"You Are A Priest Forever"

This weekend I made a quick trip home to New York, to see my friend Daniel Tuite ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of New York. Dan is the son of my eighth grade teacher, Richard Tuite, a fellow parishioner at Our Lady Queen of Peace, and he graduated a few years behind me from Saint Joseph by the Sea High School.

Two busloads of Dan's family and friends traveled from Staten Island to St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan to attend the ordination Mass. It was a lovely day for Dan and his nine classmates . . . three of whom are Franciscan Friars of the Renewal that I met when Dan took me along to their Catholic Underground event earlier this year.

I was happy to join the priests of my home parish, as well as a good number of archdiocesan priests I have known throughout my life, in concelebrating the Mass with Archbishop Timothy Dolan. It was only the third time I have concelebrated Mass in St. Patrick's . . . and one of the previous times was with Pope Benedict XVI!

The concelebrating priests vested in rooms just off the sacristy in the crypt level of the cathedral. Coming up the stairs, into the sanctuary, one sees the crypts themselves . . . and for the ordination day the gates to the crypts were open, allowing the priests to pray at the graves of the Archbishops of New York and several other holy men including Fulton Sheen and Pierre Touissant.

The picture above is taken from the crypt stairs, and gives the view of the altar cross and baldacchino from the sacristy. It's an impressive thing to walk up those stairs into the great cathedral of New York.

During his homily, which I hope to be able to link to soon, Archbishop Dolan spoke to the ordinands about their spousal relationship to the Church, and their spiritual fatherhood for the people of God. He also referred to the priesthood as a great "gift and mystery!" These are themes that have been very important to me, and which I spoke of often with the men of Old College.

I was especially glad to be joined on the trip by my Mom and Dad, attending their first ordination since my own:

After Mass, Fr. Dan gave his first priestly blessings in the Chapel of Saints Brigid and Bernard:

The following day, Fr. Dan said his first Mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish. I was happy to have the chance to catch up with a number of priests who have been assigned to my parish and high school in the past whom I hadn't seen in quite some time. They were very gracious in welcoming me back . . . even letting be don a chasuble with the seal of the Archdiocese of New York!

Fr. Dan hasn't yet received his first assignment as a priest, but whatever parish gets to claim him they will be very lucky indeed. Ad Multos Annos to Fr. Dan and his classmates!