Priestly Ordination of Gonzague Leroux

On Sunday June 28, 2009, Gonzague Leroux, a Heart’s Home member, and 4 of his fel­lows, were ordained priests by his Excellency the most Reverend Dominique Rey, bishop of Toulon (Southern France). The cel­e­bra­tion took place at the Immaculate Conception Seminary, in La Crau (France). Families and numerous close friends from Heart’s Home joined us to share this joy.

The evening before the ordi­na­tions, Rev. Thierry de Roucy gave a con­fer­ence on the mis­sion of the priest. That teaching reminded me of these words from the Gospel: “I no longer call you ser­vants, because a ser­vant does not know his master’s busi­ness. Instead, I call you friends, for every­thing that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15). By living with lay con­se­crated, reli­gious sis­ters and dea­cons within the Heart’s Home com­mu­nity in Brooklyn, I real­ized what a priv­i­leged place they occupy. They are not supe­rior as indi­vid­uals but they are like closer to God, they are God’s friends. They remain human beings like each one of us but they humbly rec­og­nize they depend on Someone else, Someone who gave them a great mis­sion they try to ful­fill with the help of God, of their friends and of their fam­i­lies. Do not forget to entrust our priests to God in your prayers !

On the D-day, we had a friendly picnic at La Castille, in the garden of the sem­i­nary. That was a beau­tiful oppor­tu­nity to see all the Heart’s Home family gath­ered. The cel­e­bra­tion started at 4PM and thou­sands of people attended this unique moment. Mgr Rey wel­comed new Movements and Communities, that are very pre­sent in his dio­cese. He renewed his friendly and fatherly sup­port to Heart’s Home’s mis­sion of com­pas­sion and to all its mem­bers. Apart from the 5 Heart’s Home dea­cons, 20 more young men were ordained. In his homily, Mgr Rey empha­sized the impor­tance of beauty in priestly min­istry. Not only does a priest have to reveal the beauty of the Church, but he also has to enlighten the beauty every­where, the beauty in each one of us that is the Beauty of the living Church !

As the cel­e­bra­tion ended, I was moved to see so many people rushing to get their first blessing from the the hands of the brand new Priests!

The day after, I attended the 1^st mass of Rev Gonzague Leroux which I expe­ri­enced as a priv­i­leged time, both inti­mate and pro­found. To see Rev. Gonzague con­se­crating the bread and wine was the most moving mo­­ment! After Mass every­body was queuing to get his holy blessing, and so was I!