My brothers to be ordained, here we are again, in this inspiring, historic Basilica, where you no doubt recall, we gathered for Mass in the early morning of your first full and very hot day after your whole class arrived at our beloved College. We are privileged to gather here on this sacred ground again, near the tomb of St. Peter and by the successor of St. Peter. What a joy and privilege to be here today as you present yourselves for permanent, life-long service in the Church, and to be with so many family members, friends, seminary formators, priests, religious, deacons, seminarians, and supporters of NAC who all helped form you for this joyful day.

Although there must be literally thousands of saintly American deacons and priests, last weekend, the first American born priest was beatified. It is an exciting time to have one of our own beatified, and for you, brothers, to be configured to Christ the Servant within the octave of the beatification of one who well understood what being a servant meant. The Church is obviously holding him up as a good shepherd for us to emulate.

Blessed Stanley Rother was a priest for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. I was blessed to visit and pray at his grave in Oklahoma on a visit to that state to recruit seminarians and visit benefactors while I was working here at NAC. With all of the publicity on the beatification, I am sure you have heard his story, or you should look it up. Interestingly, he was asked to leave the first seminary he was sent to, as he was not able to learn the required Latin, but gratefully, he was sent to another seminary where he persevered, no doubt, through the generosity of priests or instructors going the extra mile to help him. I guess seminaries are not infalliable – at least those on the US mainland anyway!

 Certainly, our new Blessed’s experience must have strengthened him in the virtues of fortitude, perseverance and patience, and prepared him to live his now famous statement, “The Shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.” Indeed, he did not run, and he ended up living the Gospel today in a very literal way, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

The spirit of martyrdom is something we should think and pray about, and prepare ourselves for by how we live our lives now. At the dedication of the new College on the Janiculum Hill which Pope Pius XIIth personally dedicated, the Holy Father urged NAC seminarians of all times to develop this spirt of being willing to die to self. The Holy Father said on that day: “The spirit of the martyrs breathes in every cleric, who in the daily round of pastoral duties and in his cheerful, unrelenting efforts… gives witness to the Prince of shepherds, who endured the cross, despised the shame when He gave Himself up on our behalf”. He continued, “Modeling his life on that of Him he represents, he will gladly spend and be spent on behalf of souls. Souls he seeks everywhere and always.”

Brothers, by your ordination today, you will be configured to Christ the Servant, not only ontologically but your whole life must be effected, especially the way you think, the way you act and also your lifestyle. We look forward to seeing that configuration lived out in your daily life and ministry, and how the Church, our dioceses, our College, this city and our world need this witness.

Yes, grateful to God we are for the sacrifices so many people make so that the excellent priestly formation program of the College continues, and likewise grateful to God we are for you as you respond “yes” today, and as you know, you will be called upon to respond “yes” again and again and again, throughout your life of service. Indeed, with much gratitude, the Church and all of us gathered here with you in prayer this morning, thank God for this blessing He is giving us through the gift of self you are making. Today, as your class processed to the sanctuary of this beautiful basilica on the Vatican hill, you were climbing your own Calvary, to lay down your life in service of Christ and His Church in imitation of Jesus Christ, the Servant; Yes, this is my commandment, Christ the Servant told us: “love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”; what a blessing for each of you to be able to take on this new way of living, this dying to self.

We have heard Pope Francis speak about this type of service often, once saying “we must never see our ministry as a source of self-gain; rather our sacred ministry has to be the means of our self-giving. And yet, it is so easy for us to choose the flock we want to be with rather than love the flock entrusted to us, choose the ministry we think we are best at or most interested in, rather than the one the Church has asked us to do. Whenever we are tempted to choose our flock or form of our ministry around our own personal preferences or prejudices then we risk no longer following the example of the Good Shepherd. Rather, we have rendered our ministry the means of our self-preservation rather than the ministry of our selfgiving.”

I have been privileged to witness during my time of service at NAC your spirit of self-sacrifice, rooted in your prayerful communion with God, as you learned the at times painful lesson of laying down your own wants, desires, wishes, to follow the will of God for you; so I have great confidence that you are ready for this life of service, this life of prayerful, dying to self as sacred ministers, living faithfully the promises of obedience, celibacy and prayer. Indeed, this is your road to sanctity.

Our Holy Father emeritus, Pope Benedict, once spoke on this to our brothers at the Roman seminary, and his words certainly are meant for you today too. He said “God calls you to be saints, and that sanctity is the secret of real success in your sacred ministry…May the Holy Spirit, who shaped the priestly Heart of Jesus in the Virgin's womb and later at the house in Nazareth, work within you with his grace, preparing you for the future tasks that will be entrusted to you.” Indeed, our Blessed Mother's "yes" was the door through which God was able to enter the world, to become man. May Mary, our Mother, who at Pentecost gathered with the Apostles in the upper room to receive the Holy Spirit, wrap her mantle around you today and remain with you to protect and to encourage your continual “yes” in your new sacred ministry. May God grant you a persevering obedience to His will so that by your sacred ministry lived through your life of dying to self, you may gain glory for God in Christ.

Brothers, your life of service will inevitably be different from that of Blessed Stanley Rother’s, but by your climbing your own calvary hill today to give your “yes” to God’s loving call for you to be with Him and follow Him, and by your ongoing “yes” to whatever and whomever God places in front of you during your lives, you will grow in holiness and it is your road to becoming saints. Know of our love and prayers for you today, and all your days of sacred ministry.