Two new priests feel the Holy Spirit on pre-Pentecost ordination day 

View the priest ordination livestream here.

Surrounded by loved ones, priests, seminarians and other supporters, two young men were ordained to the priesthood June 4 during a 10 a.m. ceremony at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha.

Transitional Deacon Minh Tran is pictured with family members during the beginning of the ordination Mass. PHOTO BY ROBERT ERVIN

The day was filled with joy and blessings, photos and hugs for Father Minh Tran and Father Brett Jamrog. 

But more importantly, it was filled with the Holy Spirit, they said.

Father Jamrog said he could sense the presence of the Holy Spirit, particularly when Archbishop George J. Lucas anointed his hands with holy Chrism, a special anointing of the Holy Spirit that makes priests’ ministries fruitful.

Archbishop George J. Lucas anoints Transitional Deacon Brett Jamrog’s hands with holy Chrism. PHOTO BY ROBERT ERVIN

Father Jamrog said he could feel a rush of the Holy Spirit upon him. “I felt a lot of peace and joy in that moment.”

Earlier in the ordination Mass, as Father Tran was lying prostrate before the altar, “I could feel the Holy Spirit enlightening my mind and filling my heart with the praise of God,” he said.

Any nervousness was replaced with comfort, he said. “I was filled with the love of God.”

“Jesus wants you to be at peace as you look ahead,” Archbishop Lucas assured the two men in his homily before the ordination rite.

In anticipating life as a priest, the men may have been wondering about “all that’s being expected of you,” he said. 

Their mission will be made easier, the archbishop said, because it’s a mission shared by Jesus. By imitating the Lord and uniting themselves to him day by day they “will have a fruitful and joyful life as a priest.”

However, it won’t always be easy, Archbishop Lucas said. They will be expected to lay down their lives, as the Good Shepherd was willing to do in the Gospel reading. Laying down one’s life is challenging, yet joyful when done in union with Jesus, he said.

He urged the men to pray daily, asking Jesus what he desires of them, asking him to be with them and to provide the gifts they’ll need.

“Jesus wants to be known in you and through you,” the archbishop said. “He wants to be known as the Good Shepherd.”

He challenged the two to be attentive to their preaching of the Good News, that the Heavenly Father loves his people so much that he handed over his Son, who lays down his life for them, and gives them the Holy Spirit to be poured upon them.

Archbishop Lucas noted that the Good Shepherd also cared for sheep outside the fold and reminded the men about to be ordained that the big goal of the archdiocese is to be looking outward, as missionaries and as missional communities.

In the parishes where Father Jamrog and Father Tran will serve, “there is room for plenty more,” the archbishop said. He urged them to form parishioners to be disciples who will bring the Gospel to their neighbors.

“The Good Shepherd provides,” he said.

Rely on him, Archbishop Lucas said – and on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

See photo gallery.