This is wonderful news!
Theologian Dr. Scott Hahn shared in a May 17 announcement that his son, Jeremiah Hahn, will be ordained into the priesthood on Fri., May 21. He published a beautiful and soul-stirring testament about this important moment in his son’s life.
Hahn explained what it means to him as a theologian and catechized Catholic, but specifically as a Father.
“It’s different,” Hahn said, because the “marvel is in this very moment.”
“I was present— and, by God’s grace, an active co-creator—at Jeremiah’s conception. I held him when he was born. I comforted him when he was teething. I walked with him through adolescence. Yet nothing I’ve witnessed in his life can equal the marvel God will work on May 21 in the Sacrament of Holy Orders.”
Here’s his full statement below:
Click here if you cannot see the post above.
Here’s the full text of his post:
“This month, May of 2021, I am watching my son Jeremiah become a priest. As a lay theologian and a catechized Catholic, I know what this means.
“He will be changed down to the roots of his being. He will be conformed to Christ in a special way so that he can speak divine words with divine power, forgiving sins and making Jesus really present. He will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to act ‘in persona Christi’ – as ‘another Christ’ (alter christus) – to minister as an earthly priest in the service of Jesus Christ himself, our only High Priest, in the highest heaven (Heb. 8:1-4).
“As a professor of Sacred Scripture and Theology, I know all of this from the testimony of the Bible and Tradition.
“The priesthood of Jesus Christ, shared with the clergy of his Church, is evident in both the Old and New Testaments. It is prefigured in the Old and fulfilled in the New. I know it because of brilliant studies by scholars in my field, from André Feuillet and Thomas Lane to Carter Griffin and John Bergsma. I have even written my own book about priesthood, ‘Many Are Called: Rediscovering the Glory of the Priesthood’.”
“But this time is different for me. The marvel is in this very moment.
“I was present— and, by God’s grace, an active co-creator—at Jeremiah’s conception. I held him when he was born. I comforted him when he was teething. I walked with him through adolescence. Yet nothing I’ve witnessed in his life can equal the marvel God will work on May 21 in the Sacrament of Holy Orders.
“Please pray for Jeremiah. Pray for his fidelity above all. But pray too that he will, like Jesus in his ministry, and like God in the act of creation, do ‘all things well’ (Mark 7:37). For he will not only be working for God; he will be doing God’s work, with God’s hands.
“At the end of every day, may he be able to look back and see the good (indeed the marvels) God has worked through the blessed hands of a man from eastern Ohio.
“So much of what we do at the St. Paul Center is an expression of our love for the priesthood. We have been offering conferences and retreats for clergy since 2005. We have published numerous books about the life of priests and the meaning of the sacrament. I am not proud when I say that, from the moment of my conversion, I have kept a keen appreciation of the beauty of Holy Orders.
“Through the scandals and the defections, this has only increased. But this month I am experiencing something entirely new. I am witnessing God’s marvel in the present tense, from the inside.
“I invite you to join me in your prayer. And I thank you in advance for that gift!”