Newspaper Page Text
The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Savannah
Vol. 99, No. 12 Thursday, June 6, 2019
Put Faith in Your Opinions
southerncross.diosav.org
Diaconate and priestly
ordinations celebrated
By Michael J. Johnson
I n the midmoming on two consecutive
Saturdays ordination ceremonies took
place in the Cathedral of Saint John
the Baptist for the Catholic Diocese of
Savannah. First on May 25 two semi
narians, Carlos Rivero and Nathanael
Swann were ordained by Bishop Gregory
J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., as transitional
deacons - that is to say deacons on a path
to the priesthood. On June 1, Deacon
Patrick May was ordained a priest after
completing seven years of seminary stud
ies including a pastoral year as a transi
tional deacon.
Family, friends, classmates, and sup
porters from throughout the diocese were
in attendance for both the diaconate cere
mony and the Sacrament of Holy Orders.
Speaking in his homily at Father
Patrick May’s ordination Bishop
Hartmayer said, “Patrick, my son, and
brother, has responded to the call that
Jesus gave to him. You will minister
with authority and power but remember
Patrick, as Jesus reminds us in today’s
gospel: ‘Whoever wishes to be great
among you shall be your servant.’”
He continued, “Every priest and bish
op knows the truth: That it is God who
has chosen us. For we know our own
weakness, we know our own sinfulness,
and yet, just as Jesus spoke to the twelve
the words ‘Come, follow me’, so too,
does Patrick hear those words in his own
heart. In sanctifying the People of God,
you will be called to make them holy
through the sacraments of the Church.
You are to embrace the celebration of
every sacrament with great humility. You
will anoint the sick, you will hear con
fessions, and most importantly, you will
celebrate the Eucharist.”
“[Patrick] Jesus desires you to have
Joy, but always remember it is on his
terms, not yours. Only in your surrender
to him will you be led to that joy, to the
joy of the priesthood no matter where
you serve, whether it is the rural areas of
our diocese or the city or in the missions.
Every priest is to be that joy of Christ
and will be that joy if he recognizes he is
exercising the ministry of Christ no mat
ter where he is.”
In his homily, before ordaining Rivero
and Swann, Bishop Hartmayer noted
the traditional establishment of the order
of deacons, “Nathanael and Carlos, the
Apostles, assured the first deacons that
when they act out of love, the Spirit of
God will be with them in their struggles
to find the words and the courage to
confront evil and hurt, to challenge those
who threaten to harm them and those they
loved.” Outlining a portion of a deacon’s
charge he said, “The deacon, the servant
of Jesus, is the one who, like his master,
goes out to the poor, the lowly, the reject
ed, and those in the shadow of death. As
a deacon, you are to carry, to those on the
periphery of society, the Father’s infinite
and unconditional love. Moreover, you
are to do so, not at a distance but through
identification: you are to become poor
with the poor; you are to suffer from
those who suffer; you are to enter into
the hopelessness of the desperate in order
to convince them that ‘nothing can ever
come between us and the love of Jesus
Christ.’ ”
Top: Father Patrick May, beside
the crozier of Bishop Gregory J.
Hartmayer, OFM Conv., is flanked by
clergy and seminarians following his
ordination to the priesthood on
June 1, 2019. Above: From left
to right beside Bishop Hartmayer
are Deacon Nathanael Swann and
Deacon Carlos Rivero following their
ordinations as transitional deacons
May 25, 2019.
Photographs by Michael J. Johnson/
Southern Cross. See diosav.org/
livestream for ordination videos.