On August 23, Friar José Antonio Hernández Hernández and Friar Bernardo Contreras Salcido were ordained to the priesthood in the Church of St. Monica in Mexico City. In his homily, Bishop Javier Acero Pérez, Augustinian Recollect and Auxiliary Bishop of Mexico. He exhorted them to live a ministry based on prayer, closeness to the People of God and friendship with Christ: “Be artisans of peace and beacons of hope in the midst of this epochal change.”.
Thanksgiving
Today, together with all the People of God, we are grateful that the Lord has chosen Friars José Antonio and Bernardo for the ministry of the priesthood, which is exercised in the Church with the charism of the Augustinian Recollects.
You are to be ordained to the priesthood in the Order of Priests, in order to serve Christ, Teacher, Priest and Shepherd, through whom the Church, his Body, is built up and grows as the People of God and a holy temple.
Selected readings
The readings you have chosen for this solemn priestly ordination help us all to reflect on the marvelous action of serving the People of God: proclaiming, consoling, mediating and loving.. Four actions that are fundamental for living the priesthood of Christ with joy and creating unity in the Churches where you serve.
Servants, not gentlemen
José Antonio and Bernardo, we are servants, not lords or masters. We are shepherds chosen to announce hope to our people.
In order to do this, they should never be ashamed of their origin, because their family identity will resolve many existential and emotional doubts throughout their religious and priestly life.
I want to thank the parents and brothers of José Antonio and Bernardo for the generosity they gave to the Order and now to the Church. Thank you very much.
Saying “yes” to the People of God
Today they say “yes” before the People of God to serve at the altar and in the street, to leave behind the privileges and the clericalism that poisons and separates us.
Let us appreciate the simplicity and naturalness of our people, their capacity to love and understand. To be close to the People of God is done through community prayer in the morning, afternoon and evening, with its time for meditation. This is something non-negotiable.
You have a lot of pastoral action: first pray. There are many people waiting for you to listen: pray. Remember that closeness to the Lord is crucial in every moment of life.
Prayer, source of life
Without the intimacy of prayer, the spiritual life, the concrete closeness to God through listening to the Word, the celebration of the Eucharist, the silence of Christ-centered contemplation, consecration to Our Lady, the wise accompaniment of a guide, the sacrament of Reconciliation, the priest is, without these elements, only a “weary worker” who does not enjoy the benefits of the Lord’s friends.
Do not be priests of dead Augustinian phrases; be friars presbyters who with their hands embrace and feel that “this friar does interiorize the Word”.
Announcing hope
To proclaim hope: that is what we are all called to do. Our people do not need optimistic or prospective messages.
We must be on guard against “exacerbated optimism”: repeating “everything will be fine”, but moving forward without discernment and without making the necessary decisions ends up ignoring the wounded of this transformation that fails to accept the tensions, complexities and ambiguities of the present time, and “consecrates” the latest novelty as what is truly real, thus disregarding the wisdom of the years.
Being bridges in a world of waste
May the strangeness of other generations of friars for what they are, think and act not be an obstacle to be bridges in the midst of a world that proclaims the culture of discarding.
And if you have ever felt discarded by religious or priests who have “ignored”, “defamed” or “used” you, do not block yourselves: continue at the foot of the Cross.
Jesus’ experience invites us to announce hope in the midst of so much death and disappearance. We need courageous young people like you to look at and touch people living in poverty and vulnerability.
Consoling the people
The Word also invites us to console those who feel powerless in the absence of peace.
Today there are many people we have to console: older adults who are alone in their homes, brothers and sisters in the community who do not want to talk because they do not accept the limitations of age, migrants, the homeless, searching families, victims of abuse.
José Antonio and Friar Bernardo, every time we offer the bread and wine on the altar, we are also offering so much loneliness, hopelessness and sadness that exists in society.
“Whoever does not allow himself to be accompanied will be an altar bureaucrat, self-seeking without sensitivity, a spiritual worldling sheltered in his own arguments.”
The Lord calls them to be experts in consoling in the funeral parlor, in the hospital, in the street. Those who allow themselves to be accompanied know how to console and live the priesthood by being a of the faith.
Mediators with heart
The letter to the Hebrews reminds us that they are mediators to offer gifts and sacrifices from responsible obedience.
Mediation is an art that is forged in silent prayer, in the midst of so much digital noise. Today, as priests, we must be professionals of silence and listening.
In the face of social polarization and ideological colonialism, we must be mediators with missionary proposals that take risks, inspire hope and make us dream of religious priests like those first missionaries who arrived here in Mexico integrated into the People of God.
Let us evangelize proud of our identity: mestizo and missionary. Dream of projects for the Province and for the Order.
Remaining in love
The Gospel invites us to love, not an egomaniacal love, but a generous love.
When one gives oneself, as Recollects, it is 100% and without mediocrity. Jesus invites us to remain in the love of God. This means to live on that air, that oxygen.
We can remain in love if we keep his commandments.
We live our priesthood in the consecrated life from love, and when this does not happen, the commandments help us to return to the way.
Friendship with Christ
The Bible reminds us that God’s servants are people to whom He entrusts important missions: Moses, David, Elijah, Mary.
But Jesus gives us something greater: friendship.
Friendship is not born of calculation, but of sincere dedication. And if it is true, it does not falter even in the face of betrayal.
Jesus is our best friend and formator. He feels what we feel, because he dwells within us.
“I no longer call you servants, I call you friends” (Jn 15:15).
Conclusion: artisans of peace
To proclaim, console, mediate and love: all this means to feed, teach and sanctify the People of God.
José Antonio and Bernardo, we need you to be artisans of peace in their communities, beacons of hope in the midst of an epochal change..
Being priests and, in addition, Augustinian Recollects places them in an extraordinary place, full of affection for God and for their brothers.
May Mary help them to grow in friendship with her Son and to spread it around them.
Keep training your heart from God and with your brothers and sisters. It’s worth it, it’s worth life.