On March 19, Solemnity of Saint Joseph, at the Immaculate Conception Parish in the city of Santa Tecla (El Salvador), Mons. Santo Rocco Gangemi, Apostolic Nuncio of El Salvador, ordained Father Juan Carlos Arias, LC, as a priest.
Every year, all the Legionaries of Christ from around the world gather in Rome who have prepared to be ordained priests. On this occasion, due to the pandemic, the ordinations are being held in the country of each ordinand. For safety reasons, only family members, close friends of Father Juan Carlos Arias, and some members of Regnum Christi in El Salvador attended the parish.
The ceremony was broadcast live from the Facebook page of the Legionaries of Christ Mexico and Central America and was simultaneously retransmitted on the Facebook pages of: Regnum Christi El Salvador, Regnum Christi Mexico and Central America, Legionaries of Christ Monterrey Territory, Regnum Christi Northern Mexico Territory, Catholic.net, and Somos RC.
The Apostolic Nuncio Santo Rocco Gangemi began his homily by referencing the joy experienced at that moment by the ordinand, his family, and all present, which should be shared with the liturgical feast of the day: the solemnity of Saint Joseph, patron of the Church.
Mons. Santo Rocco Gangemi told the ordinand: “In a few moments, through the imposition of hands and the consecratory prayer, Juan Carlos Arias will receive the same priesthood of Christ, and by the grace that comes from above, he will be transformed into an Alter Christus, that is, another Christ in the midst of our society.”
For Mons. Santo Rocco, no more fitting day could have been chosen for the ordination than the day commemorating the “Holy Patriarch and patron of the Catholic Church, who is called to follow in the footsteps of Christ, the High and Eternal Priest”; because, by observing the life of Saint Joseph, it becomes evident that every vocation does not depend on human merits, but rather on a free and gratuitous initiative of God. He said that every vocation is a path in which we can trust and rely on God, who disposes of us and, in a certain sense, needs us. “This need, which we have later interpreted as our collaboration with God, for some becomes a vocation, a call to be specific collaborators in God’s plan of salvation. Our brother Juan Carlos has been called to this collaboration.” Likewise, all those men and women upon whom Jesus has cast His gaze have been called, especially those who have heard the Lord when He said: “Follow me!”, said the Nuncio.
Santo Rocco also expressed to Father Juan Carlos Arias that, in his ministry, he should be seen and appreciated as “Beloved Father,” just as “the Pope says that the greatness of Saint Joseph lies in the fact that he was the husband of Mary and the father of Jesus,” and that because of this path, he has been loved throughout history. He added that the priest is an image of God’s tenderness, and therefore is not an angry, upset, or annoyed minister, but a father who loves and makes himself loved. He encouraged him to learn to listen, to have patience, and to seek out those who have strayed along the way, because this action has its source in God’s love. Furthermore, he said that as a priest, he must be a father in obedience, just like Saint Joseph.
The message from the Nuncio to Father Juan Carlos focused on God’s love, and how, from now on, one of his commitments will be to be a witness of that love. He was clear in saying that a great challenge begins for him: “he will no longer just be a son but will begin to be a father,” with all the responsibilities that entails. But the secret to a successful priesthood lies in the response he will later give to the last question of the ceremony, which is: “Yes, I do, with God’s grace,” and that this phrase should always accompany him.
Finally, the Nuncio entrusted Father Juan Carlos Arias, LC, who from childhood was a member of the ECYD in El Salvador, to the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary, so that she always makes him feel her closeness and generously blesses him throughout his priestly ministry, which he wished for him: tired from days and full of fruits.
In the ordination rite, after the imposition of hands, his parents vested him with the new garments, and immediately afterward, he was anointed with the Holy Chrism.
At the end of the celebration, Father Alberto Simán, LC, territorial director of the Legionaries of Christ in Mexico and Central America, and also originally from El Salvador, thanked the Nuncio for the gift of a new priest and delivered a congratulatory message to Father Juan Carlos, in which he expressed that, having known him since his youth, the characteristic that most caught his attention was his spiritual depth. To his parents, he said that, despite the process being difficult for everyone, that day God gave them a great gift; because it is always He who calls the hearts of young people.
