The Rev. Omar Galvan Gonzalez recalled feeling no apprehension on a recent Saturday, the day of his ordination to the Catholic priesthood.
That changed when a bus carrying more than 40 of his relatives arrived at Little Rock's Barton Coliseum to witness the occasion.
"I wasn't nervous at all until I saw the bus and saw all the people coming out to greet me," Galvan Gonzalez said. "I became nervous just to see the excitement in their faces."
He and four other men were ordained priests for the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock on May 29. Galvan Gonzalez and the Rev. Emmanuel Torres, the Rev. Benjamin Riley, the Rev. Brian Cundall and the Rev. Alex Smith, each serving as church deacons in the diocese, made a public commitment to a lifetime of serving God and his children.
The five are among those priests beginning their ministry during the covid-19 pandemic, a time that has forced congregations to reimagine Mass as online platforms and find ways to stay connected from a distance. The state's mask mandate was lifted in May and the ordinations were held two weeks after the diocese lifted its own mask mandate for Mass services in churches, making face coverings now considered optional but recommended.
CHANGES NATIONWIDE
The changes are reflected nationwide in worship houses and clergy reassessing safety protocols. As the number of U.S. residents who have been vaccinated has increased and the overall number of new cases and deaths have decreased in recent months, some church members have begun trickling back into physical worship houses for services.
Ordinations of several members are typically held at Christ the King Catholic Church in Little Rock, Cundall said. Having the ordinations held at a coliseum he associates with the Arkansas State Fair, monster-truck rallies and rodeos was unexpected, but "a very beautiful thing that was able to happen in the end," and open to all who wished to attend at Barton Coliseum, which can seat more than 10,000 people.
Approximately 2,000 people -- including priests, deacons, seminarians and members of other Catholic groups -- were in attendance.
"I know for me and a lot of guys in my class, I was just happy to be ordained by that point," Cundall said. "It was like, man, I just want to get ordained whether we do it in a broom closet or whether we do it out and about somewhere big."
'24 HOURS A DAY'
Cundall, Riley, and Galvan Gonzalez were attending seminary at St. Meinrad in Rockport, Ind., at the outset of the pandemic last year, they told the Democrat-Gazette. Torres also was a seminarian at St. Meinrad, and Smith was studying at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, according to Arkansas Catholic.
Bishop Anthony Taylor, head of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, elaborated on the role of a priest during the ordination, emphasizing that Jesus chose each man to be a priest, rather than the men making the choice.
"That's why we call it a vocation, and not a career," Taylor said.
"The phrase 'Once a priest, always a priest' means two things: It doesn't only mean that you will soon be a priest for the rest of your life, it also means that you are always a priest to another priest 24 hours a day," he told the five men."This is not a 9-to-5 job. You are to love others as Jesus has loved you 24 hours a day, even when people call you at 3 in the morning -- indeed, especially when people call you at 3 in the morning -- from this day forward you are to lay down your life for others as Jesus did for you 24 hours a day."
Riley and Cundall said one of the most meaningful moments was lying prostrate on the floor while the Litany of Saints was prayed.
"You're asking for the intercession of the entire Church for all the people of God, for all those present, for all the saints. You're asking for their intercession to pray for you," Cundall said.
'LIVING FOR CHRIST'
"It's kind of a symbolic death to self," Riley said. "The idea is that when you [lie] down, you are dying yourself. When you stand, you are no longer living yourself, but living for Christ, and for his people.
Afterward, the five men knelt for the laying of hands -- when the bishop and priests place their hands on the heads of the newly ordained.
"It was painful and powerful at the same time," Galvan Gonzalez said. "Painful because there [were] a lot of priests there and you're kneeling down for a good amount of the time. But it was powerful for me, because [the priests are] welcoming you to the brotherhood.
"It hit me at that point, when the bishop puts his hands on you, that's when you become a priest."
The men are on a retreat this week at Subiaco Abbey with other priests from around the diocese gathering for talk, prayer and fraternity, Riley said. At 27, he said he began to feel a call to ministry in high school and has had a yearslong journey to realizing and pursuing his calling.
"[It's] pretty surreal still," Riley said of being among the newest of his brother priests.
"It's nice to be able to get to know everybody and hear their stories and their experiences, and it's going to take some time to get used to, but I'm really enjoying my time as a new priest and looking forward to being [a priest] in a parish. It's been a long time coming."
