Four ordained to the priesthood
June 13, 2017
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo announced the newly ordained priests’ assignments: Father Michael McFall at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Houston; Father Truong Son Nguyen at St. Laurence Church; Father Jonathan Moré at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Houston and will continue studies in Rome in the Fall; and Father Michael Applegate at St. Michael Catholic Church in Houston. Photo by James Ramos/Herald.
HOUSTON — The congregation’s applause turned into a roar that echoed throughout the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, a celebration of four newly ordained priests in the Archdiocese.
On Pentecost weekend June 3, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo ordained Father Michael Applegate, Father Michael McFall, Father Jonathan Moré and Father Truong Son Nguyen to the priesthood.
Cardinal DiNardo echoed Pope Francis’ message to newly ordained priests about the joy and weight of the priesthood.
PHOTOS: Four ordained to the priesthood
“You will accompany God’s people,” he said. “The greatest gifts are joy and the recognition of the weight given to you by the office of the priesthood. The weight is not a paralysis but a way to move you to be absorbed in the Lord. It is that absorption that frees you for the joy of the Gospel preached, lived and celebrated.”
Archbishop Emeritus Joseph A. Fiorenza and Auxiliary Bishop George A. Sheltz joined hundreds of friends and family of the newly ordained priests for the Ordination Mass, alongside dozens of priests from around the Archdiocese.
“The mystery of communion is active in your outreach... and it is simultaneously active in your contemplation, centered on the Lord Jesus,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “Priests are centered on the unchanging heart of Christ and they help to reveal the many angles and sides of this unchanging heart of Christ.”
Cardinal DiNardo invited the faithful to pray for the newly ordained priests as they began their new assignments.
Father Michael Applegate will serve at St. Michael Catholic Church in Houston as parochial vicar; Father Michael McFall at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Houston as parochial vicar. Father Jonathan Moré at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Houston as parochial vicar and will continue studies in Rome in the Fall. Father Truong Son Nguyen at St. Laurence Catholic Church in Sugar Land also as parochial vicar.
The tri-lingual Mass — English, Spanish and Vietnamese — had the Rite of Ordination, which includes the Calling and Presentation of the Candidates, Election by the bishop and consent of the people, the promise of obedience and an invitation to prayer.
The Imposition of Hands follows, then the newly ordained are invested with their priestly stole and chasuble, presented by the priests’ fathers. The new priests’ hands are then anointed and handed the bread and wine, followed by a kiss of peace.