Atlanta’s Father Joseph Ware marked his silver jubilee on May 8 at Savannah’s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist along with Bishop Andrew J. McDonald of Little Rock, Ark., former classmate and long-time friend of Father Ware. Both Father Ware and Bishop McDonald were ordained in the cathedral 25 years ago.

During the special Mass, Monsignor Daniel J. Bourke delivered the homily. Excerpts from Monsignor’s comments on Father Ware follow:

Father Joseph F. Ware was born August 3, 1922, the son of John DeWitt Ware and Mary Whealon Ware. There were six children in the family, five boys and a girl. Joseph F., as you know, became a priest of God.

He attended Sacred Heart School for eight years and Benedictine for three years before entering St. Charles Seminary in Catonsville, Maryland. From there, he went on to St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, and St. Mary’s Seminary, Roland Park, Maryland.

Father Joseph Ware’s first assignment was at this cathedral in Savannah as assistant to Monsignor McNamara. Most of the years of his priesthood have been spent, however, in the northern section of the state, which in 1956 became the Diocese of Atlanta. He served in the Atlanta diocese as assistant at St. Thomas More and St. John the Evangelist. He has been a pastor at Sacred Heart Church, Milledgeville, and Sts. Peter and Paul, Decatur. He is at the present time pastor of Holy Spirit Church in Atlanta.

I have known Fr. Joe, and known him well, since he was a seminarian. He used to visit me frequently when I was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in Savannah. I noticed then something different about him. Even at that early date, he had a remarkable love not only for the Church but also for the land of his forebears. He was manifesting even then an interest in Ireland and her history and her language that put many of us native-born Irish priests to shame. That interest he has continued to the present day so that his visits to Ireland are frequent, his knowledge of the Gaelic language and history extensive. I noticed that he rode in the last St. Patrick’s Day parade as chaplain to the Grande Marshal.

I do not believe that in all of Georgia there is a more orthodox or saintly priest than Fr. Joseph Ware. He knew that when he decided to put his hand to the plow there would be no turning back. He expounds the word of God in his parish church with zeal, with clarity, and he does so effectively. He knows that, in the words of St. Paul, a priest is taken from among men by God as Aaron was, and that his first duty as a priest of Jesus Christ is to act as a mediator between God and His people and offer up sacrifices to God for himself and his people, to acknowledge God’s supreme dominion over man, to thank God for the many blessings he has given man, to make reparation for his own sins and sins of the people, and to petition God for future blessings.

The love of God overflowing in his soul makes him a compassionate priest, taking care of the needy and the disconsolate.