Newly ordained Father Michael Willey celebrates Mass of thanksgiving
By Bill Brewer
Father Michael Willey, one of the Diocese of Knoxville’s three newest priests, was in good company for his second Mass at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland on June 9. And so were St. Thérèse parishioners.
Father Michael Willey, center, is joined by Father Mike Creson, left, and Father Mike Nolan before the new priest’s Mass of thanksgiving on June 9. (Photo Bill Brewer)
Father Willey was one of three Father Mikes celebrating the liturgy as he led the congregation during his Mass of thanksgiving.
Also at the altar were St. Thérèse of Lisieux pastor Father Mike Nolan and Father Mike Creson, who is retired from active ministry and serves at St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Deacon Steve Ratterman served as deacon of the altar.
But all eyes were on Father Willey, who chose his home parish for his first Masses as a priest. The first service Father Willey celebrated on June 9 was the early Mass for the Hispanic community. The new priest is fluent in Spanish.
Father Willey also was one of three priests to join the presbyterate in East Tennessee on June 8.
The sacrament of holy orders was conferred on Father Willey, Father Bo Beaty, and Father Danny Herman by Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and they are the 60th, 61st, and 62nd priests ordained in the diocese since it was established in 1988.
Just as the thanksgiving Mass was about to begin, Father Nolan remarked that the “Three Mikes” would be leading the celebration.
“Today is the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, but it’s not an ordinary day for Father Michael Willey of our parish, who celebrates his second Mass of thanksgiving. His first Mass was at 8 a.m. in Spanish. We are very thankful for the gifts and the talents that he brings to our diocese,” Father Nolan said in introducing his young colleague.
“Frankly, Father Mike (Creson) and Father Mike (Nolan) wish that Father Mike would be assigned here. But his assignment begins July 1 at All Saints in Knoxville. May we give thanks for his vocation and promise to continue to pray for him in his priestly service,” the pastor added, receiving laughs at his “Three Mikes” reference.
Father Michael Willey gives Communion to his father, Richard Willey, at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland. (Photo Bill Brewer)
In his homily, Father Willey said that despite the attention a large ordination Mass draws, the ordination of three priests is about one person: Jesus Christ.
“It’s a great honor and joy for me to be with you all this morning for the first time as a priest of Jesus Christ. These last couple of days, yesterday (June 8) especially, have been a whirlwind, and it will take me a while to unpack everything that has happened. But my ordination as a priest, in spite of all the pomp and celebration, is not primarily about me. And if I thought it was, then I really would be missing the point of all of this,” Father Willey said.
“Because it’s not about me, but rather as St. Paul says to the Corinthians, ‘everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God,’” he added.
Instead, Father Willey let the congregation know that his priesthood is to be the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus.
“The reason that I have been ordained a priest is not because I am particularly worthy of some kind of honor, or because I am especially or uniquely holy. But rather it is that I have been called to receive this graceful order so that I, in turn, might become an instrument of God’s grace for all of you, so that God’s grace might then be abundantly poured out upon all of us so that together, as a single body, we might offer to God an overflowing thanksgiving and praise,” he continued.
One of the diocese’s newest priests then put his priesthood in the perspective of God’s grace and His gift of the Eucharist.
“Personally, this is an immensely humbling thing, as it means that everything that I have personally gone through, all of the classes and the assignments, all of the retreats, and everything else that has made up these last six years of seminary formation, all of it was for the sake of what we are about to do here at this altar as we offer to God the most humble gifts of bread and wine that will astoundingly, through the words that I will pronounce, become the flesh and blood of our Lord, Jesus,” he explained.
Humility was a theme in Father Willey’s Mass of thanksgiving, just as it was in Father Beaty’s and Father Herman’s first Masses on June 9.
“Again, I don’t say any of that to put myself on a pedestal. There is really nothing special about me. I am a sinner just as much as the next person. And if I have done anything, it is only, in so far as I can, to try to listen to what seems to be the will of God and to do it. And that is no more and no less than what we are all called to do as Christians,” Father Willey said.
Father Willey blesses a young man attending the new priest’s Mass of thanksgiving on June 9. (Photo Bill Brewer)
Father Willey, who completed his studies at St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology this past spring, encouraged the congregation to be open to God’s will.
“So, if I can say a word of exhortation beyond the constant exhortation to give praise and glory to God, then I would encourage you all to listen with attentiveness to the will of God, especially those of you who are young, to follow that calling with boldness,” he said. “While it is doubtless that there are many callings here, some callings being more common than others, I encourage you to be bold in the sense that God may be calling you to a way of life that is, perhaps, a little less ordinary. Because it is also doubtless that I am not the only one who God is calling to serve Him at His altar.”
He also urged the faithful to live not for today but for a heavenly future.
“For what is seen is transitory. But what is unseen is eternal. In other words, as Christians our lives should only make sense in the light of eternity. As St. Paul says in another place, if for this life only we have hoped in Christ, then we are of all people the most to be pitied. To live a Christian life, to follow a Christian vocation is to live in such a way that only makes sense in light of what endures, which given the transience of this life is in the end the only sensible way for anyone to live.
“When we live in this way; when we live not for that which is seen but rather for that which is unseen and eternal, then we can discover that boldness that enables us to fearlessly follow the vocation that God has given us. Since we know that our earthly dwelling in time shall be destroyed, that we have a dwelling from God, a dwelling not made with hands that is eternal in heaven.
“So, again, if I want something for myself and my priesthood, it is only that—toward the end of my course, to be welcomed by God into His heavenly dwelling. And if my priesthood is of any benefit for you, I desire only that it might be an instrument of your sanctification so that the one who has raised the Lord Jesus will raise you also and place me with you in His presence when our earthly pilgrimage is over,” he shared.
He thanked the congregation for its attendance at his Mass of thanksgiving.
“It’s a great honor and a great privilege. Please continue to pray for me as I continue in this new part of my life, and I will be praying for you,” he concluded.
The congregation then gave Father Willey an ovation.
Father Willey’s dad, Richard Willey, was impressed with his son’s first Masses.
“It’s just a very amazing experience to see him and all of his hard work finally come to fruition. I’m very proud of him,” said Mr. Willey, who lives in Madison, Tenn., in the Diocese of Nashville.
Mr. Willey also attended his son’s first Mass at St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and he was equally impressed.
“He did it well; I just didn’t understand anything in Spanish. In the English Mass, I thought his homily was excellent. He did a really good job,” he noted.
Father Nolan is looking forward to seeing his former parishioner as they serve in the Diocese of Knoxville together.
“Our diocese has certainly been blessed, not only with Father Michael Willey but with the other two men who are now my brothers. May they guard, guide, and grace us in our journey as together we grow closer with Christ. Amen,” Father Nolan said.
