On Saturday afternoon, April 29, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello ordained 31 faithful of the Opus Dei Prelature from 16 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Chile, Canada, Colombia, Spain, the United States, the Philippines, Guatemala, Italy, Lebanon, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Kenya and Venezuela. The ceremony was held in the Basilica of Saint Eugene.
During the homily, Cardinal Bertello – President of the of the Governorate of Vatican City State – reminded the newly ordained that, to fulfill their mission, they must “have with Jesus the same relationship He has with the Father: keep themselves united to Christ, without thinking of saying anything on their own and considering that without Him they can do nothing.”
“Dear ordained, I am certain that your whole ministry will converge on service to that supreme Word of God that is Jesus Christ and His Gospel, in the proclamation of the Love of the Father and of His Mercy,” he said to them. The Cardinal also pointed out to the new presbyters that “Saint Paul has given us the identity card of the apostle of Jesus: to receive His Gospel, to live it and to proclaim it.”
“Dear ordained, in a few minutes you will be transformed in Christ. You will be His living instruments, as if your person disappeared before His, so that He acts through you,” added the Cardinal. Henceforth, “the Mass will be the central moment of your day,” he stressed.
Cardinal Bertello invited the new priests to be “priests, priests, one hundred per cent priests, as your Founder [Saint Josemaria] used to say. Live your priesthood with pure joy and ardent faith. The brothers and sisters you will meet in your ministry expect from you the prophetic testimony that the Eucharist is the central reason of the priesthood. It matter not what type of ministry is entrusted to you: you are called always and everywhere to build the Opus Dei, the work of God, in humility, obedience and charity.”
