Photos: Father Figura’s ordination, new priesthood

June 11, 2026

by Susan Szalewski

On his first full day as a priest, Father Michael Figura did something extraordinary: He took bread and wine in his newly consecrated hands, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, those ordinary items became the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

As a priest configured to Christ, he can help bring about that miracle – a central aspect of the Catholic faith – daily. But at Father Figura’s first Mass, on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, he gave special attention to the significance of the Eucharist.

Father Figura preached to a full congregation at his home parish, St. Stephen the Martyr in Omaha. The day before, across town at St. Cecilia Cathedral, he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Michael G. McGovern, in the presence of fellow priests, family members, seminarians and hundreds of other supporters.

ERVIN PHOTOGRAPHY

Father Figura’s first assignment will be at St. Cecilia. In the fall, he will resume studies in Rome, before returning to St. Cecilia in the spring for more priestly formation.

At St. Stephen, Father Figura talked about the Church’s understanding of the Eucharist, as the true presence of Jesus – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

“This understanding that the Eucharist is really, truly Jesus’ Body and Blood – it’s not something new,” he said in his homily.

He asked a question many people have asked: “Why? Why would God do something so strange?”

Father Figura broke it down simply: “I think the answer is that, at the end of the day, we get tired and worn down and God wants to give us some nourishment and strength each and every day.”

“Jesus knew the reality of our human condition. He knew that we still walk through a desert, and in a desert it’s hot and you get tired, and there are serpents” that bite.

“So what do you need? You need strength. You need food and drink to renew you each and every day if you’re going to make it through the desert.”

ANNA KORENSKY PHOTOGRAPHY

Father Figura compared the Eucharist to something he became familiar with while studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome: tiramisu, “which literally means ‘pick me up,’” he said.

He described the espresso-soaked dessert as “a sweet bread that fills you with new life and energy.”

The Eucharist is similar, he said, “specifically designed by God to pick us up when we fall down.

“But the Eucharist is not just a food,” Father Figura said. “The reality is that the Eucharist is Jesus’ Body and Blood. The Eucharist is Jesus’ very Heart.”

“When we receive the Eucharist … we’re taking Jesus’ very Heart, putting it inside us.” And because Jesus is so closely united with His Father, he said, communicants’ hearts also are drawn to God the Father’s Heart.

Father Figura invited everyone at Holy Communion, with Jesus “so near to us,” to give Him their weariness, hurt and need.

“Let’s lift those up, too, to God the Father,” he said, “and entrust our cares to One Who cares about us.

“Jesus is coming today for this, to nourish us and to pick us up. May He bring strength and new life to our very hearts each and every day.”