Bishop Malzaire’s Homily- Priestly Ordination of Deacons Conan Shillingford and Peter Wamutitu
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are gathered here once again, eight months, almost to the day, after we witnessed the ordination of these two young men to the diaconate. The entire people of God in the diocese of Roseau rejoice in this great moment of grace.
An occasion such as this is the result of numerous influences that have shaped the lives of these two young men, from the moment of their conception until today, to bring them to this most significant step.
As for Deacon Conan we have first to thank and congratulate his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Havis Shillingford, his siblings and his extended family. And you know the breadth of that extended family. It is indeed one of the largest, if not the most extensive family name in Dominica. It might be worth noting that just over a month after the death of the first Shillingford and the first Dominican to make the West Indies cricket team, we are here to witness the birth of the first Shillingford to God’s presbyterial team. I think it was about time. Don’t you? The operative word here is first, and I would not be surprised that God has future plans for his Church within this large extended family. Conan is only a trail blazer in that field. We say thanks to the entire Christian community of Roseau where he was nurtured, his teachers, seminary formators and the many friends and associates who helped him in any way to affirm his commitment to the Lord.
In the case of Deacon Peter, his presence here in the Diocese, I’m sure, was not imagined as late as two years ago. Without going into the details of how he got here, we are only left to thank God for the graces he will continue to shower upon the Diocese through Peter’s presbyterial ministry. Gratitude is rightfully due to his parents, who unfortunately, are not able to be here to witness this occasion. However, we have with us a small contingent from his home country, Kenya, in the persons of Fr. Joseph Kimani, who is presently serving in the Diocese of Mandeville in Jamaica and Sr. Karen Atineo a medical student in Grenada.
On the local scene, I wish to thank Archbishop Kelvin Felix for agreeing to be his mentor during the last year of preparation for this august moment. I also express my gratitude to Fr. Clement Jolly for journeying with him spiritually. To the people of Grand Bay and the Chapel communities of Petit Savanne, Bagatelle, Tet Morne and Pichlin, I say thanks for making Peter feel at home among you.
My dear friends, today, February 2nd the entire Catholic world celebrates the Presentation of our Blessed Lord in the Temple, which is designated as the World Day of Prayer for the gift of consecrated life. It seems quite a fitting occasion to celebrate the consecration of these two young men to the presbyteral order. On this feast, we commemorate the presentation of the human Jesus to the Father, for which Mary and Joseph had to offer a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons in sacrifice to buy him back, since he originally belonged to Godhead. As the first born, Jesus was being handed over to the Father for divine service. Today, through the act of consecration with holy Chrism Conan and Peter will, in effect, be given over to God for service to the Kingdom through his Church. In a special way they will share in the priestly, kingly and prophetic office of Christ. What they will be prepared to offer in sacrifice to buy themselves back, so to speak, will depend on the depth of sanctity they will be prepared to seek in the daily exercise of the priestly ministry: a wife surely; a fat bank account, maybe; some privileges, but certainly time for prayer on behalf of God’s people, etc., etc.; only so that they can be all things to all people, in the footsteps of St. Paul, who wished to win souls for the Lord at all costs. I want to assure you, Reverend Brothers in the words of St. James from the very last verse of his epistle where he says: “if you win a soul for the Lord you will not lose your own” (cf. James 5:20).
Deacons Peter and Conan have chosen some beautiful but challenging reading for our reflection this evening. Both the first and the Gospel readings focus on the role of shepherding, which is proper to the office of presbyter. It is rather interesting to note that both readings refer to God and Jesus as the only true shepherds. They indicate that even good human shepherds always carry out their role in service of the divine master; that presbyteral ministry is not our ministry, but that of Jesus. Ultimately we share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the true and eternal shepherd. The fact that the prophet Ezekiel was speaking in complaint of the prophets who had failed in the duty entrusted to them by the Lord, serves to indicate what can happen even to the person who has been called and chosen, but fails to have the right focus and the right disposition for ministry. So Ezekiel portrays God as one taking matters into his own hands, (“I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out,” says the Lord (Ezek 34:11); because sometimes we fail to be his true ambassadors. This is essentially what brothers Conan and Peter will be committing themselves to today; to be the voice, the mouthpiece, the hands, and the feet of God; to bring his Good News to the ends of the earth and at the same time to be genuine witnesses to God in the midst of God’s people.
This latter dimension of shepherding is clearly emphasized in an explanation given of the role of Moses and its parallel to the priestly ministry, which I read some weeks ago, from a beautiful piece of literature written by Abbot Jerome Kodell entitled: “Musings from the Monastery.” Kodell states that “as the pilgrim people of God made their way through the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, at every stage Moses would set up a meeting tent outside the camp. This was not a tent for public meeting, as the name might imply, but a place to encounter God: “Anyone who wished to consult the Lord would go to this meeting tent outside the camp” (Ex. 33:7)
“Though anyone could go to the tent, it was critical to the journey that Moses, the leader, should visit the Lord in the tent, and so all eyes were on him: “Whenever Moses went out of the tent, the people would all rise and stand at the entrance of their own tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent” (Ex 33:8). “When they saw the column of clouds descend to the tent, they knew Moses was conversing with God, and seeing this, all the people would worship at their own tents.” So the people sought union with God on the example and witness of their leader, Moses.
The scriptures tell us that “the way through the wilderness was uncharted. The people knew they would make it through only by the guidance of God, and therefore it was vital to their interest that the leader stays in contact with God. (Actually) Moses did not know the way, and he did not have to, as long as he stayed close to God. Kodell affirms that “this is always the pattern of spiritual leadership. The journey to the Promised Land is always in the wilderness, and no human leader knows the way. It is not the job of the leader to know the way, but (it is his duty) to stay in contact with God,” (the only one who really knows the way and the only one who is the way): “I am the way, the truth and the life,” says Jesus (John 14:6). Kodell stresses further that, “the main responsibility of a spiritual leader—the pope, a bishop, a religious superior, a priest—is to go to the meeting tent to be with God every day. He says the people do not expect their leader in the faith to know everything; in fact, they become concerned when leaders think they do. What gives people confidence is that the leader is close to God. This does not put an end to the errors of human weakness, but it protects them from losing the way. The closer our leaders are to God, he says, the more at home they are in his tent, and the more we can put our trust in them.”
Now “something happened to Moses when he went into God’s presence, something which he seemed to be the last to notice. When he came down from Mount Sinai after being with God for forty days, the people noticed that his face had become radiant, an outward sign of something happening within. The same thing happened to Jesus on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration (Lk 9:29). The inner transformation this represents is offered to all who spend time with God in the meeting tent. If the people of God experience us as always agitated and angry or complaining about everything, they will be deprived of the radiant joy that is often associated with a life of prayer and dedication in the service of the Lord. And they will also come to their conclusions as to where we are spiritually.
My dear Peter and Conan, this is essentially what it means to be a priest—one who stands between God and his people. The Letter to the Hebrews puts it well when it says in 5:1-2: “Every high priest is taken from among human beings and is appointed to act on their behalf in relationship with God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can sympathize with those who are ignorant or have gone astray, because he too is subject to the limitation of weakness.” Brothers, yours will be the duty to gather the people of God around his table, to offer sacrifice in the greatest from of prayer ever created: the Eucharist.
In the Latin Bible, the meeting tent is tabernaculum, the source of our word tabernacle, which the Church very appropriately adopted as the name for the place of the Blessed Sacrament. The meeting tent with God can be pitched anywhere in our lives, but the tent of the Blessed Sacrament, a permanent witness to the Eucharist we have shared, is a privileged place to spend time in the divine presence.
This, my dear brothers, indicates the centrality of the Eucharist to the priestly ministry. Outside of the Eucharist your function is minimal. Your entire ministry is drawn from it and returns to it. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Church’s ministry. It is indeed the one thing that Jesus asked his apostles to do in remembrance of him. The altar, therefore, is your rightful domain. It is the one place for which you need to develop a reverential comfort; reverential, because, even the faithful are aware that it is the real body and blood of Christ that you hold in your hands; comfort, because it is the primary place of your daily operations, the source of your entire ministry.
Today, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, coupled with this ceremony of consecration, it is a fitting opportunity to pray for an increase in vocation to consecrated life, manifested in the priesthood and religious life, so that the mission of Christ will continue through the Church. While we thank God for blessing us with a few new faces within the last few years we must be constantly aware that the Lamots, Stoeckles’ Charles’, Felixs, Jollys, even the Thomas’ are moving on faster then the Karams, the Grells, and now the Shillingfords, are coming. It is not our place to ask for special names; but only that God’s call among the various families in the Diocese would be heeded. I could assure that God loves a good mixture. Therefore, it will not be odd to hear names like a Fr. Sorhaindo, Fr. Philip, Fr. Fadelle, Fr. Lawrence, Fr. Douglas, Fr. Royer, Fr. Letang, etc., etc., just as we are growing accustomed to hearing Frs. Grell and Karam, and in a matter of minutes, Fr. Shillingford; so that in time our Church becomes a home grown Church. This is no doubt one of the measuring rods in determining the growth of a local Church—when it begins to produce its own leaders. You see, dear friends, the demography of the priesthood can change very quickly in a diocese such as ours. The Church needs to be constantly replenished and renewed. And this will only happen with the help of you and me.
For those who are already labouring in the vineyard of the Lord, we pray for renewed zeal, that this Year of the Priest will serve as an opportunity for us to intensify our quest for intimacy with God; to be imbued with the fire of God’s love for the world and its transformation.
As I rush to my conclusion I leave these few words of advice to my brother Conan and Peter.
- Like Moses, be an example that both young and old will seek to emulate. In you God wants a priest and not simply a social worker.
- Let it be said of you that you are a man of prayer; that your prayer life will be your principal impetus to your entire ministry. The word of God flows with power from the heart of a man of prayer.
- Grow to love the Eucharist; let it be your daily nourishment, so that you can in turn nourish others.
- When you celebrate the Sacrifice of the Lord, do so with utmost reverence for his divine presence.
- Stay close to the fire; its sparks will ignite others to faith in the one in whose person you will stand—in persona Christi.
- Be in love with God’s people and they will love you in return, especially when they see Christ in you.
And may the Lord who has begun this good work in you bring it to completion.
Amen
