On Saturday, April 26, Most. Rev. Kevin Rhoades, the Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, ordained Adam Booth, C.S.C., and Patrick Reidy, C.S.C., to the priesthood. The Ordination Mass was held at Sacred Heart Basilica on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in the United States.

“The joy of the Resurrection of Jesus permeates this ordination liturgy today,” began Bishop Rhoades in his homily. “This joy over Christ’s triumph over sin and death fills our hearts today. We celebrate the victory of Christ’s holy cross. And the Congregation of Holy Cross and all of us celebrate with joy the gift of Christ’s priesthood which is received today by two faith-filled young men, Adam and Patrick.

“Adam and Patrick have been touched by the love of Christ and the power and warmth of that love. That is why they say “yes” to the call of the Lord and desire to spend the rest of their lives in His service. They share the love of Christ the Bridegroom for His Bride, the Church.”

As his homily continued, Bishop Rhoades cited the example and teaching of Blessed Basile Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

“Reading Father Moreau’s meditations and sermons, we see a man of deep prayer who entered into the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He contemplated the divine Word and adored the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. This is what animated and inspired his apostolic zeal.  His legacy is a gift to us today,” Rhoades said.

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While the Ordination Mass was on Saturday, the prayer and festivities officially began Friday evening at Moreau Seminary. At 9 p.m., Adam and Patrick, their families and invited guests, and many Holy Cross priests, brothers, and sisters gathered in the seminary chapel for a prayer service, presided over by Fr. Kevin Grove, C.S.C., a friend of both Adam and Patrick’s.

In this homily, Fr. Grove preached about how Jesus “came to renew us not from above but from within.”

“Pat and Adam, you are to speak and bring Christ’s voice—his mercy and his hope—to everyplace his body is—not only your students and your parishioners, but the poor, the widow, the orphan, believer and the unbeliever, and every sinner and saint in between,” said Fr. Grove. “You will remind us every time you say Mass, forgive sins, baptize, and bury, that Christ our head is still speaking in us his body; he is drawing us along, nurturing, and renewing that deep down image of the divine in us all.”

Booth and Reidy are both members of the Congregation’s United States Province. They professed Final Vows in the Congregation on September 7, 2013, and were ordained deacons on September 8, 2013. Booth has spent these past eight months working at Holy Cross and St. Stanislaus Parish in South Bend. Reidy has been the Rector of Keough Hall at the University of Notre Dame.