Bismarck Diocese Seminarian Nick Vetter was among 43 seminarians who received the ministry of acolyte on Feb. 24 during Mass in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, Pontifical North American College, Vatican City State. The Most Reverend Steven J. Lopes, Bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, conferred the honor to the men.
In his homily, Bishop Lopes stressed the importance of Christ’s love as a measure for our lives noting that Jesus Christ is “a love without conditions, a love without limits, a love that was willing to give all; that is the love that is revealed in God, in Christ.” He said this love is “the truth of an encounter that transforms us” and he added, “it is an encounter that is experienced particularly today by those who have received the Ministry of Acolyte because we are servants of the Mass, and the Eucharist, which is the principle place of that encounter.”
Bishop Lopes told the newly instituted acolytes that the “acolyte understood in the context of this seminary is a ritual step towards ordination. It is a ritual drawing near to the altar, to the sacrifice, and to the Lord’s cross.”
He concluded by asserting: “The love we encounter at the altar, the love by which you draw nearer today, changes us. It transfigures us. It accomplishes in us what you and I, humanly speaking, could never ask or even imagine. And so, we love differently. We are changed by the sacramental outpouring of grace. Because at the altar we know ourselves to be loved in a way that is unimaginable. This is the heart of the Christian faith. This is the heart of the Gospel itself.”
As part of the rite, the bishop placed the paten, which contains the hosts for the celebration of Mass, in the hands of each candidate.He then said, “take this vessel with bread for the celebration of the Eucharist. Make your life worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and of his Church.”
The seminarians, currently in their second year of formation for the priesthood, would have two additional years of theological studies before being ordained to the priesthood in their home dioceses.
The Pontifical North American College serves as the American seminary in Rome. Founded in 1859 by Blessed Pius IX, the College has formed over 5,000 priests near the heart of the Church for service in dioceses around the United States, Canada, and Australia. Seminarian Nick Vetter is among the six seminarians currently studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome including Deacons Gregory Crane and Brandon Wolf and Christian Smith, Grant Dvorak and Jake Magnuson.