The wonderful story of a new priest in the Sacramento Diocese in California, in two parts (part 2 tomorrow), on the front page above the fold of the Sacramento Bee.
Lifetime calling
In his first six months in a job he long sought, 'Padre Uriel' gets an education in the burdens and blessings of being a priest
By Jennifer Garza - jgarza@sacbee.com
Published 1:54 pm PST Sunday, December 30, 2007
This September morning at Woodland Memorial Hospital, the room behind the nurse's station is cool and quiet. A nurse wraps a baby girl in a white blanket with pink and blue stripes. She lays the infant on the counter and steps away.
The Rev. Uriel Ojeda moves closer and makes the sign of the cross. Guadalupe was stillborn less than two hours before. The priest whispers a prayer.
Three times in two months the new priest has been called to bless a baby who died at birth. He has presided over 11 funerals, more death than he expected, more heartache than he imagined. The babies' grieving families visit his dreams.
He comforts Guadalupe's mother. She worries about her baby's soul, about hospital and funeral costs, about telling her husband, who is still working in the fields and doesn't know.
Her eyes plead with Ojeda through tears. At first, she can only choke out one word.
"Padre," she says.
He meets her gaze.
"Oremos," says the priest. Let us pray.
Ojeda heads to the elevator and wonders if he said the right thing.
Standing in the hospital parking lot, he stops to take a long deliberate breath.
Then he slips into his '91 Honda Civic, pauses for a moment holding the steering wheel and steels himself for more.
"What can I say? What can I do?" writes Ojeda in his journal. "What could I possibly bring that would give some sense to this senseless event? There are no answers. All I have is hope."
Ojeda is 28, a new priest in the first six months on the job in a changing Catholic Church – one healing from a past of sexual abuse scandals and preparing for a future shaped by a growing Spanish-speaking congregation.
The priesthood's blessings beckon Ojeda, as do its burdens. He knows the calling isn't answered by many anymore. Only 466 men took their priestly vows in the United States this year, half the number of 40 years ago.
Yet, the Catholic population surges, with nearly 70 million making up the nation's largest faith group. More of them, including Ojeda, speak Spanish.
Lampstand Foundation website, http://www.lampstandfoundation.org/
"The sinner is at the very heart of Christianity. Nobody is so competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. Nobody, except the saint." Charles Peguy (1873-1914)
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.