Three to be ordained to the priesthood

Ordinations are ticketed events

To limit the size of the ordinations because of pandemic regulations, the ordinations will be open only to those who have received tickets.

For details regarding the first Masses of the newly ordained priests, please visit WichitaOrdinations.wixsite.com/2020.

Ordinations to the diaconate May 21

Five seminarians will be ordained to the transitional diaconate by Bishop Carl A. Kemme at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 21, at Church of the Magdalen in Wichita. The event is closed to the public but will be streamed. Visit Catholic
DioceseOfWichita.org for a streaming link.

To be ordained to the diaconate are Matt Glazier, a member of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Madison; Andrew Meng of St. Joseph Parish in Ost; Christopher Rumback of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Hutchinson; William Stuever of St. Joseph Parish in Andale; and Ty Taylor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Mulvane.

Priest ordination to be streamed

Bishop Carl A. Kemme will ordain the Rev. Mr. J. Trevor Buster, the Rev. Mr. Hayden Charles, and the Rev. Mr. Luke Downing to the priesthood at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 23, at Church of the Magdalen Wichita.

The event is closed to the public but will be streamed. Visit CatholicDioceseOfWichita.org for a streaming link.

The Rev. Mr. J. Trevor Buster

Deacon Buster said he is ready for ordination and has been for a few years.

“I’ve been waiting eagerly to celebrate Mass for the first time, to hear confessions, to anoint the sick, to offer blessings, to dive into a parish and meet the people of God there, to begin this long-awaited-for journey that I’ve been preparing for and working toward for the better part of a decade,” he said in response to a questionnaire.

He added that he didn’t know what challenges or joys lie ahead, “but do I know that those challenges that I’ve had so far don’t hold a candle to the joys I’ve had so far.”

Deacon Buster said he’s fallen in love with the church, with her people, with her liturgies, and with her saints.
“I know that the plan that God has for me has already exceeded my expectations in both joy and challenges, but I know in all humility that I am called to conform my life to the cross of Christ in a particular way and I’m ready to take this next step.”

The pandemic has weighed heavily on his mind, he said.

“I’m finishing my last semester of seminary at St. Catherine of Siena (Parish in Wichita), where I was assigned for diaconate ministry this past summer,” he said. “I’m taking my classes online, along with the Catholic students here and across the country. It has disrupted my life just as it has everyone else’s, but the biggest effect the pandemic has had on me is just how little I feel that I can do to combat it.”

Deacon Buster said his only recourse has been to obey the guidelines and prayer.

“In a way, it has been a grace for me to realize my own littleness and my need for God. Rather than relying on my own talents or skills, I am forced to rely on the grace of God.”

He added that the faithful across the country are waiting for First Communions, the Sacrament of Matrimony, and Holy Orders.

“We are all waiting to see the light of Easter, the Light of Christ, on the other side of this Holy Saturday we have been plunged into,” the deacon said. “My prayer for myself and for the whole church is that we make an ‘upper room’ out of our hearts that the Holy Spirit can enter into and give us the grace of a renewed Pentecost at the end of all of this.”

Now is the time for young men considering the priesthood to lay down their lives for Christ, he said.

“The world is in dire need of good and holy priests. The Church is in need of men who have the courage to take up the cross and preach the truth. A priest must be willing to die for Christ and to put the needs of the flock above his own desires.”

Deacon Buster said he didn’t want Holy Orders in his youth. “I didn’t want to be a priest when I asked God if that was his will for me, but I chose to trust him over myself. I say the same to those men.”

The Rev. Mr. Hayden Charles

Deacon Hayden Charles said as his ordination approaches he feels a deep gratitude to God for the gift of his vocation to follow Jesus as a priest, and to the priests and people of the diocese who have inspired, supported, and encouraged him on his journey.

“I am also eagerly anticipating the opportunity to celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass,” he said. “I look forward to uniting my life with that of Jesus, with his offering to the Father in celebrating the Eucharist as a priest, and allowing this to be the source of my life and ministry.”

He said he is anxious about whether he is worthy of Holy Orders and about his ability as a priest.

“However, these anxieties are not roadblocks or sources of paralysis, but occasions to entrust myself to Jesus, who calls me to himself and sends me out to continue his presence in the world as a priest after his heart.”
Deacon Charles said the pandemic has been an opportunity to renew his trust in Jesus.

“I never thought my seminary experience would end with online classes, or that my ordination and first assignment could be affected by something like the coronavirus,” he said.

“However, this has been a beautiful reminder that I am not in control of my life or my vocation. Just like I have no idea what the next few months might look like, I have no idea what my life as a priest, God willing, will look like five or 10 years from now.

“The pandemic has become an occasion to entrust myself, my life, and my vocation to Jesus, who is the source of everything that I have and everything that I am.”

Deacon Charles urged any young man discerning the seminary to investigate it.

“When I applied to be a seminarian for the diocese seven years ago, I was not sure where it would lead me. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a priest or not, but I knew that God had placed something on my heart that led me to think that he could be calling me to the priesthood.”

He said he entered seminary not certain he would be a priest, but because he wanted to discern God’s call.
“If the priesthood or seminary is a consistent thought or desire, I would encourage a young man to pursue this desire, even though he may not be certain,” he said.

“I am certainly grateful that I took this step when I was a senior in high school, and I think that a man who enters seminary and gives himself over to discernment and formation will be grateful for having done so, whether he ends up becoming a priest or not.”

The Rev. Mr.Luke Downing

Deacon Luke Downing said he and his brother seminarians are ending their studies in a manner they never anticipated. “To think that my entire seminary story would end like that, so abruptly and without proper goodbyes or closure, is difficult.”

But that hasn’t dampened his desire to fulfill the purpose of his studies.

“I am very eager for ordination, to be a priest. All this discussion of ‘essential employees’ and ‘essential businesses’ has shed light on my understanding of the role and responsibility of the priesthood,” he said. “While ordinations are typically full of joy, leisure, and gratitude, this month has been clouded over with a heavy degree of social uncertainty and instability.”

Deacon Downing added that the pandemic has altered how he would be ordained – with a building full of family, friends, and church community. “Nonetheless,” he said, “the world needs priests.”

Grace, the sacraments, the church, prayer, and growth in spiritual lives are needed now more than ever, the deacon said.

“We need God. The world feels this acutely – though perhaps not consciously – right now. My immediate approach to ordination has shifted from one of deep joy and gratitude and celebration as a church and family to one of an utterly simple and humble recognition for the mission of the priesthood.”

Deacon Downing said a man discerning the priesthood should stay close to Jesus and understand that discernment is not merely a matter of knowing what God wants him to do with his life, “it is a peering into the intimate working of grace right here and right now, how God is revealing himself to us and the world in an intimate, loving relationship.”

A vocation is only found in a missionary-contemplative disposition, he said. “God doesn’t just want to do great things through you, he desires to be in an intimate relationship with you.”