Bishop John C. Wester delivered the following homily on the occasion of the ordination of Fathers Manuel Cerón and José Rausseo May 31 in the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

In our Gospel reading tonight, I find it personally interesting that John tells us that it was after breakfast that this beautiful dialogue between Our Lord and Peter took place. A few verses earlier John further specifies the context of this beautiful encounter between Our Lord and Peter. John tells us that Jesus was sitting by a charcoal fire. It’s a very beautiful image for us to picture Jesus and his apostles sitting around this fire.

It made me think of all those times I’ve sat around a fire. I remember a long time ago when I was a little child and my father would take my brother and me camping. There were other friends and other dads, and we’d sit around the fire and tell stories and roast marshmallows and just have a wonderful time being together, watching the light of the fire dance on everybody’s face. I thought of retreats, wilderness retreats, when we used to take some of the high school kids to the beach and we’d light a big bonfire and have a penance service. I remember particularly one night when one of the seniors, in front of the fire, in the warmth of that fire, spoke very beautifully about some things that were troubling him.

I remember when I first went into the seminary, going down to the grotto. We had a big charcoal fire where we had our first meal in the seminary. The meal itself was not memorable. It was fried bologna, as I recall, but it’s the fire I’m getting at. I think of the Russian River, which is a little resort town where we would go at the end of a long day and have a big bonfire – warmth, union, light, reconciliation.

The fire in today’s Gospel is a scene of reconciliation. Jesus offers Peter three-fold opportunity to be reconciled after his three-fold denials. It’s a public demonstration that only love can conquer sin. I think this is a very important image for us in our world today – this image of the fire and of reconciliation. We, in our world, experience devastating war and every day we hear about its tragic consequences. We experience violence here in our own country, and on our own city streets. We deal with death penalties and addictions of all kinds, domestic abuse, prejudice, bigotry, disease and famine, consumerism, poverty, genocide, homelessness – all kinds of issues that tear us apart and fragment us.

It’s no wonder then that examples of reconciliation are so compelling and so important for us. One might think of Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” and that beautiful ending scene where the husband and wife reconcile. Or one might think of the late Pope John Paul II sitting in that cell with his would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca and offering him forgiveness. Or, remember that movie, “Dead Man Walking,” When Matthew Poncelet apologized to Mr. Earl Delacroix and said, “I’m sorry for what we done” – all powerful examples of reconciliations.

This evening, these two men, our brothers, stand as symbols of reconciliation in our midst. Manuel and José, like Peter, you stand in the light cast by Christ himself who calls you to be instruments of healing in an oftentimes broken world. Like Peter you are invited to be healed as you become healers; to be forgiven as you prepare now to raise your hands in forgiveness. Like Peter, you are called to remain faithful to the journey of faith, the good work Christ has begun in you.

T.S. Eliot once said that we shall never cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time. Peter kept coming back to the shore, back to the fire, and he knew the place for the first time.

You, my brothers will come back again and again to this shore, to this altar, your starting place, your way, your destination.

The fire then gives way to the image of the meal. The meal gives way to the image of the Eucharist. We read in “Lumen Gentium” that it is in the eucharistic assembly of the faithful that priests exercise to a supreme degree their sacred office. There, acting in the person of Christ and proclaiming his mystery, they unite the votive offerings of the faithful to the sacrifice of Christ their head. In the sacrifice of the Mass they make present again and apply, until the coming of the Lord, the unique sacrifice of the New Testament, that, namely, of Christ offering himself once for all as a spotless victim to the Father. And these words are echoed in “Presbyterorum Ordinis:” From this unique sacrifice their whole priestly ministry draws its strength.

It is here that Christ nourishes us and transforms us and unites us. It is here that we are formed as reconcilers. It is here that we are called as priests to follow the example of Christ the Good Shepherd.

John, in his Gospel, makes this point of passing on the function of shepherd. John sees Yahweh as shepherd in Ezekiel. And in the 10th chapter of John, John transfers that to Christ the Good Shepherd. In tonight’s reading, to Peter the good shepherd, and now tonight to you, José and Manuel, shepherds that you become through this ordination rite.

And so, aptly so, the Church exhorts you today: Keep always before your eyes the example of the Good Shepherd who came not to be served, but to serve, and who came to seek out and save what was lost. And as you and all of us listen attentively to the readings tonight we learn and discover the depth of what it is to be a priestly shepherd; a reconciling presence in our midst.

In Jeremiah we are reminded that it is God who does the calling; that from the beginning of time God has called you, has predestined you, has elected you. And then, in the fullness of time, God has implemented his call in you through the Sacrament of Ordination. Those beautiful words of Jeremiah of intimacy, “before you were formed in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I dedicated you.” Manuel and José, this reading gives wonderful depth to your role as shepherds. You are, through your priestly ministry and service, to give God the glory who has first called you. And through all that you are about, to praise God in season and out. You are called to intimacy with God, closeness with God, so that Christ’s prayer for union will be fulfilled in you as it is tonight in your hearing.

As shepherds, and in the words of Jeremiah, you are not to be afraid. Now is the time to accept your call. Now is the time to allow God’s grace to work in you. Be not afraid. Cast your nets into the deep. The shepherd can sanctify others only because he himself is sanctified by Christ, the great high priest. Likewise, you will exercise in Christ the office of sanctifying. For by your ministry the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful will be made perfect, being united to the sacrifice of Christ, which will be offered through your hands in an unbloody way on the altar, in union with the faithful, in the celebration of the sacraments. Understand, therefore, what you do and imitate what you celebrate. As a celebrant of the mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection, strive to put to death whatever in your members is sinful and walk in newness of life.

And Paul, in Ephesians, reminds you that you are to proclaim unity in our community. Paul says we are one and therefore we ought to be who we are. And he sees this unity affected through the proclamation of the Word, a Word that is proclaimed in your ministry through ordination, a Word that is Christ who ascended into heaven to receive the gifts which he pours upon you two tonight.

As shepherds, you are to have as your principal goal the building up of the Church, the unity of the Church through the proclamation of the Word and sharing the apostolic ministry. You are to accomplish this through your unity with Christ the Word who bestows these gifts upon you.

Remember, when you gather others into the people of God through baptism, and when you forgive sins in the name of Christ and the Church in the Sacrament of Penance; when you comfort the sick with holy oil and celebrate the sacred rites, when you offer prayers of praise and thanks to God throughout the hours of the day, not only for the people of God, but for the whole world – remember then that you are taken from among people and appointed on their behalf for those things that pertain to God. Therefore, carry out the ministry of Christ the priest with constant joy and genuine love, attending not to your own concerns, but to those of Jesus Christ. And finally dear brothers, in all of this be filled with joy.

It doesn’t say it explicitly in the Gospel tonight but we can imagine the joy Peter felt in being forgiven and reunited with his loving Lord. How filled with joy he must have been!

Soon your hands will be anointed with chrism: the oil of gladness. A glorious mantle will be placed upon you instead of a listless spirit. Priesthood is a joyous pursuit. As Pierre Teihard de Chardin said, “Joy is the infallible sign of God’s presence.” So as priests you are called to the joy of Christ, and you are called to communicate that joy to others in season and out, in all you do and say and think.

Let the holiness of your life be a delightful fragrance to Christ’s faithful, so that by word and example you may build up the house which is God’s Church.

Surely, you will suffer, and at times as priests you will suffer greatly with your people and for your people. But at the end of the day, yours will be an abiding joy that nobody can take away.

As sharers in the apostolic ministry of shepherding God’s holy people, you, Manuel and José, are called to be uniters and reconcilers, sanctifiers and proclaimers of the Word; and in all of this, filled with joy.

Indeed, our world is desperate for reconciliation. You, like Peter, stand by the fire of Christ’s love and are transformed into the healing presence of Christ. The world says, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” The priest says, “You’ll see it when you believe it.”

José and Manuel, believe in the reconciliation you bring to our church. On this Feast of the Visitation, may Mary’s words echo in your hearts as your souls magnify the Lord who calls you today to the service of the Church as priests. May you enjoy many campfires in your priestly ministry. And every time you stand at the altar, may you know the place for the first time.