Installation of Reader, Acolyte and Candidacy of Seminarians 2019

Published: December 14, 2019

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily during the installation Mass of lector, acolyte and candidacy for Diocese of Little Rock seminarians at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Little Rock on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019.

Bishop Taylor

Whenever I ask new immigrants why they chose Arkansas, the answer is usually: "I knew someone who was already in Arkansas with whom I could stay temporarily, who would help me find a job — someone who had already prepared the way." People tend to go where someone else has already prepared the way.

And that was John the Baptist’s role in God’s plan for our salvation, except that he prepared the way to a spiritual destination, not to another city where those who followed him might find material prosperity — quite the contrary. Rather, he led people to a place in the heart where they would prosper spiritually.

By the time of today’s Gospel, John the Baptist is already in prison where he will die and in looking back over all the sacrifices he has made he begins to feel uncertain about all he has done because he wasn’t yet seeing the results he had hoped for. Was Jesus “really the one” or “should we look for another?”

Jesus answers by directing John’s attention to the visible results of Jesus’ own ministry: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the Good News proclaimed to them.” John should take comfort in knowing that his sacrifices were necessary to fulfill Scripture and thus fulfill his part in God’s plan for our salvation: “Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you” — ahead of the Messiah — "he will prepare your way before you.”

And this is our role as well, all of us, but especially those of us whom the Lord calls to serve him as priests. In our Mass today we will be installing Mark Johns and John Paul Hartnedy as lectors; Jaime Nieto, Daniel Wendel and Nathan Ashburn as acolytes; and admitting Emmanuel Torres, Ben Riley, Alex Smith, Omar Galván and Brian Cundall to candidacy for sacred orders. These three ceremonies mark the progress of our first, second and third theologians to eventual ordination to the diaconate and priesthood.

Mark and John Paul, by formal installation as lectors, you become official bearers of God’s word in the liturgy and all those other areas where you have the opportunity to bring God’s word to others. To do so faithfully, you need to embrace God’s word fully yourselves, meditating on it constantly so that you will develop an ever-deepening love of Scripture and give witness to Christ in all that you say and do.

Jaime, Daniel and Nathan, by formal installation as acolytes, you become official ministers of the altar and special ministers of holy Communion during the liturgy and to the sick. To do so faithfully, you need to model your life more fully on that of Jesus, allowing him to mold you more perfectly into his likeness. You should seek to develop an ever-deepening love of the Eucharist and ever greater obedience of the commandment the Lord gave his Apostles at the Last Supper: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Emmanuel, Ben, Alex, Omar and Brian, by admission to candidacy for holy orders, we recognize that you have come to the moment where you are ready to express openly, publicly and formally your desire to respond to the Lord’s call to the priesthood … and that we as Church consider you ready to make this commitment. We have “asked the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest” and you have responded: “Here I am, send me!”

The Scriptures tell us that John the Baptist was “sent by God to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.” And the same is true for you and me. We too are “sent by God” — we each have a role in his plan of salvation.

And what we are sent to do, in one way or another, is to “testify to the light.” To proclaim Jesus Christ as lectors, to glorify him in worship as acolytes and to offer ourselves as candidates, ready for whatever the Lord asks of us. In our case to live a life of sacrificial love, serving him as priests of the Diocese of Little Rock.