Dan's Priesthood Ordination.

Well, one word would sum up the weekend festivities – inspiring. Dan’s priesthood ordination took place over the weekend. John, Carola and I were the “Iowa” representatives and the three of us had a fantastic time.

We left DM on Friday at 9AM and on our way to Osh Kosh stopped for lunch. Speaking of lunch, Joh and Carola could not believe I’ve never had Hardees before so that’s where we stopped for lunch. I must say that the burger was pretty good and definitely more flavorful than McD. John drove the Iowa leg while I drove the Wisconsin leg. Carola provided the entertainment. Oh, Steve was given a GPS system and John asked if we could borrow it for our trip. I got that baby working in five minutes and it’s a pretty nifty machine to say the least. The wonders of modern technology never cease to amaze me. The three of us gave the system different names and I think we settled on Lina (Steve’s old car was named Lina!) You really can’t get lost using the GPS system and even Carola was most impressed by it.

The drive to Osh Kosh took us roughly six hours and everyone got checked in just fine. Carola’s hotel was a mile and a half north from where John and I were staying. Once we arrived, we called Dan to let him know that we were in Osh Kosh and he invited over to his house at around 8PM just to hang out. He had the rehearsal that evening but thought it would be nice to have a couple of close friends and family over that evening. Carola, John and I had dinner at this local restaurant and the food was pretty good. We had no problem finding Dan’s house after dinner and I immediately recognized one of the guys who was already there. We were in seminary together and sang in the contemporary choir. He’s from New Hampshire and knew Dan because Dan lived on the same floor as him. Damien and I caught up with one another so that was nice. Before too long, Dan made it home after the rehearsal and had planned on grilling some brats and hotdogs. It was a very low key get together. The evening was the first time I met Dan’s dad, Chuck and his stepmother, Angie. Both of them were extremely gracious host. Now, anyone who knows Dan will tell you that he’s a pretty wired and excitable guy, but the three of us agreed that he was most definitely excited and anxious about the ordination tomorrow. He tried his best to look cool, calm and collected, but we knew better. My advice to Dan before we left was to get some rest since tomorrow would be a big day.

The ordination was at 10AM and we arrived at the cathedral in Green Bay a little after 9AM. Needless to say there were already people there and on our way over, we passed this school bus that had a whole bunch of Jesus stuff decorated around it and I commented that it would not surprise me one bit of the people on the bus were headed to Dan’s ordination. Lo and behold, not even five minutes had passed when the bus pulled into the parking lot! Over the years, Dad has been extremely involved with the boys’ scouts and youth ministry. Those on the bus were people from his youth ministry program and they were definitely there to celebrate his ordination. Dan was the only one being ordained but he managed to pack the entire cathedral. Kind of tells you what people think of him and all the lives he’s touched. Bishop Morneau was the ordaining bishop and he was a very personal bishop in my opinion. He started his homily by saying, “I have a couple of words for Dan and for the rest of you, feel free to listen, BUT if you’re not interested, I’m sure there’s the bulletin you can read!” His comment brought laughter to the whole congregation. I was very impressed by him and never once did he put himself in the spotlight. He knew it was Dan’s day and the focus was to be on Dan, not him. Oh, as the priests processed in, I saw more guys from Mundelein and I’m glad they were there. All in all the ordination took roughly an hour and a half which is pretty standard and everything went smoothly. I was teary eyed a number of times just reflecting on the years I’ve known Dan and all the different up and down experiences he went through while in seminary. Ordination was the culmination of all of those experiences for him.

There was a light reception after the ordination, and I managed to catch up with some of the guys I knew from Mundelein. I told them that we’ll catch up some more at the reception after his first Mass. The guys looked happy to see me. We headed back to Osh Kosh after the reception since that’s where his first Mass would take place. Since there was quite a lot of free time, John and Carola napped while I decided to change into shorts and walk around a little. The weather was perfect for being outside and I thought it would have been a waste to spend it inside. While walking, I called Adele to wish her “Happy 30th Birthday” and that was great to chat with her. She sounds great and shared with me some of the things she did for her birthday. Although I did not sweat while walking, I decided to take a shower when I got back to the hotel just to freshen up. Dan’s first Mass/Mass of Thanksgiving was at 5:30PM and we arrived the church at around 5PM. Carola had the first reading, and I the second. We needed to check in to make sure things were OK. As luck had it, we were sitting pretty much towards the front. Dan’s parents had divorced some years back and it was a pretty nasty divorce, but before Mass started, he presented his mom and dad a present and they did the same. That was really touching. The readings went fine and overall it was a very positive Mass celebration. Dan had informed me that he would not be preaching and had asked his spiritual director to preach. Fr. Larry Hennessey is a well loved faculty member at Mundelein and probably the best homilist I’ve ever encountered. He has a way of reaching out to everyone and his homilies are always inspiring. Larry did not disappoint and there were a couple of times when he was a little chocked up while giving the homily. I truly believe that people were more than inspired by his words. I pretty much knew all the music and tend to sing a little louder during ordinations for some reason or another. I blame the Spirit!

After Mass a couple of people commented on my singing and asked me if I was in seminary or was thinking of seminary. I politely told them that I was in seminary and left it at that. Funny how some people just peg you as seminary material! I’ve encountered that before that so was not fazed by it. I told Carola that the three of us (John concelebrated with Dan) represented Iowa very well and Dan would be proud of us.

Dinner was a buffet of hamburgers and BBQ chicken with sides. It was definitely the way to go since there were quite a lot of people at the reception. I did catch up with three guys from Mundelein and two of them were in Pre-Theology with me. One in particular is from Mexico, and would have been ordained with Greg and Stan but ended up spending an extra year working at a parish prior to ordination. We had a blast chatting with one another and I now have his e mail address so we’re definitely not going to lose touch with one another. It was nice to just chat with the guys and find out how ministry is coming along. From the sound of things, it’s going well for the guys and I could not be happier for them. Dan was in his elements at the reception lighting up the dance floor and just having the time of his life. John, Carola and I left at around 10PM since we were headed back for DM rather early the next day. Dan did manage to spend some time with us and you could just see how happy he was.

We left Osh Kosh at 8AM because John was headed to Conception, MO for the annual priest retreat later that afternoon. The drive home was uneventful and all in all the three of us agreed that it was a very good weekend and we’re glad we got to share in Dan’s celebration. For me personally, it was good to reconnect with some of the guys from Mundelein, and just be present at the ordination for Dan. I had informed Dan on the phone that I had elected myself the official representative of St. Catherine of Siena/Drake Newman Community and he told me that it could not have been a better person. My prayer for Dan is that he continues to be a holy priest ministering to the people and not changing who he is as a person. Priesthood has a way of doing that to some people and not in a good way. I’m not worried about Dan.

The ordination would be the last time I’ll be going on any mini vacation until I go back to Malaysia for the long vacation and in many ways, that’s A OK by me. It kind of just happened that everything took place three or four weekends in a row.