Above: Dennis Baker, S.J., former Xavier teacher and
coach, will be ordained a priest on June 13.

Xavier Celebrates Jesuit Ordinands
 

On Saturday, June 13, the Society of Jesus will celebrate the ordination of Jesuits Dennis Baker, S.J., Brent Otto, S.J., John Peck, S.J., and Sean Toole, S.J., during a liturgy at Fordham University Church. They will be ordained by the Most Reverend Matthew H. Clark, bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Rochester, N.Y. The ceremony will be streamed live online at www.fordham.edu/media beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Rev. Baker, a former Xavier High School teacher and coach who served as the homilist at the Class of 2015's Baccalaureate Mass on June 6, is a familiar face to many on 16th Street. A native of upstate New York, he attended Buffalo's Canisius High School, where he came to know the Jesuits. He is a trustee of Fairfield University in Connecticut and Regis High School in Manhattan. To read his full biography, click here.

Rev. Baker's first Mass will celebrate his first Mass as a Jesuit priest at the Church of St. Francis Xavier. Members of the Xavier community are invited to a Mass of Thanksgiving and reception on Thursday, June 18. To RSVP, click here.

In total, 28 men are being ordained Jesuit priests this summer across the United States and Canada—the largest group of new priests ordained by the Society of Jesus in more than 15 years. Nineteen of the 28 men attended a Jesuit high school or university, and some entered the Society before they graduated from college. Others had careers before discerning their vocation. Each of the men being ordained has earned a graduate degree in theology, and they have all served at Jesuit high schools and colleges. Many have traveled abroad to work with the poor, assisted in local parishes and homeless shelters, and served as chaplains in hospitals and prisons, just as St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, laid out in his precise guidelines for Jesuit formation.

Please join Xavier High School in prayer for the new Jesuits being ordained and for continued vocations to the Society of Jesus and the universal Church. To learn more about Jesuit vocations, visit www.jesuitvocations.org.