communion with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and with one another forever.
Thus, the season of Advent is truly “our season,” a season highlighting the pilgrim Church on our journey toward the Kingdom preached by Jesus in his earthly life, and which comes to its fullness only at the final judgement.
But during this present time of the Church between his first Advent as a little babe, and his last Advent as King of the Universe at the end of time, Jesus continues to be present to us, just as he promised at the conclusion of the Gospel of Matthew: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the Age.”
We can think of his veiled presence to us — in the Scriptures, in the Sacraments we celebrate, especially the Eucharist and the gift of Holy Orders, as “middle Advents” of our Lord, which guarantee his true presence in our Church.
It is the gift of sacred leaders, according to the will of Christ — first the bishops with and under the Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter, and the ministerial priests who are the principal co-workers with the bishops — which guarantees our sacred Communion with the Lord and with the Apostolic Church.
Through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, Christ continues his ministry today as our Priest, Prophet and Shepherd, who did not come “to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.”
Christ is our King, not in the way the world understands monarchs, with people doting and fawning all over them with various marks of deference and respect, but in how he served others — in giving his life as a ransom for many.
It is a different kind of kingship. And likewise, we are recognized as true subjects of Christ the King in how we treat others, with lives of sacrificial service, generosity and charity for others.
Christ will recognize us as his subjects by our love for one another.
Deacon Clever, with the rites of baptism, confirmation, and Holy Eucharist, and now with the Rite of Ordination of a Priest, your personal history is yoked in God’s providence with the History of Salvation, as narrated in Sacred Scripture and lived out in the Church from one generation to the next until the end of time.
As a man of the Church, Deacon Clever, your life is not your own. You have been formally called to the sacred order of the Priesthood, and you shall lay down your life for Christ and his Church to minister, in persona Christi Capitis (in the person of Christ, the Head of the Church), as a spiritual shepherd-leader of the faithful and a co-worker with the bishop, his priests and deacons.
You will share in the responsibility we all have together to preserve the Apostolic Communion of the Church in what we believe as Catholics, in how we live as Catholics, and how we pray as Catholics, faithful to the teachings, example and model of prayer of the Good Shepherd himself.
Thus, dear son, you are called by God to serve his Church to be an effective leader, a man of communion, and a man of deep, personal prayer.
Note well the admonishment from the First Letter of St. Peter to all presbyters: “Tend the flock of God in your midst, overseeing not by constraint but willingly, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. Do not lord it over those assigned to you but be examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
We who share in the ministerial Priesthood know all too well how personally unworthy we are for this sacred office, which the Roman Canon forces us to confess out loud before the assembly as we offer the perfect sacrifice of the Son to the Father: “To us ... your servants, who, though sinners, hope in your abundant mercies.”
Deacon Clever, let there be no room in your heart and mind for any form of clericalism that would cause you to refrain from the demands of pastoral charity, the charism we have as diocesan priests.
Clericalism artificially separates us from the laity and warps the supernatural respect the People of God have for those who can give them the sacraments.
Always be alert to any sense of entitlement and preserve the spirit of gratitude and generosity that you feel in your heart today as the motive for being a priest for Christ and His Church.
Have as your aim always the salvation of souls, and the active engagement of the laity in the life and mission of the Church.
In this very sanctuary, you will join me at the altar of sacrifice with the rest of the presbyterate of our beloved diocese, the missionary priests serving among us, and our guest priests.
You will share in the mission we have received from Christ through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to teach, to sanctify and to govern.
You will promise obedience to me and my successors; you will promise to be united more closely to Christ in your personal prayer and in carrying out your priestly ministry; and you will resolve to exercise the power and authority given to you from above, not for your personal gain, but in service to Christ’s merciful love.
The context of the Church today, here in the Diocese of Jefferson City as elsewhere, points out the need for you to follow the model of the Lord’s style of leadership, who came not to be served, but to serve.
The sacred trust you will hold as a priest of the Church must be carefully preserved. As your Bishop, I need your help to rebuild and strengthen the confidence, trust and belief in the Sacrament of Holy Orders that has unfortunately been lost by some.
By your fruitful ministry exercised in the key of pastoral charity, with a spirit and mindset of co-responsibility with the lay faithful, you will be an effective leader in the faith.
We want you, Deacon Clever, to be a man of faith and a man of your word who, with the joy of the Gospel and with fidelity to the Deposit of Faith, will assist the healing of the wounds of the Church.
Your joyful service as a priest will help the whole Church witness Christ’s resurrection in our day.
I pray that through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our diocesan Patroness, and in the upcoming Jubilee Year of “Pilgrims of Hope,” you and I may serve faithfully with our brother priests to shepherd our Church in the joy of the Gospel and with a profound sense of gratitude for His merciful love.
May the good Lord inspire more vocations to the ministerial Priesthood to serve in our diocese, and may we foster a generous response in the hearts of men to that call by our own good example. Amen.
