By Paula Day

Father Alvaro Avendaño was ordained a priest June 6 in a celebration that highlighted the presence of the Hispanic community in the church of North Georgia.

The 31-year-old native of Colombia is the second priest from Latin America to be ordained in the archdiocese. Auxiliary Bishop Roberto Gonzalez, OFM, of Boston, presided at the liturgy, which was celebrated in Spanish.

In an emotional moment before the ordination, Archbishop James Lyke, OFM, greeted the community in Spanish. He thanked Bishop Gonzales, saying, “He is personally today my strong arm and I give thanks to God for sending him to be among us.”

The archbishop noted that a relationship exists between the archdiocese of Atlanta and Colombia, begun when the first priest from Colombia was ordained over a decade ago.

“There is a great, fertile field of faith developing in the state of Georgia, a field sowed with the richness of the Hispanic people and watered with their devotion to the Catholic Church,” he said. “It will be a great gift if more men and women of Latin origin would consider offering their lives to the service of their sisters and brothers here in Georgia.”

Noting that it has been over 10 years since Father Jorge Christancho, also from Colombia, was ordained for Atlanta, he said, “I hope it will not be another 13 years before we have the privilege of celebrating an event as the one we’re celebrating here today.”

Members of Our Lady of the Americas mission in Doraville as well as many parishes in the archdiocese with Hispanic populations crowded the Cathedral of Christ the King for the ordination.

The Anglo community was represented as well. Members of Christ Our Hope parish in Lithonia, where Father Avendaño served as a seminarian, and Immaculate Heart of Mary in Atlanta, where he has been assigned as a parochial vicar, were at the Mass.

In his greeting Bishop Gonzalez voiced the unspoken thoughts of many there.

“Each of us would have preferred you to be the ordaining bishop,” he said to Archbishop Lyke. “Your presence speaks of your love for your people. We pray that the Holy Spirit will be present in this time in your life.”

After the Gospel was read, the candidate was presented to Bishop Gonzalez and the community by Father Don Kenny, vocations director. To the formal questions of the bishop Father Kenny answered that Alvaro Avendaño was indeed worthy to be called to Holy Orders and the congregation applauded.

“In the mysterious plans of Divine Providence,” Bishop Gonzalez said in his homily, “your beloved archbishop finds himself carrying a very heavy cross…He stops to set his loving eyes upon his new son in the same way Jesus saw his mother and his loving disciple from the cross. From his cross he says to us today ‘I want this day to be a joyful day. I want in this local church all the sons and daughters of God to feel at home. I would like here in our multicultural, multiracial environment to reign a spirit of mutual respect and reconciliation and fraternal love, where unity and diversity are the living stones of this house of God…’”

Speaking directly to the candidate the bishop said, “You are being ordained during the year of the new evangelization when we are celebrating the fifth centenary of the evangelization of the Americas. Be a new priest for that new evangelization.”

“May your teachings be bread for the people of God,” he said, “and may your life be a stimuli for the disciples of Christ so by your word and example the house of the Lord, His Church, will continue to be solidly built.”

Following the homily the candidate made the promises of obedience binding him to his bishop and to service of the Church. He then prostrated himself while the Cathedral Choir and congregation sang the litany of the saints.

The actual moment of ordination followed. First Bishop Gonzalez and then each of the priests present laid hands upon the candidate. Then Bishop Gonzalez, with hands outstretched, said the prayers of consecration.

Father Avendaño’s mother and brother, Ricardo, assisted by Father Richard Kieran, vested him in the stole and chasuble.

The newly ordained priest than knelt before Bishop Gonzalez, who anointed his hands, signifying that they were set apart for ministry in the church. The bishop presented to him the sacred vessels which would be used in the celebration of Mass, concluding the rite of ordination.

The gifts of bread and wine brought to the altar by Gregorio and Martha Vasquez, Vincente and Graciela Muniz and Danette and Cole Fisher, members of parishes where Father Avendaño served as a seminarian.

When Archbishop Lyke came forward to be the first to embrace Father Avendaño at the kiss of peace, the congregation again burst into applause.

At the close of Mass Father Avendaño addressed the congregation of about 400, first in Spanish and then in English.

“By the grace of God I am here,” he said in a strong, clear voice. “The Anglo community as well as the rest have welcomed me. You have a very big heart and much love. I want to give my thanks to you. I am here to serve both communities, to serve the Church of God.”

Señora Avendaño, speaking through an interpreter, said, “The happiness right now is so great, and I want to share it with everyone. We came from so far and everyone is so welcoming, making me feel at home.”

Friends of the young priest crowded the Cathedral’s Hyland Center after the Mass, greeting him and wishing him well. “He’s a quiet, humble person who has touched a lot of people,” said Nora Beauchamp, one of the wellwishers.

Father Avendaño celebrated his first Mass at St. Michael’s parish in Gainesville on June 7. Both the Anglo and Hispanic communities in the parish greeted the priest, whom they had welcomed when he first came to the archdiocese after completing his seminary studies in Colombia.