August 10, 2020 – The ongoing uncertainty of a global pandemic could not keep our four Jesuit scholastics from getting ordained to the priesthood in August. Although dates and schedules had to be moved and rearranged, Fr. James Ferus, SJ, was ordained in Boston on August 1 with the seminarians from the archdiocese, and on August 8, Frs. Jason Downer, SJ, Kevin Hughes, SJ, and Douglas Ray, SJ, were ordained at the Saint Joseph’s University Chapel in Philadelphia.
If making their promises before God meant doing so behind a mask and with only immediate family present, then that was okay. Serving the Church and the people of God as Jesuit priests was not something they wanted to push until next year. And why would they? These young men have completed a decade of formation—a decade of study, ministry, prayer and discernment. Our East Coast Province, indeed, our country and the world, need good priests now more than ever. Please continue to pray for these Jesuit Fathers as they begin their work.
Click here to view the full Mass at the Saint Joseph’s University Chapel.
