Bishop Glen John Provost, D.D., M.A
Bishop of Lake Charles
Priesthood Ordination
Saturday, September 6, 2025
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Lake Charles, Louisiana
“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.” John 17:6
As detailed in our first reading for this ordination Mass, the groundwork was set for the priesthood in the Old Testament when God commissioned Moses to summon the tribe of Levi for priestly duties. “They shall discharge his obligations and those of the whole community before the meeting tent by serving at the Dwelling” (Numbers 4:7). Only Aaron and his descendants shall exercise this priestly office (cf. Numbers 4:10).
The Letter to the Hebrews speaks eloquently of how the priesthood of the Old Covenant is fulfilled in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. The earlier rituals of that Covenant had its regulations to be followed within an earthly sanctuary (cf. Hebrews 9:1). It possessed its tabernacle, lampstand, table, bread of offering, and Holy of Holies (cf. Hebrews 9:2-3). Here sacrifice was offered, which ensured the continuation of the Covenant.
The Letter to the Hebrews, then, offers us a new revelation, an added insight into how this prefiguration of ancient sacrifice and priesthood is fulfilled. Hebrews reads, “But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more prefect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and salves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).
Christ is that High Priest who offers Himself on the cross of Calvary. The priesthood of the Old and New Covenants differs in many ways, but in one way they are stunningly different. In the Christian dispensation, the Priest and the sacrifice are the same. Christ is the sacrifice.
Ordained priests share in this one Priesthood of Jesus Christ. Christ “is the only mediator who in the name of the whole Church is offered sacramentally in the Eucharist and in an unbloody manner until the Lord himself comes. The ministry of priests is directed to this goal and is perfected in it” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, I, 2). What ever “power and force” pertains to the ordained priest comes from the sacrifice of Our Lord, Jesus Christ (ibid.). The Decree of the Second Vatican Council on the Priesthood concludes our reflection: “The purpose, therefore, which priests pursue in their ministry and by their life is to procure the glory of God the Father in Christ” (ibid.).
If your purpose — and here I speak directly to the man to be ordained—is “to procure the glory of God the Father in Christ,” then you have a weighty task ahead of you. Everything you do — your prayer, adoration, preaching, offering the Eucharistic Sacrifice, administering the Sacraments, and any work of ministry — all of this must be for the glory of God and, by extension, the increase of divine life in those whom you will serve. I would remind you also that the Eucharist is the heart and center of this offering of glory to God. The Eucharist is the font of your life. The Mass, the Eucharistic Sacrifice, must be offered with all the prayerful reverence, dignity, and purpose that you, as a mere human being, can muster. As St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us, “The Eucharist is a quasi-consummation of the spiritual life, and the goal of all the sacraments” (ST III, q. 73, a. 3).
Your seminary formation and the example of good and holy priests have, to this point, given you much assistance. The completion of the task is now your own work, with God’s help. I would mention two requirements in the life of a priest which will assist you in living the Priesthood.
The first is prayer. A priest who does not pray or prays sporadically is setting himself up for disaster. Daily prayer before the Eucharist, accompanied by your devoted praying of the Liturgy of Hours, is non-negotiable. And, I would add, while the praying of the Divine Office is a necessary and mandatory part of a priest’s daily life, daily mental prayer, our personal conversation with God, is by extension absolutely necessary. To paraphrase St. John Vianney, we must speak to God, and we must allow Him to speak to us.
The second aid to us in the priesthood is celibacy. As the Church reminds us, celibacy is a gift (cf. Matthew 19:12). In the words of the Second Vatican Council, “Perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, commended by Christ the Lord and through the course of time as well as in our own days freely accepted and observed in a praiseworthy manner by many of the faithful, is held by the Church to be of great value in a special manner for the priestly life” (Prebyterorum Ordinis, Chapter 3, Section 1, 13). Celibacy, being a gift, must be seen for what it offers. Besides being an offering of oneself, the life of celibacy is an eschatological sign, testifying to eternal life itself. As our Lord will state, there are those who “have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:12).
The Priesthood of Jesus Christ is an immense privilege. Vocation is a gift set apart not so that the priest can “lord it over” anyone. The gift is one to be shared in the gift of oneself that is so united to Christ that the gift is His. The giver and the gift are one. The individual priest identifies so profoundly and intimately with Jesus Christ that the priest becomes part of the gift as well. What is so striking about this gift of vocation is that each individual priest is different. While sharing what is of Christ with others, the priest retains his personality, the intellectual, psychological, and physical abilities that are his alone. All of these abilities are placed at the service of the one Priesthood for the glory of God.
As we said earlier, “The purpose, therefore, which priests pursue in their ministry and by their life is to procure the glory of God the Father in Christ.” Recall the prayer of Jesus Christ the night before He suffered and died. Some have called it a Prayer of Consecration. It opens with these words, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you” (John 17:1). Again, the teaching of the extraordinary Magisterium of the Church understands this glorification very well. How is this glory magnified? Our Lord prays, “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world” (John 17:6).
We know that in the Sacred Scriptures a name means more than just a “name,” as we use it in everyday conversation. This is implied at that profound moment when Moses asks for God’s name. God answers, “I am who am” (Exodus 3:14). The shock is further amplified by what our Lord says in the Gospel of St. John: “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM” (John 8:58). This name, which in the Old Covenant the High Priest could utter only once on the Day of Atonement, is given to the Apostles, those who will share intimately with our Lord in His Priesthood. The name conveys an intimacy, a relationship, a love, which is in and of itself a mark of union, a sign of communion, now given to the priests of the New Covenant.
Praised be Jesus Christ, the fullness of God’s Revelation to mankind, whose coming was foretold by the prophets, the definitive atonement for the sins of the world, whose sacrifice is made present to us in every Eucharistic celebration at the hands of His priests. May what we adore in Him now be fulfilled in the Eternal Banquet of Heaven. Amen.