Ordination Preview

About a week ago I was asked to be the Master of Ceremonies for a friend's ordination to the transitional diaconate. It was the last step on her journey towards priesthood in the Celtic Christian Church, an independent Catholic Church. I agreed without hesitation because I remembered the great times we had shared at Saint Leo University in the graduate theology program. Truth be told I had never been to an ordination so this would be a learning experience for me as much as it would be her and most of the people participating.

The more I began to think about the ceremony the more I realized that it was kind of like a preview of my own ordination to the diaconate (hopefully). I wanted to use this opportunity to reflect not only on my own experiences in the Episcopal Church but on how other Christian traditions approached this sacred ministry. What I learned was that I felt truly anchored in my own tradition and that even though people had told me time and again that ordination was the beginning of the journey and not the end I had seen that maxim come true before my eyes.

It wasn't the wonderful homily or the scripture readings. Rather, it was coming together of the community of faithful in presenting someone for the responsibility and blessing of ministry that made the most impression upon me. The community itself was invited to come and lay hands on the ordinand and pray for her new ministry, showing support and love for the way in which she was offering herself to God.

When the ordination was completed, I found one phrase staying with me. It was not a phrase that anyone said during the service. Instead it was one that I felt the Holy Spirit had placed upon my heart. It was that God wanted soft and ready clay to mold. He doesn't call completed people or perfect people, or even equipped people. Rather, God calls those people who are willing to change for God, to become the person He has faith they can be. I never want to see myself as a finished project, not as a person and certainly not as an aspiring priest. I am aware that my greatest enemy is apathy.

I pray for my friend in her new ministry as I know that she prays for me in my continued formation. My greatest desire is not to be a priest, it is to do what God wills for my life.