“Our experience in Holy Cross is demanding. It is joyful as well. And so it should give us a life to which we would happily invite others” (Constitutions, 60).
The weekend after Easter weekend was an opportunity to invite others into our joy: we celebrated the Ordination to the Priesthood of four of our brothers in Holy Cross. Opportunities like Ordinations and Final Profession of Vows give a unique insight into our religious lives and are particularly joyful moments that we get to share with our brothers in Holy Cross, our families, friends, and also those with whom we share life through our apostolates.
The Holy Cross community at King’s College was glad to be able to invite a group of 20 students and staff into our joy by making a pilgrimage to the University of Notre Dame to witness the Ordination. The now Fr. Ricky Bevington, C.S.C., has served at King’s throughout the past year and our group of 20 from King’s came to pray and celebrate with him as he was ordained a priest. They came to share our joy! For the C.S.C.s who accompanied this group, it was an opportunity to share a sacred part of our lives. Not only is Ordination a significant and joy-filled event, but the other moments that fill the weekend put on full display many of the parts of our lives in Holy Cross that we are happy to invite others into. The prayer services and liturgy are full of the Spirit. The conversations and fellowship are plentiful. The connections shared between community members, families, and friends thicken the webs that draw us closer to one another.
For those of us who do not live or minister at the University of Notre Dame, inviting others into that sacred and important place is another way we share our joy. Most of my higher education and my first years in ministry happened at Notre Dame. When I share about my own Ordination—which joyfully marked its sixth anniversary this past ordination weekend—I do my best to communicate all that is special about Notre Dame and the experience with people unfamiliar with campus and the details of the liturgy. But being able to invite others to be present at Ordination for themselves and to welcome them into the very places and experiences that shaped me adds a new depth to the joy of Holy Cross I can share.
The Constitutions follow from the line above: “If we delight in our vocation, we will share it with others” (Constitutions, 60). As it turns out, joy easily multiplies! When you are joyful enough to invite others into your joy, they’ll do the same. This past Ordination weekend was truly an experience of welcoming others into our joy, and my brothers and I in Holy Cross pray that it may continue to spread!
Fr. Brogan Ryan, C.S.C.
Published on May 7, 2025
