Father Delka and Father Trujillo ordained

Friday, Jul. 03, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — The Diocese of Salt Lake City on June 26 celebrated the ordination of two men to the priesthood with a Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine at which Archbishop John C. Wester was the presiding celebrant and homilist.

Father David Trujillo, who has been assigned to Saint Joseph Parish in Ogden, and Father Joseph Delka, who will return in the fall to complete his studies in Rome, were ordained by Archbishop Wester.

Prior to being installed in Santa Fe on June 4, Archbishop Wester had headed the Utah diocese for eight years.

The Mass was concelebrated by Jesuit Father Lawrence Herrera, spiritual director of the Pontifical North American College in Rome; Father Terrence Peter Tompkins, vice-rector of the college for Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon; Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, diocesan administrator; Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general emeritus; the Very Rev. Father Martin Diaz, pastor of the Cathedral of the Madeleine; and various priests of the diocese.

Attending the Mass were family members and classmates of Fr. Delka and Fr. Trujillo; diocesan deacons, seminarians, and staff; religious women and laypeople from throughout the diocese. 

“In the Sacrament of Orders, presbyters are set apart in the image of Christ, the eternal high priest, to preach the Gospel, to shepherd the faithful and to celebrate divine worship as true priests of the New Testament,” Archbishop Wester said in the introduction of the Mass, a theme he expounded upon in his homily.

“You are called tonight, David and Joseph, as priests; as priests who are engaged in transformation day in and day out. And in particular, you are called to be transformed by Christ, your brother priests and the people whom you serve,” he said from the ambo. “You can look into the mirror all you want, but you won’t really see your true look as a priest until you look into the eyes of Christ and into the eyes of your brother priests and into the eyes of your people.”

Priests have as their primary duty the proclamation of the Gospel of God to all, Archbishop Wester said, and “you cannot do that if you are not first transformed into the Word by the Word. … Joseph and David, tonight you are proclaiming to all of us that your life is not your own. Christ, the Word, is living in you and your identity – your ‘look’ – is tied up completely in him. Let that Word transform you always, so that when people see you they see Christ, crucified in weakness and risen in glory.”

Fr. Trujillo and Fr. Delka are richly blessed to join the other priests in Utah “who form a body of dedicated men who serve Christ and his Church with distinction and a spirit of self-sacrifice,” Archbishop Wester said, adding that they should allow themselves to be transformed by their brother priests and will be richly rewarded by serving with them.

The new priests also should allow themselves to be transformed by the people they serve, the archbishop said. 

“What better service is there than to give so much of yourselves that you are transformed by the very people you serve?” he asked. “Allow yourselves to become increasingly poor as you reach out to the needy. You become more forgiving as you raise your hands in absolution. You become more nurturing as you proclaim the Word and celebrate the Eucharist for good of your people and in response to your personal call to holiness. You embrace your own shortcomings, weaknesses and illnesses as you anoint the sick and bring viaticum to the dying. You find a new lease on life as you pour the waters of baptism over the heads of children and the Elect. You find new ways to love as you witness the Sacrament of Matrimony, and you deepen in your prayer as you lead your faithful in prayer.”

Being ordained a priest is “at once a gift and a task,” the archbishop said; the men are called to live a life of surrender, sacrifice, and selflessness, but one that promises the joy of Christ.  

“You are called tonight to follow in the footsteps of the Lamb of God as you die to self and live for Christ,” the archbishop concluded. “You must give completely of yourselves, and in so doing become more perfectly who you are: priests of God whose look you now have.”