BRISBANE Archbishop Mark Coleridge ordained Fr El Louie Jimenez in front of hundreds of faithful at St Stephen’s Cathedral last night on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.
Fr Jiminez’s ordination came five days after Toowoomba priests Fr Nathan Webb and Fr Brian Redondo were ordained.
In his homily, Archbishop Coleridge said not many priests had been ordained during a plenary council.
Archbishop Coleridge said the plenary journey had been a long process discerning the voice of the Holy Spirit to chart a course for the future of the Church.
He said it was a time caught between past and future.
He said it was not a time of “business as usual” and not for snuggling into a comfort zone.
It was a challenging time, he said, that Fr Jimenez would have to face and lead through.
He said like Saints Peter and Paul, the call of Jesus turned their world on its head.
St Paul’s encounter with the Risen Lord meant the loss of his security, status, home, family, friends and would eventually cost him his life, he said.
“The same was true of Peter,” he said.
“Caught between worlds they lose everything; but at the end, they would have said it was supremely worth it because of what Paul calls the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, crucified and risen.”
He said Fr Jimenez may not have suffered the loss of all things, but he did find himself between worlds.
“Born and raised in the Philippines, he will minister in Australia,” he said.
“So he stands in the liminal space between cultures, a foot in both camps; ordained and called to lead in this time of decision for the Church in this country.
“He stands in the space between past and future…
“To come to this threshold in his life, El Louie has had to say yes to the loss of many things.
“And the call to self-sacrifice, what Paul calls kenosis, will grow stronger through his life as a priest…
“But all of this will mean a huge gain in El Louie’s life and in the life of the Church he serves.
“Some fear they’ll lose too much if they say yes to Jesus, but Peter and Paul insist whatever you might lose, in fact you gain everything.
“And it’s that to which El Louie says yes to here, in the cathedral this evening – he lives in the space between loss and gain, between Calvary and Easter, death and resurrection.
“In the end he will have to inhabit the liminal space between earth and Heaven as he stands before God on behalf of the people and before the people on behalf of God.
“This is what it means to be drawn into the priesthood of Jesus Christ, who is the only priest.”
Archbishop Coleridge gave his thanks to everyone who helped in the formation of Fr Jimenez, both in Brisbane archdiocese and in the Philippines.
