'Precious in the eyes of God—and ours': Three men consecrated for priestly service to the Church

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein and concelebrating priests kneel in prayer for the litany of the saints with the assembly as Deacons Jeremy Gries, from left, John Hollowell and Peter Marshall lay prostrate on the marble during the ordination Mass on June 6 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis. Benedictine Father Julian Peters, administrator pro-tem of Cathedral Parish and the master of ceremonies, and seminarian Martin Rodriguez kneel to the right of the archbishop. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Sean Gallagher

Deacons Jeremy Gries, John Hollowell and Peter Marshall sat next to their parents at the start of the June 6 Mass during which they were ordained priests.

After the Gospel was proclaimed, Deacon Christopher Wadelton, who will be ordained to the priesthood on June 27, asked those who were to be ordained priests to come forward.

Their names were called. They stood, declared themselves present and stepped forward.

After he was ritually assured by archdiocesan vocations director Father Eric Johnson of their worthiness to be ordained, Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein said, “… we choose these, our brothers, for the order of the priesthood.”

The nearly 1,000 people that filled SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis for the ordination liturgy responded with applause. (Photo Gallery One | Photo Gallery Two)

The three deacons then sat down, no longer next to their parents, but in front of them.

They were set apart. They were being consecrated for the priestly service of the faithful.

‘Intercessors of divine mystery’

In his homily that followed, Archbishop Buechlein told the ordinands that they were to become “intercessors of divine mystery.”

“You will be intercessors in prayer and in blessing, intercessors of the Word of God, intercessors of the sacred, intercessors of love and mercy,” he said.

After the liturgy, Father Jeremy Gries spoke about being set apart to become such an intercessor.

“We’ve been consecrated, but on behalf of the people,” he said. “We’re there for the people, to serve the people, to pray for the people and to intercede for them, to be mediators for them.”

At the end of his homily, the archbishop spoke of his affection for the men who sat before him and of his hopes for their ministry.

“Brothers, you are precious in the eyes of God—and ours,” he said. “Love God, love your people and your ministry will be awesome.”

“That was probably the most emotional part [of the liturgy] for me,” said Father John Hollowell after the Mass. “It felt like it was my father speaking to me.”

After the homily, the three men laid prostrate on the cathedral floor as the litany of the saints was prayed by all the people.

“It was always moving for me as a seminarian and now, as a new priest, to know how many people pray regularly for us, for our ministry and for the strength of God [for us],” said Father Peter Marshall. “And so just to kind of have that physical representation of that was very moving.”

Seeing his son, John, lying on the floor in front of him was powerful for Joseph Hollowell, the president of Roncalli High School in Indianapolis.

“It was just a reminder that he’s giving his life up to follow Christ in as big a way and as sincere a way and as thorough a way as you can,” he said.

‘Another world opening up for them’

The setting apart of the three men continued during the liturgy until the newly ordained priests took their places around the altar to consecrate, with the archbishop, the bread and wine that would become the body and blood of Christ.

For Diane Hollowell, seeing her son step into the sanctuary was like seeing him “leave the family,” where he has 10 brothers and sisters, and “become his own man.”

But it wasn’t a sad moment for her.

“Before, when they were younger, I always thought I would dread this day when they would leave,” she said. “But now you see it as another whole world opening up for them. And I get to watch and be a part of it. I’m so blessed.”

Kathy Gries, the mother of Father Gries, echoed those sentiments.

“He doesn’t belong to just our family now,” she said. “He belongs to the whole Church family.”

Father Gries, who, like Father Hollowell, grew up in Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ Parish in Indianapolis, said standing at the altar during the eucharistic prayer was a powerful moment.

“Looking up and seeing John and Peter, whom I’ve gone to class with, there with the archbishop for the first time where we get to use the grace of the sacrament that we’ve received, was overwhelming.”

But just as Father Gries had said that he and his classmates were consecrated for service, so after the eucharistic prayer, they went back to the congregation to bring them Jesus in holy Communion.

As he gave Communion to many people that he knew, Father Hollowell realized how they had shaped his life.

“I was sort of looking through the host to their faces and seeing all these people that have been a part of my life,” he said.

Joy in serving Jesus

Although Rev. Thyron and Carol Marshall, Father Marshall’s parents, are not Catholic, they appreciated the commitment that their son has made to being a minister of Christ.

“He’s serving Jesus,” Carol said. “That’s such a joy to us. It was a very joyful day.”

“I’m so thankful to Jesus that he is going to be serving him,” said Thyron, who is a retired minister of the Bethel Bible Church near Peoria, Ill. “It makes us really proud.”

For Father Joseph Moriarty, the ordination was also a chance for renewal for himself and his brother priests, where they could “realize for themselves what they had promised and hopefully have a renewed spirit to continue to live that out in their own priesthood.”

In his homily, Archbishop Buechlein told the three men that, in serving Jesus, they would show the faithful “how the mystery of our Christian life can make life-giving poetry out of the otherwise hum-drum prose of everyday life.”

For Robert Gries, all of this centered on one thing—his son, Father Jeremy Gries, doing God’s will.

“That’s all I ask of him,” Gries said. “He’s in God’s hands. God took the best I had.”

For his part, Father Gries looks forward to leading those whom he will serve to Christ’s service.

“I just hope that as I’ve been consecrated, I hope to bring others to Christ, to consecrate them to the Lord’s service.”

(For more photos from the June 6 ordination, log on to www.CriterionOnline.com.) †