Oh yeah, Deacon Maxwell is now a Rev.Fr and we are super excited and grateful to God!
Family and friends joined the newly ordained priest;
Maxwell Uzoma Chukwudiebere at St. John The Evangelist Church, 320 Winthrop St. Winthrop, Massachusetts as he held his first Holy Mass of Thanksgiving.
The first Mass tradition may have started in ancient times.
We grew up to know that priest’s ordination Mass is his first Mass, but the first one he presides over from beginning to end commonly is referred to as his “first.”
The first Mass after ordination is a time when some newly ordained priests give special gifts to their parents. Mothers sometimes receive the “maniturgium,” a cloth used during the ordination Mass that was wrapped around their sons’ hands after their hands were anointed with Chrism oil.
During Fr. Maxwell address to those in attendance, he thanked them for their support and also urged them to continually pray for him.
Priests don’t just appear out of thin air but are formed and nourished by loving and supportive people. God’s people are really good at caring for vocations.
The turnout at the Thanksgiving was massive to the surprise of the loving priest.
We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves,” married, single, priest, religious, or lay person.
We celebrate with you once again Fr. Maxwell.
May God’s presence never depart from you. May the Lord Jesus Christ uphold you in His righteousness and grant you more years in His vineyard, Amen.
Congratulations Padre.
