Daniel Williams isn’t the first person from the Stanley Country to be ordained a priest. Before him, for example, there was Father Richard Gilles from the S-B Class of 1985, who just last year celebrated his 25th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood with a Mass in Boyd. Father (now Monsignor) Gilles was among the many brother priests on hand from the Catholic Diocese of La Crosse in Boyd this past Sunday, together with laity and deacons, there to help the now newly ordained Father Williams from the S-B Class of 2011 celebrate his first Mass as an ordained priest. Williams had previously been a transitional deacon for the past year, and was ordained to the priesthood along with three other men in the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman in La Crosse on June 27, through the laying on of hands which is believed to confer spiritual power in a direct line from the Apostles to those called today to minister as priests to God’s people.

Being ordained involves a long process during which candidates are carefully vetted and allowed to discern over several year if in fact Holy Orders and the priesthood is for them. One of those helping Father Williams discern over the last several years, Father Luke Strand of St. Frances de Sales Seminary and Vocation Director of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, gave the homily at the Thanksgiving Mass this past June 28. The Gospel reading was from Matthew 10:37-42, about which Strand had much to say.“ These are the words Jesus said when he sent his disciples on mission,” Strand related as he addressed those present and especially Father Williams. “He says that we’re to be sent as sheep among wolves, to take nothing with us, and that we’ll be persecuted,” Strand said, going on that he couldn’t think of a more challenging text at one’s first Mass.

“Losing your life for the Church means exhausting yourself for your bride,” he said, saying that “many in the church today feel homeless, feel exhausted,” and that Father Williams needed to make a home for them in the parish he is assigned to care for. But there was more.

“My brother, today we witness the reality that joy and suffering go together, manifested in love,” Strand said, adding that the core of the priesthood was the sacraments. As one of William’s mentors, what impressed Strand was William’s growth in love. “We’re going to continue to pray for you,” he said addressing himself to the newly ordained priest.

Following Strand’s homily, members of the Williams family including his two sisters brought the Communion gifts to the front, and then it was on to the Mass of the Faithful, distinct from that of the Catechumens in the early Church. In a shift of prayers that also takes place at Easter, Father Williams prayed that those present “be accounted worthy not according to our merits,” but rather the mercy and grace of God. In Catholic theology, “merit” or reward is only possible by cooperating with the grace of God synergistically. Mere human means cannot attain to divine ends, so that taken apart from Grace, there is no “merit” warranting salvation in Catholic teaching, a point that is widely misunderstood. At any rate and before long, it was time to give the dismissal, and send those fortified by sacramental grace out to the world, there to be leaven of the Kingdom of God.

Upon conclusion of the Thanksgiving Mass, a reception was held for Father Williams at Holy Family Hall in Stnaley.

Photos by Katzie and Ben Photography.

Fr. Williams with his parents, Dan and Tina.