The Diocese of Broken Bay joyfully welcomed three new priests on Monday with the ordination of Rogelio (Roger) Delmonte, Aldrin Valdehueza and Samuel French – the first priestly ordination in the Diocese for eight years and the first time in its history that multiple priests were ordained together.
Bishop Anthony Randazzo expressed his gratitude to the three men for saying “yes to the call of the Lord upon your hearts and lives”.
“We are very grateful you have said yes to the Spirit. The Lord has filled our cup with grace to the point of overflowing,” he said.
The occasion was made more joyful by the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions which allowed Fr Sam’s family to attend the Ordination Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Waitara. Fr Roger and Fr Aldrin’s family joined in via livestream from their homes in the Philippines.
Fr Sam, aged 29, was born and raised on the Central Coast, attending St John the Baptist Parish, Woy Woy. He entered Sydney’s Seminary of the Good Shepherd in 2016 and prior to his ordination was on parish placement at Holy Name Parish Wahroonga.
Fr Roger, aged 40, was born in the Philippines and entered the John Vianney Seminary in Wagga Wagga, joining the Diocese of Broken Bay in 2019. He has been on placement at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral.
And Fr Aldrin, aged 39, was born in the Philippines and entered the St John Vianney Theological Seminary there. He joined the Diocese of Broken Bay in 2016 and was accepted into the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in 2017 (fourth year). He has been on placement at Our Lady of Dolours Parish in Chatswood.
The three men were ordained on the Feast of St Luke, and Bishop Anthony urged them to take the evangelist as a model and inspiration for their life and ministry as priests.
“(Luke) sums up the priestly vocation most eloquently in the words of Jesus, ‘whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me’,” Bishop Anthony said in his homily.
“By placing the cross of Christ at the centre of your life, you will be sure to begin and end each day with the Lord Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end.”
Bishop Anthony also drew on the first reading from Isaiah in which the prophet “recalls for us the words that Jesus would claim as his own at the beginning of his public ministry, ‘The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me’”.
“I invite you to make these words your own today as the mark of your priesthood. The Spirit animates you for mission, which will draw you to the heart of the community and urge you to go to the periphery. The Good News that you will proclaim is for the poor and the broken-hearted.”
He urged Fathers Sam, Roger and Aldrin to “comfort God’s Holy People by accompanying them in the faith, by nourishing them with the sacraments, by preaching and teaching with integrity and fidelity, and by praying for them without ceasing”.
“Do not be discouraged by the prophets of doom who have no hope in the Good News of Jesus Christ, who reject faith and reason, who propose the culture of death, who abandon the vulnerable, the sick, and the poor,” he said.
“Your priestly ministry will be to take the lead through dialogue with the world. The community of the Church in the 21st Century must have humble, faithful, dedicated priests to share in the mission of proclaiming God’s Kingdom – the Truth that God reigns.”
Bishop Anthony told the new priests that engaging the world in the Spirit of Christ requires care.
“It must be undertaken carefully with compassion; you must engage this work intelligently and humbly. Never allow your enthusiasm for the Truth of the Gospel to become a burden for others on the journey of faith. My sons, in the words of the Gospel, ‘let your first words be, Peace to this house’.”
In the Rite of Ordination the three men were presented to Bishop Anthony by Diocesan Vocations Director, Fr Paul Durkin, as worthy to be ordained before giving their assent to the Bishop’s questions about their readiness to serve God’s people and their obedience to the Bishop and his successors. They then lay prostrate on the floor as the litany of saints was sung over them before Bishop Anthony laid hands on them and prayed the Prayer of Ordination, followed by the anointing of hands. The priests of the diocese, visiting priests and Bishop Emeritus David Walker and Bishop Emeritus of Lismore Geoffrey Jarrett, also gave them a blessing before they were presented to the people.
Following their concelebration of the Eucharist, Fr Sam gave the words of thanksgiving on behalf of the three new priests, saying it was an “incredible pleasure and privilege it is for all those years of formation to be sealed and brought to fruition in this incredible sacrament of Holy Orders”.
He said Fr Aldrin had chosen for the quote on his ordination card, Psalm 116: ‘How can I repay the goodness of the Lord?’
“The simple answer is, we can’t,” he said. “None of us personally deserve to be chosen as priests … priesthood is equally for Roger, Aldrin and myself a pure gift and calling from God.”
Fr Sam thanked Bishop Anthony for his spiritual fatherhood, along with his immediate predecessors, Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli and Bishop Emeritus David Walker, and the diocesan vocations team “whose service and prayers for God’s Church have begun to bear fruit in a growing culture of priestly vocations in the Diocese of Broken Bay”.
“In a special way we’d like to thank our parents, our mums and our dads for raising us and distilling in us the seeds of our Catholic faith. During our priestly retreat this week Bishop Anthony pointed out to us that without the vocation to marriage there is no vocation to priesthood. Your fidelity not only to your own vocation, my dear parents here today and Aldrin and Roger‘s back home in the Philippines, through your love for each other and your love for us, you opened the pathway for us to respond freely to God’s grace and his calling in our lives and for that reason we love you and we thank you.”
Finally, Fr Sam thanked the people of the Diocese of Broken Bay for their prayers and support.
“On the back of my own ordination card, it says, from the Book of Hebrews, ‘Here I am O God. I have come to do your will’. And the will of God for his priests is not to be served but to serve. Our ministerial priesthood, our life of service, makes no sense apart from your baptismal priesthood. It is for you that we have received this gift today and so we have you to thank.”
The happy occasion was attended by Most Rev David Walker, DD, Bishop Emeritus of Broken Bay, Most Rev Geoffrey Jarrett, DD, Bishop Emeritus of Lismore and brother priests. While family and friends of Fr Sam French could also be at the Cathedral, the families and friends of Fr Roger and Aldrin joined via livestream from the Philippines.
To view the Ordination to the Priesthood please click here.