Ordination: A Joy-filled event

Ordinations a joy-filled event

Applause, song and even dance erupted as Father Charles Aketch and Father Richard Toboso were ordained priests April 27 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Family, friends, Glenmarians and mission parishioners filled St. John Neumann church, located near Glenmary's headquarters, for the joyous occasion.

Early in the ceremony, Glenmary president Father Chet Artysiewicz called the ordinands forward. As he announced their names, they replied, “present.” Bishop of Knoxville, Tenn., Richard F. Stika expanded on that moment in his homily.

“Everything you are. Everything you have been. Every experience that is a part of your life; family and friends from different parts of the world, in one dramatic moment were contained in that word, present,” Bishop Stika said. “Because now you present yourselves before the Church, to be of service for the Church. And not as a building, but in service of the Church as the living body of Christ.”

In the Rite of Ordination the men expressed their willingness to take on the obligations of priesthood. They knelt before the bishop to make promises of obedience, laid prostrate on the floor invoking the prayers of the saints and experienced the laying on of hands by Bishop Stika. The assembled priests in attendance laid hands on the ordinands as well.

After the sign of peace, the Mass continued with the newly ordained joining as concelebrants.

Following communion a choir sang “Moyo Wangu Wamtukuza Bwana,” which is Swahili for “My Heart Glorifies the Lord.” The congregation clapped along as

the newly ordained priests were joined by others in a dance as is commonly seen in Kenyan worship.

There was an emotional moment when Father Charles' mother, Rose Adhiambo Aketch, stood up to share a blessing with her son. Each blessed the other.

Bishop Stika then knelt before Father Charles and Father Richard, respectively, to receive their blessings.

Father Charles is assigned at Holy Family in Macon County, Tenn., where he served a deacon. Father Richard was recently named Administrator of Glenmary's Bertie and Washington county missions in North Carolina, effective Sept. 16.

“It was a wonderful day to be a part of the ordination of Fathers Richard and Charles,” then-Glenmary president Father Chet Artysiewicz said. “It was particularly touching when the bishop knelt and asked for their blessings.

“Adding two priests to our number will allow us to better minister to the communities we serve and opens the possibility of expansion in the future," he added.