Dear Brother Priests,   members of consecrated life, devoted laity, friends all in Christ Jesus:

          There are special days in the life of any Cathedral.  Today is one of those days here at St, Mary’s – where we welcome to the Cathedral not only our 92 individuals who have completed a two year course of study and are to be commissioned, but also their family and friends and fellow parishioners who come to celebrate with them.  As the years unfold, hundreds will benefit from the particular gifts of these individuals. They bring their faith and their talents in service to God’s people in our parishes. I welcome all to be commissioned as valued co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord.   Please know of my sincere congratulations and prayerful best wishes as well as my gratitude for your willingness to assume your new role and these new duties in the life of the Church.

          The growth of lay ministry in the Church over the past forty years has truly been monumental.  This ministry has emerged and taken shape in our country through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Continually the Spirit calls forth new ministries and new ministers to serve evolving needs as the history of the Church shows. In celebrating today’s new ministers, let us also remember that the lay apostolate has existed in the Church since the days that Our Lord walked the streets of Jerusalem.   In our area the recorded history of the Catholic Church goes back more than 200 years before the establishment of the diocese of Ogdensburg.  Walking hand in hand with St. Isaac Jogues and St. John De Brebeuf -- those early French missionaries to the new world – people we have come to know as The North American Martyrs – were dedicated laymen – St. Rene Goupil and St.  John Lalande -- co-workers in spreading the Gospel.  Originally working in Quebec, they journeyed down Lake Champlain and through northern New York teaching by word and example the beauty of our Catholic faith until their capture and subsequent martyrdom near Auriesville in the 1640’s. They were invaluable co-workers in the spread of the Gospel. When Abbe Picquet founded the Fort of the Presentation, which became the City of Ogdensburg, one hundred years later in 1748 he too was assisted by dedicated lay workers. In the early days of our diocese, Bishop Wadhams, with less than fifty priests and a small number of sisters depended upon dedicated lay men and women to assist him.  And so our new lay ministers take their place among hundreds of lay workers who together with the priests and religious have planted, nurtured and harvested the seed of faith in our diocese.

          All of us present today have a special responsibility deriving from our baptism to live the faith and to lead others to Christ.  Our commissioned lay ministers – indeed all the baptized are co-responsible with the bishops, priests and religious for Christ’s mission on earth.  Your apostolate derives from your Christian vocation and the Church can never be without it.  And just as Mary had no reason to fear, neither do you.  The Gospel today reminds us quite simply:  “God is with us.” 

          As you go about your appointed tasks, always remember that you represent the church.  What you say and do reflects upon the Church.  Ask yourselves how will God be praised by your actions; how will the Church be helped? How will others know the sustaining love of God by the example you give.  Have the desire of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, who prayed that she could stand in the heart of the Church, her mother, and be love. May you be love incarnate to all you serve!

          Bring to each home you visit, each person you meet, “the peace of Christ” which is the first gift that Our Lord always gives to His followers.  And may Mary, whose birth we celebrate this day accompany you in your ministry as your favored companion.