PATERSON Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney ordained five men to the priesthood on Aug. 1 in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist here while presiding over his first Mass of the Rite of Ordination for priests since being ordained and installed as the eighth Shepherd of Paterson on July 1. The Bishop urged the new priests to follow the example of Jesus as the Good Shepherd “who came not to be served, but to serve and who came to seek out and save what was lost.”
During an ordination rite rooted in the rituals of the early Church [see story on page 7], Bishop Sweeney ordained the following transitional deacons to the priesthood of the Church of Paterson: Father Joemin (Jayke) Kharlo Chong Parinas, Father Regin Nico Dela Cruz Quintos and Father Armando Diaz Vizcara Jr. of the Philippines; Father Chris J. Han of South Korea; and Father Adam Stanislaw Wasowski of Poland. The Bishop served as main celebrant and homilist of the liturgy with the priests in attendance concelebrating.
“My sisters and brothers, we join together on this beautiful morning that God has given us as the Church of Paterson, united with the universal Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, as we pray for and with our five brothers to be ordained,” Bishop Sweeney said at the beginning of the Mass, held on the Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church. He closed the Mass by saying, “It is a particular and personal joy to have the privilege of ordaining our brothers to the priesthood for my first time as Bishop of Paterson.”
For the ordination, due to COVID-19 mandates in place, a limited number of well-wishers — family, friends, priests and religious of the diocese, members of the parishes where the deacons have served and the faithful of the Diocese — were invited to attend as a sign of encouragement to the men receiving the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Those in attendance also practiced social distancing and wore masks during the Mass.
Unable to attend, some family and friends of the new priests and others from around the Diocese watched a livestream of the ordination on the diocesan website at www.rcdop.org.
That morning, the inside of St. John’s rang out with the majestic hymns from members of the diocesan choir led by Preston Dibble, diocesan music minister and choir director.
In his homily, Bishop Sweeney said that during Jesus’ earthly ministry, he selected certain disciples, the Apostles, to “carry out a public ministry in his name on behalf of mankind to work through the priestly office in the Church,” so “that through them and their successors — the bishops — he might continue to exercise his office as teacher, priest and shepherd.”
“You will exercise the sacred duty of teaching in the name of Christ the teacher, imparting to everyone the Word of God that you yourself have received with joy. Meditating on the law of the Lord, be sure that you see that you believe what you read, that you teach what you believe and that you practice what you teach. In this way, let what you teach be nourishment for the people of God,” said Bishop Sweeney, who urged the newly ordained to help build up and unite the Church by their words and example.
The new priests, the Bishop said, also “exercise Christ’s office of sanctifier” — the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful made perfect being united to the sacrifice of Jesus, which will be offered through their hands in an unbloody way on the altar in union with the faithful. Therefore, he told them, “Understand what you do and imitate what you celebrate.”
“Carry out the ministry of Christ, the priest, with constant joy and genuine love, attending not to your own concerns, but to those of Jesus Christ,” Bishop Sweeney said.
‘Excited’ about their new priestly ministries
As a young boy, Father Parinas felt the call to priesthood in his native Philippines, influenced by his parents who were active in their parish and their pastor who invited him to become an altar server. He studied in the seminary there until his arrival in the United States in 2016. Father Parinas completed his priestly studies at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland.
“I’m excited and nervous. This is the end of my formation but the beginning of my priesthood. I’m so blessed and thankful to God,” Father Parinas told The Beacon two days before his ordination. “As a priest, I can’t wait to celebrate the Mass — faculties that only a priest has. In the Eucharist, we are united in Christ. We are called to evangelize people who have strayed from the Church and bring them back. The mission of a priest is to save the souls of the people,” he said.
The South Korean-born Father Han moved to the United States in 2000, settling in Las Vegas. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps (2004-10) and was deployed to Iraq in 2007 for the Operation of Iraqi Freedom. He was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. Later, he heard God’s call when he was studying dentistry at 27 years old. He discerned his vocation in the Diocese at Assumption Parish Morristown. There, the pastor, Msgr. John Hart, “helped me see that the priesthood could be joyful and fulfilling,” said Father Han. He completed his priestly studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
“This long journey is coming to a conclusion. There are moments when I felt discouraged but I continued on with God’s grace. I’m filled with joy and gratitude,” Father Han said before his ordination. “As a priest, I want to provide the sacraments to the people. I’m glad that God called me to the priesthood at a time like this [during the coronavirus pandemic]. People have a spiritual hunger for the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist,” he said.
Father Han also expressed gratitude as part of the first ordination class in the Diocese to be ordained by Bishop Sweeney, adding, “It’s an honor and a big responsibility because we help set the tone of his episcopacy — how he’s going to do things.”
Born in the Philippines, Father Quintos felt called in second grade, also inspired by a parish priest who asked him to become an altar server. He entered the college seminary there at 17, left later on to work — all the while continuing to discern his call — and then returned to his priestly studies. He came to the United States and finished his studies at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland.
“I’m very excited. I can’t wait to get to work in the service of God’s people, especially in this difficult time of the pandemic when people can’t worship as much as they want to,” Father Quintos said before his ordination. “As a priest, I can’t wait to celebrate the Mass with and for the people and hear confessions. Christ himself is present to us in the Eucharist and I can’t wait to be an agent of that,” he told The Beacon.
Also ordained by Bishop Sweeney was Father Vizcara, born in the Philippines, who pursed secular and religious studies in his native country and completed his priestly studies at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland. The other new priest is Polish-born Father Wasowski, who pursued priestly formation in his native country.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Bishop Sweeney prayed on behalf of the new priests, “May God who founded the Church and guides her still, protect you constantly with his grace that you may faithfully discharge the duties of priesthood. May he make you servants and witnesses in the word and divine charity and true and faithful ministers of reconciliation. May he make you true shepherds to provide the Living Bread and Word of Life to the faithful that they may continue to grow in the unity of the Body of Christ.”