Make sure to spend time with God,  Archbishop tells new priest

By Kaelanne Jordan

mediarelations.camsel@catholictt.org

Fifty-six years ago, on March 19, Fr Anthony Pantin CSSp was consecrated Archbishop of Port of Spain in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Twenty-three years later, Deacons Charles Jason Gordon and Esau Joseph were ordained priests in the same Cathedral on the same date.

Thirty-three years after Archbishop Pantin’s consecration, Deacon Maurice Michael White was ordained a priest at the same Cathedral, Tuesday, March 19, the Solemnity of St Joseph.

“When I see how full this cathedral is I know the pressure you’re going to be under,” Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon told Rev White.

Speaking directly to him, the Archbishop underscored while he will be “pulled and tugged” in every single direction, his obedience to God’s must be the “first priority in life, bar none.”

“The domestic Church is searching for Jesus. And in many a domestic Church, Jesus is lost to them…. And as a priest you have to help the domestic Church to come to search for Jesus and …to yearn for Christ to be at the centre of the family again… and that is the mission of the Church,” the Archbishop said.

He stressed that when the domestic Church is healthy, the parish, Church and the people of God are healthy.

Part of the journey of a priest, the Archbishop told Rev White, is to recognise that there is a different impulse that moves his heart, one which his family may not quite understand.

“… that must be guarded at all costs, no matter what the price… You have to guard most jealously because that’s the genesis of your vocation but it’s also the staying power of your vocation as you will stay through this impulse,” Archbishop Gordon said.

Referencing the story of Mary and Joseph searching for Jesus, the Archbishop asked Rev White’s mother, sitting behind him in the pew, if there was an occasion where she lost him and was worried. She shared she cried and lit a candle facing east.

“And today you will do it again,” Archbishop Gordon said. “Because when he lies down on that ground, he dies to rise again with Christ. When I anoint his hands with oil and lay hands on his head and say that prayer over him. Like Jesus, he has a mission that becomes more important than everything else. So, I want you on your knees with a lighted candle facing east from today forward,” he said.

Echoing his popular refrain: “Bend my heart to Your will, Oh God,” the Archbishop commented as important as obedience to mother and father is, obedience to God’s mission was more important.

“And as a priest, this is one thing you have to learn and I pray you learn it very early,” Archbishop Gordon said.

He further beseeched Rev White when everybody wants “a pound of flesh,” he is called to enter the holy of holies and enter into the sacred mystery of Christ.

“And be before Him in Adoration and intercession of the people so He can transform your heart. You have to obey your inner impulse to spend your time with God. And make that your first priority. You need to spend time with God,” Archbishop Gordon said.

To this end, he said he not only entrusted Rev White into the priesthood, but into the Holy Family, to Mary and St Joseph.

“They formed Jesus to be the high priest and I think they did an excellent job. May they form you to be a priest of God; may they form you to have a heart like the heart of their Son, that you may be an image of another Christ to the people of God in the world,” the Archbishop said.

He then implored Rev White to go to Nazareth with Mary and St Joseph, Nazareth, “that quiet space that we all need” away from “the limelight” of Galilee and Jerusalem.

In a short while, Archbishop Gordon said, there would be things Rev White would do that evening that he could not do before.

“It’s different from every practice Mass you’ve ever tried. This is no longer dolly house. After today, this is the real stuff…be generous with your priesthood.”

He continued, “Remember, oh priest, that this might be your first Mass and celebrate it as such and remember, oh priest, this might be your last Mass and celebrate it as such,” the Archbishop said.

The ordination Mass included members of the clergy, family, and well-wishers, with attendees even coming from as far as Dominica. Among them was Sharon Rowley, wife of Prime Minister Keith Rowley.