Homily for the First Mass of

The Reverend Juan Esposito Garcia

Church of the Little Flower, Bethesda, MD

June 15th, 2008

Rev. George E. Stuart, J.C.D.

I begin by thanking Juan's mother, father, and family: On behalf of the people of the Church of Washington, and on behalf all who will be served by his priesthood over the years to come, I thank you for your most generous gift. To Juan's mother, we wish a belated "Happy Mother's Day," and to Juan's father, we say,
"Happy Father's Day."

Father Juan, your journey has brought you a very long distance, to a different culture and a different language, through formation and education, some in the seminary, and some in the communities in which you have served. And yet, your greatest journey is just beginning.

You now embark on a new life, a new way of life---indeed, on a new way of being. In our Catholic theology, we say of the priest, that he is an "alter Christus," "another Christ"---not in dignity, but in vocation and mission.

For his vocation and mission, the priest is supplied with an "ontological change," a mark on the soul, a change in being that conforms him more closely to Christ, so that he not only does things in the name of Christ, but acts in his person, "in persona Christi."

Father Juan, like Christ, and in Christ, you are now "a priest forever," as the Scriptures say, "according to the order of Melchizedek."

Who is this mysterious figure, Melchizedek, of whom we hear "in the beginning," in the book of Genesis, and toward the end, in the Letter to the Hebrews, and in the Mass, in the Roman Canon?

In Genesis we are told, "Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these words: 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand.' Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything." (Gen. 14.)

In the Letter to the Hebrews, we hear of Melchizedek, "His name first means righteous king, and he was also 'king of Salem,' that is, king of peace." (Heb. 7.)

In one of the Psalms we hear, "'Yours is princely power from the day of your birth. In holy splendor before the daystar, like the dew I begot you.' The Lord has sworn and will not waver: 'Like Melchizedek you are a priest forever.'" (Ps. 109 [110].)

I began by thanking your family, but Hebrews says of Melchizedek, that he is without father, without mother, without ancestry, "without beginning of days or end of life, thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever." (Heb. 7.)

Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew: "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother." (Mat. 12.)

Father Juan, like Melchizedek, and like Christ, you now have "neither beginning of days, nor end of life." You are a priest forever.

The Lord called to Moses and said to him, "Tell the Israelites... If you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. That is what you must tell the Israelites." (Ex. 19.)

Father Juan, in your priesthood, like Moses, you will come down from the mountain, to remind us all that we are a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.

Like Melchizedek, you will offer bread and wine to God Most High.

And like Christ---indeed, in persona Christi---you will transform that bread and wine, into the Body and Blood of Christ, making present the life-giving sacrifice and the real presence of Christ, the sacrament through which the espousal of Christ our God and his beloved Bride, Holy Church, is consummated.

Father Juan, you now share the ministry of Christ, but you share his ministry under the leadership of---and in obedience to---our Archbishop, Donald Wuerl, who ordained you. You share in, and draw on, the apostolic succession that he received.

Archbishop Wuerl tells the story of a child who wrote him a letter about his apostolic succession. The child wrote, "I find it amazing, that you knew somebody, who knew somebody, who knew somebody," and so on, all the way back to Jesus Christ.

This is not an abstract theological concept; it is tangible, and personal to us as priests, and vital to the life and mission of the Church.

You were ordained by Archbishop Wuerl. He was consecrated as a bishop by Pope John Paul II, who was consecrated by Archbishop Baziak, who was consecrated by Archbishop Twardowski, who was consecrated by Archbishop Bilczewski, who was consecrated by Cardinal Puzyna, who was consecrated by Cardinal Ledochowski, who was consecrated by Cardinal Di Pietro, who was consecrated by Cardinal Falconieri, who was consecrated by Pope Leo XII, who was consecrated by Cardinal Stuart, who was consecrated by Pope Clement XIII, and so on. But you get the point.

Jesus told his apostles to cast out demons, to raise the dead, to heal the sick. Father Juan, celebrate the Mass, administer the sacraments, preach the Gospel, and reconcile sinners. This is your mission.

Abraham, Melchizedek, Moses, Christ, the Apostles, the Archbishop---this is your ancestry, Father, this is your family tree.

And on this Father's Day, here is your family. Who knows what blessings you will bring to them, what seeds you will plant in their lives, and what fruit will be borne, of which we may never know. But all this will happen because "you are a priest forever."

Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
Exodus 19: 2 - 6a.
Psalm 100: 1 - 2, 3, 5.
Romans 5: 6 - 11.
Matthew 9:36 - 10: 8.