The Rite of Ordination: "Brother, Let Me Be Your Servant..."

"Brother, let me be your servant...Let me be as Christ to you...Pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant, too..."

(The seminarians of the Sacred Heart Seminary 

of the Diocese of Bacolod) 

These lyrics of The Servant Song as sung by the seminarians of the Sacred Heart Seminary rang throughout the walls of the San Sebastian Cathedral as the Most Reverend Patricio Buzon, Bishop of the Diocese of Bacolod, and Diocesan priests welcomed with Christ's embrace the three new Servants of God, Rev. Emiel Pasco Mijares, Rev. Rommel Falc Gomez Palivino, and Rev. Joemar Docto Solano, as they were ordained into the Sacred Order of Presbyters on January 14, 2020.

(Bishop Patricio Buzon, SDB, DD. 

leads the ordination of the three ordinands)

This was the first time I attended an ordination, although during my formative years spent at a Catholic school I was surrounded by priests whose duties, I understood then, included guiding our young lives and molding our characters with strong Christian virtues and values.

That morning, before the ordination, as I watched the three ordinands walked with their parents to the Cathedral’s altar, I realized it was a symbolic procession of a mother and father offering their child to God, much like Abraham’s offering of his son Isaac as his sacrifice.

As The Servant Song ended on the last rite, the Kiss of Peace, before Rev. Emiel, Rev. Rommel, and Rev. Joemar joined Bishop Buzon to celebrate their first Mass as Catholic priests, their dreams of becoming priests were fulfilled amidst the applause of everyone in the Cathedral that also brought a special kind of joy and happiness to their parents and families.

Witnessing a ceremony full of symbolisms and traditions as old as the Church itself, I also realized that it was a fulfillment of one man’s sacrifice to serve Jesus and His Church for the rest of his life.

And as the choir continued to sing the words of The Servant Song’s, “We are pilgrims on a journey…We are brothers on the road…We are here to help each other…Walk the mile and bear the load”, we, as parishioners, should help in their ministry as we are part of the journey of Rev. Miel, Rev. Rommel, and Rev. Joemar.  And while the rite of ordination had been completed, their work as Servants of God has just started.

And with each Holy Mass they celebrate, each holy sacrament they administer, and each blessing they give, we should pray for them till they have seen their journey through.

                                  
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Here's a short clip on the rite of the 'Kiss of Peace' that I took during the ordination.

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This piece was originally published by ADSUM, the official publication of the Diocese of Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines.

In its issue for February 16 - 22, 2020.