On June 27, 2014, Deacon Jorge Armando Morales Trejo, C.S.C., was ordained a priest by Most Rev. Rogelio Cabrera Lopez, the Archbishop of Monterrey, at Nuestra Madre Santissima de la Luz in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
The day of the Ordination Mass carried extra significance, as it was also the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Blessed Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, consecrated the Congregation’s seminarians and priests to the Sacred Heart. Archbishop Cabrera, who also ordained Armando a deacon on Oct. 11, 2013, spoke often of Blessed Moreau in his homily at the Mass.
The celebration actually began June 26, with Mass at Nuestra Senora del Roble, the neighborhood chapel near Holy Cross’ House of Formation. At that Mass, the chalice, patent and chasuble that Armando would receive at his Ordination were blessed.
Afterward, more than 70 people gathered at the House of Formation for dinner. The invited guests included members of Armando’s family, as well as Holy Cross priests, brothers and sisters from the United States, Haiti, Peru, Chile and Mexico who had journeyed to the Ordination. Among them was Rev. Thomas J. O’Hara, C.S.C., provincial superior of the United States Province, which oversees the Congregation’s mission in Mexico.
In addition to the members of Armando’s family, his confreres in Holy Cross and members of the parish community, the Ordination Mass was also attended by five of the six new postulants who will join the Congregation’s formation program in Guadalupe this fall. There were also a dozen young men from a discernment group from San Jose in Tamazunchale, Taman, which is the Congregation’s other sponsored parish in Mexico.
“The ordination of Fr. Jorge Armando Morales Trejo was an opportunity for all the Holy Cross present — and there were many from all over Latin America — to appreciate the unique Catholic culture of Mexico, woven into the Rite of Ordination,” said Rev. James McDonald, C.S.C., assistant provincial and steward of the U.S. Province. “It was, from beginning to end, also a Holy Cross moment, with images of our blessed founder and St. Andre sheltering the rites.”
Later that same afternoon, also at La Luz Parish, Armando celebrated his first Mass, known in Spanish as a “Canta Misa.” Rev. Matt Kuczora, C.S.C., director of the Office of Vocations and the Postulant Formation Program in Mexico, preached.
Armando will continue pastoral work at La Luz Parish, where he also worked as a deacon this past year while completing his theological studies. He also will take over Holy Cross’ vocation efforts in Mexico from Fr. Kuczora, who is going to pursue higher studies.
