Newly ordained, bestowing his first priestly blessings, Father Randy Skeate smiled with quiet gratitude when asked how he felt May 31 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
“Extreme joy,” he said. “Fulfillment and a lot of peace.”
A few weeks of butterflies in the stomach had given way to calm confidence, Father Skeate said. He and his newly ordained brother priests — Fathers Stephen Boatwright, Benjamin Eichten, Alexander Marquette and Zachary Ochsenbauer — had fanned out to separate chapels in the cathedral to bless family, friends and others in the congregation.
About 2,000 people filled most of the Cathedral for the Mass. Archbishop Bernard Hebda was the chief celebrant, with concelebrants including Auxiliary Bishops Michael Izen and Kevin Kenney, Bishop Emeritus Richard Pates, Maronite Catholic Chorbishop Sharbel Maroun of St. Maron in Minneapolis and more than 100 priests.
Also present were men and women in consecrated life, faculty members of seminaries including St. John Vianney College Seminary and The St. Paul Seminary, both in St. Paul, and parishioners and deacons from across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
“I look at Deacons Steve and Alex, Ben and Randy and Zach, and I can’t help but think that God loves this local Church, that he would have called such fine men to serve this archdiocese, to feed his flock here,” Archbishop Hebda said in his homily. “While they are all very different men, each of them is faithful, hardworking, compassionate.”
The archbishop noted their ordination was at a special time in the Church, during a Jubilee Year, a year of grace celebrated around the globe.
“How beautiful, moreover, to be ordained not only in a Jubilee Year, but in May, the month dedicated to Mary, our mother and queen of the clergy,” Archbishop Hebda said. “As if that weren’t enough, today is also the 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests and the secondary patron of our archdiocese. The icing on the cake is that we also celebrate today the feast of the Visitation. If you ask me, brothers, Jesus loves you dearly.”
The archbishop brought the congregation’s attention to the image on the cover of the ordination program, that of Mary visiting her cousin, Elizabeth, with the artist creatively adding the women’s husbands to the scene, St. Joseph and Zechariah.
“These two men, I’d like to suggest this morning, would be good models for you, as you assume as priests a somewhat new posture to Christ’s beloved bride, the Church. Jesus, the bridegroom, is asking you as his priests to love, respect and protect his bride.”
In Luke’s Gospel, a pregnant Mary hastens through the hill country to visit Elizabeth, who is carrying John the Baptist in her womb, the archbishop said. Mary is there to serve, but she does not go alone. “Rather, she’s bringing with her Jesus, the Messiah, in her womb. She’s bringing Jesus to the needs of others,” the archbishop said.
In addition to the privilege everyone has as bearers of God through baptism and receiving holy Communion, Archbishop Hebda said, the newly ordained will have the privilege of bringing Christ to people through the Eucharist and other sacraments.
“That’s every time that you’ll celebrate the Eucharist, every time that you’ll hear a confession, every time that you celebrate the sacrament of the sick, things you would have never been able to do without the priestly ordination you will receive today,” he said. “My encouragement to you, brothers, is to stay close to Mary, and she’ll always keep you close to her son and focused on the needs of others.”
Finally, there is a servant girl in the painting, Archbishop Hebda said. “For me, she’s a wonderful reminder that the Lord will be encountered in the midst of our everyday labors, our everyday work, when we’re just doing our job. My bet is that the Lord will make himself known to you when you least expect it.”
“Christ is indeed passing by often,” the archbishop said. “He loves you, brothers, and will want to break into your lives to visit you as he did the house of Elizabeth and Zechariah. May we be prepared to sense his presence and welcome him always.”
People in the congregation included Jane Whelan, 69, of Mary, Queen of Peace in Rogers, who came with a friend, Annie Sparrow, 68, of Epiphany in Coon Rapids. Sparrow said she has been to at least 10 priestly ordination Masses, each one “beautiful in its own way.”
“This diocese is so blessed,” Whelan said. The ordination Mass “is so beautiful and the music just adds to it.”
Jessica Nieters, 25, and her 22-year-old sister, Megan, both of St. Genevieve in Hugo, grew up one house away from Father Ochsenbauer’s family at St. Peter in Forest Lake. Their homes were on Forest Lake. Water skiing, fishing and ice hockey were part of the fun, they said. “He’s always been a very caring individual,” Jessica said, visibly excited as they waited for Mass to begin.
Family at the Mass for Father Boatwright, 74, a widower from St. Joseph in Rosemount who ministered as a permanent deacon before answering a call to the priesthood at age 72, included his daughter, Sarah Esper, 44, from Nashville, Tennessee, and three of Sarah’s daughters.
Esper said it was a beautiful, emotional ceremony, beginning with the procession of bishops, priests and ordinands into the Cathedral.
“The joy for him, in that next step (priesthood) coming to fruition,” she said tearfully of watching him in procession. “Seeing his journey as a father, family (man), deacon, now going to the next calling.”
Joe Ackerman, 63, of St. Timothy in Maple Lake, said he came to the ordination with his wife, Mary, to support Father Marquette, a fellow parishioner.
“It’s been such a blessing to see Alex grow, I wouldn’t want to miss this day,” Ackerman said. “This is just amazing that that all these young men are going to give their lives to the Lord.”
Rebecca Omastiak contributed to this report.
