a holy orders kind of weekend... part one

For the past year and a half or so, my two sons and two other teen boys have been working on the Ad Altare Dei award.  It is a religious award that Boy Scouts can earn.  Many hours have gone into this, as we have worked our way through the sacraments.  Baptism.  Confirmation.  Eucharist.  Reconciliation.  Anointing of the Sick.  Holy Orders.

As we opened our books a few weeks ago to begin learning about Holy Orders, we realized that we were nearing the end (only Marriage remains), and that our timing was perfect because our Diocese was ordaining a new priest soon.  One of requirements gave us two options - attend an ordination or read the rite from the back of the book.  [For Anointing of the Sick, we had done the read-from-the-back-of-the-book option, and I was afraid someone was going to need some actual anointing by the time they were done.  The "sick person" kept punching the "priest" as he attempted to anoint him and lay hands on him.]

So Saturday found our little group of 4 teenage boys and 3 moms of teenage boys nicely dressed, at the Cathedral to witness the Ordination to the Holy Priesthood of a new priest for our diocese.

My younger son and I had once attended an ordination of a young man to the Transitional Diaconate, but the ordination of a Priest was a first for all of us.  

Different things caught our attention.  The music was key for some.  The laying on of hands moved others.  I think all of us moms were taken by the youthfulness of the seminarians who were present.  Some of them looked like there were not much older than our teen sons sitting in the row in front of us.  Holy Communion found us receiving from "the new guy". 

Although there were varying degrees of enthusiasm among them (moms of teenage boys will understand)....we were there about 45 minutes before it was scheduled to start, and it lasted about 90 minutes....all survived.  Here is a picture to prove it - taken in front of the 500 + year old Cathedral Oak.  It as hot, and they were looking into the sun, and one shirt was untucked as soon as the final notes sounded from the organ, but they can all say that they attended an ordination.  :-)

Today, at our regularly scheduled meeting, our good priest dropped in so that the boys could "interview" him.  More on that next time.