Freshly into the Easter Season of Joy, we find even more moments of joy and gratitude. The Redemptorists of the Denver Province celebrated the presbyteral ordination of Fr. Steven Urban last Saturday, April 18 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Parish in Kansas City. Fr. Steven joins generations of Redemptorists who were ordained and professed at the historic parish. Confreres from all the units of the North American Conference, along with friends and family, flocked to Kansas City to witness and celebrate Fr. Steven’s ordination.

As the main celebrant, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, began his homily by speaking about following God’s voice. He mentioned how Fr. Steven first encountered the Redemptorists. Perhaps Fr. Steven’s prudent decision to choose a church with better parking was God trying to remain anonymous and stir something in his heart. Now he’s found it.

Cardinal Tobin emphasized the uniqueness of God’s call for each one of us: “This call is not simply given to any of us the call to follow Christ in a particular way. God knows us, and he knows our Achilles’ heels as well as our strengths. He calls us exactly to the right service, guaranteeing we have what we need to do it,” he said.

He went on to describe community as one of the gifts Fr. Steven received from God: like-minded, very different, but ultimately brothers who will support you and challenge you. The gift of going to the margins of going to the ones the Church can’t go or won’t go with your brothers.” He also reminded Fr. Steven that he isn’t alone in this journey. As he continues on his journey of life and in his priestly ministry, Mary, our Mother, will always walk alongside him.

The next day, we gathered once more under the watchful gaze of our Mother of Perpetual Help for Fr. Steven’s Mass of Thanksgiving. At the Mass, we heard from Fr. Gary Ziuraitis, former pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, who knew Fr. Steven from the beginning of his vocational journey. Fr. Gary’s homily was all about full-circle moments. He painted the picture of the generations of Redemptorists ordained at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church: now Fr. Steven joins that same line. Fr. Gary commended the parish for creating the perfect conditions for young men to hear and answer the call to the  priesthood.

Fr. Gary went on to give three pieces of advice to Fr. Steven. First, always preach the spirit of the Congregation: With Jesus, there is abundant Redemption. Second, from Paul’s advice to Timothy, “The Lord has given us no cowardly spirit, but a spirit that is strong, loving, and wise.” And continuing, “Preach the word. Be prepared in-season and out-of-season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.” Third, from a letter by then-Superior General Joseph Tobin, “Preferences for situations for evangelization in the strict sense together with the choice in favor of the poor is the very reason the Congregation exists in the Church today and is the badge of its fidelity in the vocation it has received.”

At the end of Mass, Fr. Steven thanked all who were present, especially his family and his confreres. He shared that the foot of the altar where he first heard God’s call to the priesthood was the very spot where he lie prostrate as the cantor sang the Litany of Saints during his ordination. It was indeed a weekend of full-circle moments for the newly ordained Fr. Steven.

As the chrism begins to set, may God, through the intercession of our Mother of Perpetual Help, bless you abundantly, Fr. Steven, as you begin your new ministry at St. Alphonsus Parish in Minneapolis. Understand what you do, imitate what you celebrate, and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord’s cross.