“To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you. Then the Lord extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying to me, see, I place my words in your mouth!” - Jeremiah 1: 7-9
GARY – “Come, Holy Spirit,” intoned Bishop Robert J. McClory at the Cathedral of the Holy Angels as he ordained two new priests and a transitional deacon on June 7 to serve the Diocese of Gary. “The Lord wants to bless us abundantly and wants us to call upon the Holy Spirit.
“Because of Pentecost (celebrated on June 8), the whole Catholic Church is praying these words,” he added. “It is appropriate that we have an ordination on the vigil of Pentecost, because it reminds us that all of us, and in the ministry of these men, are called to consistently, regularly invoke and ask for the Holy Spirit.
Addressing candidates to the priesthood Deacon Ivan Alatorre, 26, and Deacon Alexander Walter Kouris, 28, and transitional diaconate candidate William Brennan O’Donnell, 25, the bishop spoke of how “We really get to thank the Lord for how the Holy Spirit has worked in the lives of Alex, Ivan and Will, and so it’s not a blank slate that the Holy Spirit is utilizing this day.”
He spoke of each of their families, noting that Deacon Kouris’ mother proclaimed the first reading – the same reading given on the day of his First Holy Communion, and the “beauty of the family life that you’ve been given “that has expanded and opened its heart to bring others into the family (by adopting five children from a Sierra Leone orphanage) as you have grown up.”
Noting that Deacon Alatorre is a triplet who has experienced the “threefold love within your family from the very moment of your conception” the bishop added that he “will have a wonderful homily to have … when the (Solemnity of the Most) Holy Trinity comes, and it’s coming soon.” Bishop McClory praised O’Donnell’s family for “the great love and witness to the faith that they have given consistently not just to you, but to others.”
All three men, he said, come from beautiful families “who introduced you to the Holy Spirit and made sure that from a very early age you were baptized, led you through receiving the Holy Eucharist, reconciliation, confirmation and here, to ordination joined with us.”
The bishop made a family connection through the words that Pope Leo XIV preached a week earlier at the ordination of new priests at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome: “The depth, greatness and even duration of this divine joy, the joy of the ordination today, that we now share are directly proportional to the bonds that exist and will deepen between you who are being ordained.”
So that joy, said the bishop, “will be perpetuated as those being ordained today nurture and give gratitude for the bonds that you have.”
Then (the pope) said, “The people from which you come, everyone is here for a reason, everyone has some connection to these three men to be ordained, and the joy that you have experienced from your family and from those here today; those bonds should continue to deepen and you remain a part of those.
“And then finally, he says, the joy will be proportional to those bonds that will occur among those to which you are sent. So you will be sent to those, and those bonds, and that relationship that you will build, will extend the joy of the celebration.
“And he concludes by reminding us that the identity of a priest depends upon union with Christ, the eternal high priest.”
Those simple words, ‘Come Holy Spirit,’ should be a constant refrain for all of us, but especially for those of us in holy orders. We often find ourselves in situations where the reserves we have are limited … and you say privately, ‘Come, Holy Spirit,’ … which is not only okay, it’s that which we are obliged to do.”
The bishop ended his homily by imploring the ordinands: “May the Lord infuse you with his Holy Spirit, infuse you with hope, so that you can go forth, serving his people. Don’t rely on yourself, be relying on Jesus, and always pray that beautiful, simple, wonderful prayer, ‘Come, Holy Spirit.’”
Watching closely as the bishop performed the rites of ordination, including the Promises of the Elect, the Litany of the Saints, the Laying on of Hands, the Kiss of Peace, and for the diaconate, the Investiture of the Stole and the Dalmatic and the Handing On the Book of the Gospels, while for the priesthood, the Investiture of the Stole and the Chasuble and the Anointing of Hands, were the parents of the ordinands.
“I feel excited, happy and relaxed,” said Augustin Alatorre after his son’s ordination. “When Ivan made his decision to enter the seminary, we supported him through his journey. My hopes are for him to have many blessings and great years in the priesthood.”
The most moving part of the Mass for him was when his fellow priests laid their hands on him in blessing, and “when he was laying on the floor during the Litany of Saints. Really all of it was wonderful.”
Mother Luz Alatorre admitted to feeling “like I wanted to cry, but it also felt so unbelievable.” She also felt the Litany of Saints was most memorable, and she remembers when her son, a new high school graduate, returned from a college seminary visit with Father Roque Meraz with all the paperwork to become a seminarian, setting aside college plans for a possible medical career. “That’s when he told me his plans,” she said.
“Beyond blessed” is the way newly-ordained Father Ivan Alatorre described his feelings as he spent hours giving blessings to well-wishers who lined up to extend their best wishes. “I felt encouraged by the bishop’s words,” he added. “He is such a great shepherd whom I hope will lead me for a long time.”
Robed by Father Nate Edquist, diocesan vocations director, and Father Juan Carlos Altumrano Herrera of the Diocese of Green Bay, a seminary classmate from Nicaragua, Father Alatorre celebrated his first Mass on June 8 at St. Joseph the Worker in Gary and has been assigned as associate pastor at St. John Bosco in Hammond and co-chaplain of Bishop Noll Institute.
“I thought the Litany of Saints would be most memorable, but it was actually the laying on of hands by the bishop and priests, the vesting and the kiss of peace,” he said.
For Father Alex Kouris, the anointing of his hands with chrism oil by Bishop McClory was the defining moment of his ordination. “I looked at them and realized that these hands are now consecrated to anoint people.” he said. “God has chosen me, I thought, to go and bear fruit whatever is asked of me by the Father.”
Father Kouris said he felt “an overwhelming joy, a joy that is peaceable,” after the Mass. “It all just makes sense, as God’s great gift to me, as expressed in today’s scripture readings. I’ve done a lot of thinking, and I’m excited to start my ministry,” he added of his first Mass on June 8 at St. Patrick in Chesterton and his first assignment at Holy Family Parish in LaPorte with Father Nate Edquist, pastor.
“It was very special to be in church today,” said George Kouris, who was hospitalized during the week leading up to the ordination with several ailments. “To take Holy Communion for the first time from your son as a priest … looking in each other’s eyes, I think they were both wet.”
Kouris spoke of “20-plus years that he’s gone after this,” referring to signs as early as age six that his fifth biological child was meant for the priesthood. “He has a soft heart, and is very benevolent and trusting. He’s not afraid to go where the lion goes, and this is a great thing for him.”
Rosanne Kouris, feeling overwhelmed by her husband’s illness on the eve of her son’s ordination, said she felt blessed to have all 10 of her biological and adopted children together. “I feel a whirlwind of emotions and thank yous to Jesus,” she said. “It’s been a long journey and a lot of prayers.”
Her most memorable moments, she said, were when he lay on the floor for the Litany of Saints, “and when he was at the altar for the first time, connecting with the Eucharist. I was thinking, ‘You are a priest forever.’”
Amy O’Donnell, whose family lives in Crown Point and attends Our Lady of Consolation in Merrillville, said she felt “complete gratefulness to God, and joy that he would call my son” after Will O’Donnell was ordained a transitional deacon in preparation for ordination to the priesthood next year. Not surprised by his vocation, “I sensed something in Will since he was a child; he has a gentle heart,” she added.
“When I saw him at the altar with the bishop, I thought how blessed he was that the Lord, in his kindness, would ask my son to serve at his altar,” added his mother.
“Pure joy” was the emotion expressed by Deacon O’Donnell’s father, Dale O’Donnell. “He was meant for this; it’s God’s calling.
“Right before he was supposed to be choosing college freshman courses, he called us to his room and said, ‘I don’t think I can go to college, because I’m being called to the priesthood, and we started the process that led him to the seminary in Winona (Immaculate Heart of Mary in Minn.). When he stood with the bishop at the altar today, I knew he was where he was meant to be.”
His son agrees. “I feel at peace, like I was born for this,” said Deacon O’Donnell, adding that the Kiss of Peace, “when I got to see all of the deacons from the diocese, and six of my classmates, come up to greet me,” was most memorable.
“Whenever I have attended an ordination to the priesthood at this cathedral, it has been my favorite Mass. As a child, I felt like God was preparing me for when it would be my moment, and this year I thought, that’s going to be me next year.”
Caption: Priest-elect Ivan Alatorre (middle, left) is prayed over by Father Eduardo Malagon and priest-elect Alexander Kouris (middle, right) is prayed over by Father Robert Ross during the laying on of hands at the Mass of Ordination in the Cathedral of the Holy Angels in Gary on June 7. The faithful welcomed two new priests – Father Alatorre and Father Kouris – and transitional Deacon WIlliam O'Donnell, who entered new ministries as "ambassadors of Christ," according to the presider of the Mass of Ordination, Bishop Robert J. McClory. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
