Dear Parishioners and Friends,
This afternoon Father Joseph Ganser, formerly our
transitional deacon here at the Cathedral, will celebrate his Mass of
Thanksgiving following his ordination to the priesthood, which took place
yesterday.
It is very fitting that his Mass of Thanksgiving take place
on the very Sunday that the Church celebrates Corpus Christi (The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of
Christ). The priesthood finds its highest calling and meaning in offering
sacrifice and it is the priest who guarantees that it is really Christ “who
acts in the sacraments through the Holy Spirit for the Church” (CCC, 1120).
The Holy Mass is at the heart of the life of a priest and
gives meaning to his life. When he says, “This is my body… this is my blood,”
he lends his voice to Christ so that our Savior can perpetually give Himself to
us under the appearance of bread and wine but with the reality of His Body and
Blood. As St. John Vianney once famously said, “the Mass is the sacrifice that
God makes to man of His Body and of His Blood. Oh, how great is a priest!...
The priest will only be understood in heaven. Were he understood on earth,
people would die, not of fear, but of love.”
In Christ,
Msgr. Baker
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