I was hoping to attend the 9 AM Mass this morning at which five men will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. One of the five men to be ordained will be serving at my parish, St. Charles Borromeo in North Hollywood.

However, upon visiting the Cathedral's website, I discovered that I would need tickets in order to attend:

Priesthood & Permanent Deacon Ordination Notice!: The Cathedral will be hosting the Priesthood Ordination on June 4th 2005 and the Permanent Deacon Ordination on June 11, 2005. Please pray for the candidates preparing for Ordination. Also please be advised that the Cathedral will be closed on these two special days from 8am-12noon. Tickets will be required for admission.

I was baffled at why I should need tickets to attend this Mass. It's not as though the Cathedral would be packed to overflowing, with only five men being ordained. The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis had fifteen men ordained, and I'm sure they didn't limit people by requiring tickets. It's always been a "first come, first served" system there, and so I always showed up at least 90 minutes early to get a seat.

Where is the evangelical and missionary heart of this Archdiocese? The liturgy of priestly ordination is an incredible experience of the Church, an incarnate lesson in ecclesiology, with beautiful prayers and symbols... the ordained lying prostrate on the floor of the Cathedral, the invocation of the saints, the priestly promises, etc. How does the Archdiocese plan to foster vocations when the ordination has become a secret rite, only for the elect?

I was only baffled until I remembered that I live in the archdiocese served by Cardinal Mahony. It's the archdiocese that has demonstrated a lack of effort to foster priestly vocations and instead spends its efforts on a "new springtime" of lay ministry. The archdiocese located in the media capital of the world... boasting the largest Catholic population in the country.. but which has no Catholic radio station, no Catholic television station, and doesn't carry EWTN because Mother Angelica is bad PR for the local church. The archdiocese where Rainbow Sashers are welcomed to the Cathedral, but the Church's official ministry to the homosexual community, Courage, is unwelcome. The archdiocese that has made its focus the protection of the Cardinal. Damage control trumps spreading the Gospel, and it seems there is a lot of damage to control these days.

I used to serve on the bishop's committee for young adults for the San Fernando Valley. We were planning an event for young adults with the Cardinal, but plans changed when the legal situation in the archdiocese worsened. We were told that the situation in LA threatened to make Boston look minimal by comparison. Plans still moved forward for the event; however, it was suggested that we not extend an open invitation to young adults, but instead carefully select the participants in order to protect the Cardinal.

So I guess I understand closing the Cathedral for ordination. I guess if I were Cardinal Mahony, I would want to control the press, given the possibilities of negative coverage stemming from the priestly abuse scandal, the closing of the college seminary last month, etc.

And the mission of Jesus Christ? The mandate to "go and make disciples of all nations"? It seems that mandate is being left to the likes of Ron Howard.

UPDATE: I spoke with a seminarian tonight who was at the ordination. He seemed as puzzled as me about the use of tickets. "Was it a full house?" I asked. No, he said. There wasn't any need for tickets.

Labels: priesthood