VATICAN CITY, MAY 14, 2001 (VIS) - At 9 this morning, the Fifth Sunday of Easter, John Paul II presided over a Mass in the Vatican Basilica during which he ordained 34 deacons from the diocese of Rome to the priesthood.
The Pope told the new priests: "Each of you is formed to render glory to God 'in persona Christi Capitis'. As Christ, and united to Him, you will glorify God and be glorified by Him, offering yourselves for the salvation of the world, loving completely the people that the Father will entrust to you, washing one another's feet."
"The Lord," continued the Pope, "entrusts you in a new way with His commandment: 'Even as I have loved you', that you also love one another'. This constitutes for you a gift and a commitment: the gift of Christ's sweet and light yoke; the commitment to be always the first to carry this yoke, humbly making yourselves models for the flock entrusted to you by the Good Shepherd. You must always have constant recourse to His help. You must always draw inspiration from His example."
The Holy Father affirmed that the priestly vocation is also "the fruit of the prayer of the Church, as indeed of the diligent and patient work of many laborers of the Lord's harvest, who have also ploughed, seeded, and tended the earth for you. Your perseverance is tied to this spiritual solidarity, which must never fail the Church." Lastly the Pope thanked all those who pray and offer their sufferings for priests and vocations.
"Dear ordinandi," John Paul II concluded, "conscious of your mission, strive for holiness, spread love. Be above all lovers of the Church, both the earthly and heavenly Church, looking upon her with faith and love, despite the stains and creases that can mark the human face. ... The priest is not a man of individual initiatives; he is the minister of the Gospel in the name of the Church. His every apostolic work originates from the Church and returns to the Church."
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