My sisters and brothers in Christ, queridos hermanas y hermanos, Deacon Max, once again, I warmly welcome you today to the celebration of priestly ordination for Deacon Max Gallegos. Along with your family and the entire diocese, we have been looking forward to this day! I am especially grateful to my brother priests and deacons who are here from across our diocese as well as those who are visiting from other dioceses and religious communities. I extend a particular welcome to the family of Deacon Max - your parents and your family. Without a doubt, families and parishioners play a foundational role in vocational discernment through their prayers, their love for Christ and His Church, and their encouragement. I thank all of you for your steadfast witness to Christ!

In a particular way, I welcome Bishop Baker whose presence and partnership means so much for all of us. Thank you for your prayers and sharing this beautiful day for the diocese with us today.

Our dedicated women and men in institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, lay ecclesial ministers, and pastoral administrators throughout the Diocese of Birmingham honor us with their presence and prayers. Their generous dedicated ministry as valued co-workers in the Lord’s vineyard through their respective charisms is greatly appreciated.

Our seminarians and those visiting from other dioceses, especially your classmates and friends, are here today. How grateful we are that you are responding generously to the call of the Lord for ongoing discernment and formation.

Thank you, Knights of Columbus and the Knights and Dames of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem for gracing our celebration with special solemnity this morning. Over the years, our St. John Vianney Vocations Committee has been a vital partner with us, supporting and following our seminarians through their prayerful and financial stewardship. Similarly, the Knights of Columbus, who have a passion of vocational support, have sustained our seminarians over the years through their generosity. 

Father Steve Beseau, the rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum who represents the faculty, staff, and students from the Josephinum as well as others from your seminary experience, welcome to the Cathedral of St. Paul here in downtown Birmingham.

Finally, I warmly welcome the many parishioners from Our Lady of the Valley in Fort Payne who woke up early to arrive by bus here. This community celebrates this day with you and are praying for you along with other parishes where you have served. 

Deacon Max, you are imbued with unique gifts and talents that will guide you in priestly ministry in the Diocese of Birmingham. Of course, you ought to consider seriously the nature of the rank to which you will be ordained. Today, you will be ordained to the presbyteral or priestly order - to walk in the newness of life, to pattern your life on that of Christ’s, and carry out your ministry with “constant joy and genuine love, attending not to your own concerns but to those of Jesus Christ.” 

To that end, you are uniquely joined to the joyful band of missionary disciples of Christ here in the Diocese of Birmingham through the special bonds that need to be embraced and nurtured. No priest is a lone ranger. No one in ministry “goes it alone.” What we do we do as a team, a partnership – a presbyterate with and under the leadership of the diocesan bishop. Who we are always connects us with Christ, through Him, and under the charge of a successor to the Apostles. We are not alone. Together we represent the unity of the Church, particularly in and through communion with those whom you serve.

Allow me to make two unique references today – one is to the mystery of the Visitation, whose feast we providentially commemorate today, and the other is to St. John Vianney, a co-patron of our diocese who was canonized on this very day, 100 years ago.

With regard to the great feast of the Visitation, we note that Mary goes in haste to meet up with her kinswoman Elizabeth after the Annunciation – when the angel Gabriel announced to her that she would become the mother of Jesus. Both Mary and Elizabeth are with child, so it is a time when the two women meet to encourage and support each other. One is younger and the other is older. Similarly, the two infants in the womb are presented to each other. In Elizabeth, who bears John the Baptist, it is recorded that the infant in her womb “leapt for joy” – so near was our salvation. There is something so very unique in our Church’s tradition – the joy that comes from the closeness of our Lady in everything, who allows us to encounter Christ. She so freely cooperated with God’s grace at a very early age. She was present at the Annunciation when the Angel Gabriel announced to her that she would become the mother of Jesus. She, of course, responded with great generosity: “Let it be done to me as you say!” She was part of the Visitation while with child. She goes to share this Good News with her extended family.  She was present, of course, at the Nativity, the birth of Christ on that Holy Night.  She was there when they brought the child to the temple for the feast of the Presentation to consecrate Him to the Lord while others were awaiting day and night for the Lord to visit them. She was there when He was lost in the temple. She was there at the wedding feast in Cana, reminding the waiters, “Do whatever He tells you!” She was there beneath the Cross. She was there in the Upper Room with the Apostles as they waited for the coming of the Spirit at the great feast of Pentecost. All throughout the major events of Christ, she was there. Similarly, she is here today reminding us, like she did for St. Juan Diego, “Acaso no estoy yo aqui, que soy tu Madre?”

Deacon Max, Nuestra Madre Santísima está tan presente en la vida de Jesús en casi cada momento significativo. La hermosa cultura y herencia hispana reconoce y confía naturalmente en la presencia de la Virgen en cada etapa de la vida. Ella parece manifestarse en casi todas las culturas (la nuestra también). Pero es especialmente representada en la imagen icónica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, que apareció milagrosamente en la tilma de San Juan Diego y que aún puede verse en su Santuario. Como sacerdote, ella está contigo; te acompaña; te recuerda el camino que debes seguir, como lo hace una madre con sus hijos. ¡Qué regalo tan maravilloso tenerla hoy contigo al inicio de tu ministerio sacerdotal! Tu Madre – aqui! E contigo cada dìa! 

Second, it is fitting also to recall St. John Vianney, the co-patron of our diocese. His history is well known to seminarians and priests. He was not a top-tier academic in the seminary and struggled mightily. I don’t think he ever made the Dean’s List. He struggled in the seminary, but he possessed something in his heart that was much greater, which he desperately wanted to share. All throughout his ministry in rural France, in the village of Ars that was notoriously anti-Christian, he began to have an amazing impact. He loved those he was assigned to and didn’t aspire to worldly fame and fortune. He simply preached the Good News of Christ, repentance for sins, and a life dedicated to Him through his availability, by his own personal fasting, and by the time he spent in prayer and in the confessional. 

The reason why I bring up St. John Vianney is that 100 years ago today, which was the Solemnity of Pentecost, he was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XI. I went back to find the homily used. He was canonized alongside St. John Eudes, also from France, on May 31, 1925.  Pope Pius XI noted: “But it seems to us, we can almost see with our eyes the slender frame of John Mary Vianney, his neck encircled like a crown with snowy white hair, and his thin face worn by fasting, from which the innocence and sanctity of his humble and most gentle soul shone forth so clearly that multitudes, at first sight, were moved to salutary thoughts. Who, no matter how hardened in sin, could resist his words and his tears? Whom did his evening exhortations, often delivered in a low voice, not move to repentance and to live for Jesus once more? In this, truly, the action of the Holy Spirit shines forth marvelously, Who alone can make of an unlettered and uncultured man the most skillful fisher of men.” He goes on to add: “We ardently desire that every priest look to these two newly enrolled Saints for imitation. From the one [St. John Vianney], especially pastors of humble villages, let them learn with what zeal for divine glory, with what persistence in prayer, and with what support of virtues they ought to care for souls. … And let all remember… that they must not rest from the labors of the apostolate until they pass into the embrace of the sweetest Jesus Christ, the Prince of Shepherds.” His life is a testimony that holiness and pastoral effectiveness do not depend solely on intellectual ability but on faith, perseverance, and love for souls. 

For you, my dear Deacon Max, this pastoral work is about to begin in earnest. Your agenda can be full of meetings, events, wedding preparations, funeral planning, parish social events and meetings of all sorts, but remember, like Elizabeth, it will be an encounter with Christ – in the joy and brokenness of life. Our primary responsibility is to grow in holiness before God and those we serve. We must truly believe and witness, with great boldness, the resurrection of Christ and how our lives are being transformed by the graces God gives Himself totally to us. These graces, these challenges, not only come from us in our preaching and in our example of joy to those we serve but they also come from those with whom we share ministry and those who are ministered to – who challenge us by the letters we receive, and/or a word before or after Mass, at parish events or even on the street. This conversation, this journey is one that allows us to walk together, discerning the spirits while remaining faithful to our tradition through the many charisms shared by the steadfast witness of those who have gone before us. 

Today, I join all who are here today in congratulating you, celebrating this momentous event, and welcoming you to this unique and cherished order of the presbyterate of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama. Together in ministry, with our eyes fixed on Jesus, you will be able to write a unique story of growth in faith and holiness because you loved the Church with your whole life and those you served so generously. During this providential year of the Jubilee of Hope, you have a tremendous opportunity to witness God’s hope particularly to those you are charged to serve through your priestly ministry.

May our Blessed Mother, Mary; St. Joseph, her spouse; St. Maximilian; and St. Paul and St. John Vianney, our diocesan co-patrons, guide you each and every day. Amen!