Holy Orders

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends,
because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last,
so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.” John 15:13-16

Jesus Christ:
"The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Lk 19:10).
"It is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish" (Mt 18:14).

What is Holy Orders?

"Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time…It includes three degrees of order: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate" (CCC 1536). 
 

Since the beginning, the ordained ministry has been conferred and exercised in three degrees: that of bishops, that of presbyters, and that of deacons. The ministries conferred by ordination are irreplaceable for the organic structure of the Church: without the bishop, presbyters, and deacons, one cannot speak of the Church. (CCC 1593)
 

The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by the laying on of hands followed by a solemn prayer of consecration asking God to grant the ordained the graces of the Holy Spirit required for his ministry. Ordination imprints an indelible sacramental character. (CCC 1597)

Who Receives Holy Orders?

The Church confers the sacrament of Holy Orders only on baptized men (viri), whose suitability for the exercise of the ministry has been duly recognized. Church authority alone has the responsibility and right to call someone to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. (CCC 1598)
 

In the Latin Church the sacrament of Holy Orders for the presbyterate is normally conferred only on candidates who are ready to embrace celibacy freely and who publicly manifest their intention of staying celibate for the love of God's kingdom and the service of men. (CCC 1599)

Are YOU called to be a priest?

Every young man should consider what Jesus Christ desires for him, and from him.  Only then will he discover the true purpose of his life, and reach the fulfillment and happiness God so desires for him.  All parents have this responsibility to encourage their children to listen to God's voice so that they may see unto what way of life God is calling them.  A young man who is not encouraged by their parents to at least consider and pray about this vocation, and God's call for them in life, is failing to teach their child openness to God in all things.
 

Jesus Christ calls some men to the priesthood, while others He does not call.  To some men Jesus specifically said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."  Those first fishermen were called to put aside their own professions, as fishermen or otherwise, and to give their lives to the service of God as fishers of men.  Since Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost, and since He desires that not even one little one should perish, there is a great need for young men to consider devoting their life to the service of God.
 

For any questions about being called to be a deacon or priest, or the process of discernment that leads to ordination, or any other questions about vocation, please call the office to speak with the pastor.  505-881-1772