Field Trip: Ordination to the Priesthood in the Archdiocese of Washington
"I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me."
Could we make time to head up into the “belly of the beast”, braving Saturday traffic to get to the NE side of Washington and attend? Heck yeah … even though it meant leaving our house at 7:00 a.m. for a 10:00 a.m. Mass. Even the kids didn’t fuss — that’s how much Agustin means to our family.
It was a GREAT honor to drive up the 2+ hours to the National Shrine … THE nation’s Catholic church … for the ordination of Agustin and four other men to the priesthood. Dh and I cried when he received the chasuble and stole from our former pastor … we sang and clapped and rejoiced on the crypt-level of the Shrine … standing in a crush of people … waiting for the blessings from this new priest. We were in the Our Lady of Good Counsel chapel … a chapel with a quote from St. Augustine, Agustin’s patron, emblazoned on the marble wall.
St. Augustine's quote
What an amazingly tough time for a young man to say “YES” to God’s call .. to be a priest in the order of Melchizedek … to be willing to forego wife and children to answer the call. We don’t yet know where Father Agustin is based, but rest assured, we’ll be checking in on him … praying for him daily … and thanking God that He brought this young man into our lives … and kept him in our lives!
We will pray for Fr. Agustin and the other four men who promised today to lead the celibate life of a Catholic priest, to put others ALWAYS first, to minister and give of self like no other.
God bless you, Father Agustin Lopez-Espinosa … may you be a good and faithful servant to Him who loves us so completely, even unto death!
How beautiful! We have “adopted” two seminarians who have been stationed at our parish over the last two years and they have really become part of the family. Both are from Colombia and thus don’t have much family around for their various ceremonies (their families will travel up here for the ordinations). When one was raised to “reader”, there were only four of us present as his guests and I got to sit next to him! I felt like I was there in place of his mother and all of his family and it was SO amazing!
The other one will be ordained a deacon this fall. We are all so excited!!! 🙂
Exactly, Alicia … and it takes such special guys to even want to go into the Priesthood these days. It’s not the welcomed vocation of Going My Way or Bells of St. Mary’s … you get criticized, laughed at, berated for wanting to give your life to others … We’re so proud of Agustin! Prayers for your two seminarians …
MaryG.