The Most Reverend Joseph Vincent Brennan, Bishop of the Diocese of Fresno, installed 21 candidates into the ministries of lector and acolyte in a special Mass on November 6, 2019. In front of friends, family, and colleagues, these young men took their first steps towards priesthood.
The Ministry of Lector is a step towards Holy Orders. The lector is instituted to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture, with the exception of the Gospel. He may also announce the intentions for the Universal Prayer and recite the Psalm between the readings.
Acolytes assist in liturgical celebrations. They will light candles and carry them in procession and during the Gospel, prepare the wine and water for the sacrifice of the Mass, and participate in distributing Holy Communion.
Bishop Brennan in his homily emphasized the importance of the roles for acolytes and lectors in the Liturgies of the Word and Eucharist. In a light-hearted and self-deprecating manner, he told his story of his favorite Bible that he brought that night for all to see. Before attending seminary, he received a list of items he would need to bring and a Bible was on the list. That very same Bible is the same one he has used for more than 30 years. As he raised his worn favorite Bible, he told the seminarians that they should cherish theirs and use it often so that in 30 years their Bibles will as beat up and used up as his.
In communion with the St. Patrick's community, Bishop Brennan also related that his uncle was a seminarian here at St. Patrick's and was ordained a priest back in the 1930s. As he walked around campus, he said he kept thinking about his uncle being here. After the ceremony, the entire community celebrated the evening in Riordan Hall.
Seminarians who are the new lectors are David Mees and Jerick Rea of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Chi-Nhan Vo of the Archdiocese of Portland, Juan Carlos Ponce and John Paul Rabago of the Diocese of Oakland, Joseph Klinge and Lloyd Rebuldela of the Diocese of Fresno, Kurt Meyer and Hai (Francis) Pham of the Diocese of Honolulu, Ivan Franco-Martin and Victor Goronov of the Diocese of Sacramento, Christopher Girolo of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, and Nicholas Castoldi of the Diocese of Spokane.
The new acolytes are Matthew Knight of the Archdiocese of Portland, Dominic Borchers of the Diocese of Oakland, Jose Maria Carrillo of the Diocese of Fresno, Preston-Jay Castro, Kevin Clark, and Arrion Rosales-Llantos of the Diocese of Honolulu, Gabriel Sanchez of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, and Andrew Kelly of the Diocese of Spokane.
Please enjoy the slideshow below, photographed by seminarian Dereck Delgado from the Archdiocese of Agaña.
