ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Father Thiers, Provost of The Philadelphia Oratory of Saint Philip Neri,
Father Convery, Pastor of this Parish of Saint Francis Xavier,
Dear Oratorians, dear brother Priests, dear Deacons,
Dear Family of Brother Brian Gaffney, to be ordained this morning to the Sacred Priesthood,
Dear Friends in our Lord Jesus Christ,

We gather this morning in this beautiful church to adore and praise God on this great Solemnity of Pentecost, which commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. Our hearts are filled with joy as we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit given to the Apostles and forever present in the Church.

Today our celebration of Pentecost and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in our lives takes place in a special context, namely, the priestly ordination of Brother Brian Gaffney.

This priestly ordination that we celebrate on Pentecost is indeed linked to the mission of the Holy Spirit and rooted in the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Let us go back for a moment to the great event of Pentecost, which we heard described in our first reading from The Acts of the Apostles. The Apostles had been told by Jesus not to leave Jerusalem until they would receive the Holy Spirit, which he had promised them. And then it happened! On Pentecost as the Apostles were gathered together, there came a noise like a strong driving wind, and tongues as of fire came to rest on the Apostles. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit-the Spirit of God's love.

The coming of the Holy Spirit was the fulfillment of Jesus's promise. Pentecost was the sign of God's fidelity in Jesus Christ. Jesus and His Father sent the gift of the Spirit upon those who were invested with the special mission of establishing the Church throughout the world and of bearing witness to Jesus.

But what was this gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had so lovingly promised to His Apostles?

Jesus had spoken frequently about the Holy Spirit and had communicated many things to His Apostles. At the Last Supper, He had actually deeply revealed the life of God. He had said: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you." And He added: "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you" (Jn 15:9,12).

How did Jesus love His disciples? As the Father loves Him. And how does the Father love Him? In the Holy Spirit. And in the Holy Spirit we are to love one another. And the priesthood is intimately a part of this mystery of love in the Holy Spirit. And this ordination of Brother Brian requires the outpouring of God's Spirit of Love.

Jesus spoke so often of His Father. He had told His Apostles that the Father loves Him and that He loves the Father. "The Father loves me." "I love the Father." And in revealing this He reveals that this love between Himself and His Father is so real and so personal that it is the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, who lives in the communion of three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is loved by the Father in the Holy Spirit. And in the Holy Spirit Jesus loves His Apostles and all of us. And this is the love that He commands us to share: that Person-Love, who is the Holy Spirit.

Jesus knew, therefore, dear friends, that the Apostles, and all of us, needed the Holy Spirit to fulfill our mission of loving others as we are loved by Him and as He is loved by His Father, in the Holy Spirit.

Jesus knew this and promised to send the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is indeed the fulfillment of that promise. And in the fulfillment of that promise, the life of the Church is guaranteed, and her mission of love is made possible.

And so on this great feast of Pentecost not only do we recall and commemorate the Coming of the Holy Spirit, but we receive Him as the living Guest of our hearts, and accept from Him the power to love that comes from Him, who is Love Himself-the personal love of the Father and the Son.

And on this great feast of Pentecost we celebrate the special outpouring of God's love in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Through the Priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ, Brian Gaffney is called to a specific role of love and service in the Church-a role that can be accomplished only in the Holy Spirit. He receives the Holy Spirit in order to love others as he is loved by Christ and as Christ is loved by the Father-in the Holy Spirit.

His service of love to others is expressed above all in the proclamation of the Word of God, which reaches its climax in the sacramental proclamation of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is his life, his service, his specialty. And with his Eucharistic ministry he is called to be the instrument of God's mercy in the Sacrament of Confession, where God's love encounters human weakness, human need, human sin.

The coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles at Pentecost represents the fidelity of Jesus. Jesus kept His promise. Jesus is the faithful Amen of the Father and of the Father's love.

And Father Brian Gaffney is called to reflect faithfully the fidelity of Jesus forever. Like Jesus, his answer cannot be yes one moment and no the next. It can never be anything but yes.

Dear Brian, this is your ministry, this is to be your priesthood and it can only be accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit of God's Love. Today the Church entrusts you to the Virgin Mother of God, Mother of Jesus, Daughter of the Father, Spouse and Temple of the Holy Spirit. Through her intercession may you be faithful forever to your priestly mission of love. Amen.