Sunday, June 26, 2016

A Breath Of Fresh Air

Today, a son of one of the seminarians, Edmond Philip Ilg, in the Redemptoris Mater Seminary was ordained in Washington D.C.   Father and son are called to the priesthood.

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Call to priesthood is all in the family for Deacon Philip Ilg


CS PHOTO BY JACLYN LIPPELMANN Philip Ilg will be one of eight new priests ordained by Cardinal Wuerl for the Archdiocese of Washington on June 25.When Deacon Philip Ilg is ordained as priest of the Archdiocese of Washington on June 25, among the family and friends who will gather for the happy event will be a fellow seminarian.

This seminarian who will be at the Mass shares with Deacon Ilg not only a desire to become a priest, but also a last name. Edmond Ilg, who is preparing for his own priestly ordination, is the father of Deacon Ilg.

Both future priests are members of the Neocatechumenal Way. Founded in Spain in 1964, the Neocatechumenal Way is a Catholic movement dedicated to adult and family faith formation. An estimated 1.5 million Catholics belong to the Way in about 40,000 parish-based groups worldwide. The Neocatechumenal Way has also established more than 70 Redemptoris Mater diocesan mission seminaries around the world, including one in the Archdiocese of Washington.

The Ilg family joined the Way – as it is familiarly called – after Deacon Ilg’s mother, Constance, lost a son, named Joseph, at birth. Edmond and Connie joined in 1996, and young Philip joined three years later.

“Their (the Way’s) catechesis helped my parents in a difficult time,” Deacon Ilg said.

Deacon Ilg, who will be just 11 days shy of his 30th birthday when he is ordained, said he first thought about becoming a priest when he was 8 years old.

“I remember I was setting the altar one day as an altar boy and I had this moment where I thought I would be doing that for the rest of my life,” he said. “That feeling soon went away, but it really happened.”

During the 2002 World Youth Day in Toronto, “that feeling” returned.

“I would call it a ‘key moment’ when I got in touch with the mercy of God,” he said of his World Youth Day experience. “It was something that changed my life, and I got more involved in the Church after that.”

“That was an important point in my life where I felt the love of God at a liturgy of Penance,” he said. “After that I just kept discovering the Church as a life-giving place of refuge and grew deeper in the faith.”

He said that after World Youth Day, “I started thinking about (the priesthood), and I asked God for a sign.”

The sign came during a retreat in Asbury Park, a seaside resort in New Jersey. Deacon Ilg said he was sitting on the beach alone when “a priest came walking toward me … he said, ‘Keep your ears open – maybe God is calling you.’ ”

Although Deacon Ilg went to Catholic school in his native New Jersey, was an altar server and his parents were active in their parish, his mother was not too receptive to the idea of her only son becoming a priest.

He said his mother initially disapproved of his vocation because, as her only surviving son, she had hoped one day to become a grandmother.

Five years ago, Deacon Ilg’s mother died from cancer. “When she was dying, she came to terms with me becoming a priest,” he said. “She told me, ‘I want you to do what God is calling you to do.’”

Deacon Ilg called his late mother’s initial reluctance to his becoming a priest “a fire that my vocation went through.”
After Connie’s death, Deacon Ilg’s father discerned his own priestly vocation and later entered a Neocathecumenal Way Redemptoris Mater seminary in Guam. “He’s very happy,” Deacon Ilg said of his father’s own seminary studies.
After his ordination, Deacon Ilg said his role as a priest will be “to be in touch with the people.”

“I want to be among the people and share my experience of faith with them and teach them how to experience the love of God,” he said. As a priest, he realizes that “a person’s soul is put in my hands, and one day I will have to answer for that.”
He added that “doing the work of the Lord, the mission of the Lord, gives me peace. The Lord called me to this, and He will give me peace.”

“I am happy,” Deacon Ilg said of his impending ordination. “At the end of the day, this is really the Lord’s work and His mission, and He will bring it to a good conclusion.”

Deacon Ilg will celebrate his first Mass as a priest on June 26 at 9:30 a.m. at Holy Redeemer Church in Kensington.


49 comments:

  1. He looks like his father, only younger. :)

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    1. Dear Diana, I have a grave concern. CCOG exposed its plan of destroying NCW on island. They bribed corrupt politicians who will put pressure and use the power of dirty politics in the Senate of Guam to force through an unconstitutional bill that will authorize them to link the testimonies of alleged sexual abuse victims to the RMS.

      It is a blatant political blackmailing that intends to free monetary responsibility of the corporation sole owning RMS for alleged sexual crimes that were allegedly committed over 40 years ago. It is a transparent plot to bring the NCW into their grand desing of sexual abuse accusations so that they may put a hand on the assets of NCW.

      It is not only a rabid political agenda to damage Catholic faith life on Guam and destroy their perceived personal adversaries, it is also a well thought-off clandestine operation to embarrass Vatican and grievously undermine the authority of Catholic Church leadership, eminently of Pope Francis. Yes, it is apparently a very wide and overarching anti-Pope activism, folks!

      Honest politicians of proper education would be abhorred from joining this kind of malicious plotting in any country, especially in the mainland where constitutional thinking and respect to the laws are in high esteem and indispensable political standards. But here in a far-away spot in the Pacific Ocean, it seems like, your career as a politician is very much dependent on supporting and being part of suspicious agendas on demand by barely known entities.

      This whole story could happen only on Guam, folks, only on our beautiful island! Nowhere else this could be tolerated. But don't be discouraged, the world will look at all these anti-Catholic dealings with curious eyes and will promptly recognize the fanatics of sheer destruction hiding behind. They are the ones who will be made responsible.

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    2. Why didn't you use your grave concern to testify against the unconstitutional bill????

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    3. Really? You think the senator who introduced the bill was bribed by the CCOG? That's a pretty harsh accusation with no proof at all.

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    4. The unconstitutional bill will fade away soon and with it CCOG, Rohr, Klitzkie, etc. as well.

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    5. Oh really?! These politicians are so greedy, they would do anything to get re-elected. Lol!

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  2. This OP states that the NCW is a movement for adult faith formation. Why did Archbishop Apuron join?

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 9:00 am,

      Some people mistakenly label it a movement, but it is an itinerary of Christian formation. As to why the Archbishop joined, that is a question only he can answer.

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    2. Now why would an archbishop join an itinerary of Christian formation? As a high ranking member in our Catholic church, that doesn't make any sense at all and as an NCW insider, I would think you would know the answer Diana.

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    3. Your OP actually labeled it a Catholic movement Diana.

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    4. Dear Anonymous at 10:05 am,

      It was the news report that labels it a movement.

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    5. Dear Anonymous at 10:04 am,

      Your question is best answered by the Archbishop himself. Also, he is not the only Bishop who has joined the NCW.

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    6. "Also, he is not the only Bishop who has joined the NCW."

      And this is a big problem. As "an itinerary of Christian formation" the NCW can be compared with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and in fact its "steps" reflect that comparison.

      So, would we be concerned if a bishop (or a priest for that matter) decided that he needed to go through the RCIA? That would surely indicate that he was unfit or not ready to assume the responsibilities of the ordained.

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    7. Dear Anonymous at 11:27 am,

      All of us including priests and bishops are sinners. The mentality that a priest or a bishop is holy and not a sinner is wrong. Salvation is a life long process. Just because you are a priest or bishop does not automatically give you salvation. In the same way, being Catholic also does not guarantee your salvation. Salvation comes only from God, and God has many different ways of reaching people. The reason the Catholic Church has so many different organizations is to meet the many different needs of her members so they know Christ and attain salvation through him.

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    8. That is hardly the point Diana. The NCW (and the RCIA) ostensibly exists to initiate people into the Christian faith and form them accordingly. To say that priests and/or bishops require that initiation and formation is to cast into doubt their role as shepherd, teacher and guide. It is the bishops and priests who are properly those that should form others. Their initiation and formation should have occurred well before they were ordained. If, then, bishops and priests claim to require the NCW for their formation, it casts doubt on their ability to lead and pastor the people of God.

      Furthermore, the grace of the sacrament of ordination is diminished and cast aside if it is granted that bishops and priests require the formation provided by lay, uneducated, self-appointed teachers.

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    9. Dear Anonymous at 12:32 pm,

      The NCW does not ordain priests nor does it form priests. It can inspire its members to join the priesthood, but the NCW is not a seminary to form priests. The priests in the community are not there to be formed. They serve to guide us especially the Catechists who are lay people.

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    10. Well said 12:32 PM!!

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    11. So AB Apuron is there only to guide? Why only one community then? Shouldn't he be checking out the other communities as well?

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    12. Anon 12:32,

      And what about those scandals that were in the church prior to the NCW being on Guam? Would not those events also make someone think that priests are "unfit" to lead the Church? You really want to point our bishop being unfit because he is a member of the NCW, which is an itinerary for Christian formation? If anything, him being a bishop, and being a member of a group that encourages walking towards Jesus Christ, is the PERFECT EXAMPLE of a Church leader. A leader that is willing to walk with his flock, is a great leader, and a perfect example of a an archbishop.

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    13. Dear Diana,
      Is it possible for a priest (or bishop) to have a lay person for his catechist?

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    14. I did not say that the NCW ordain priests. But I did say that the NCW exists to form Christians. Therefore the involvement of priests and bishops as active members of NCW communities, subject to the same catechists and steps as other members, suggests that they are yet to be formed, or that their formation is incorrect.

      The fact is that the NCW structure establishes the catechists as a higher authority than the priest or bishop, at least in respect to their "walking in the way". Or are you going to say that the priest/bishop NCW member does not have to comply with the necessary participation of the various steps? And does the requirement for obedience to the catechist apply to the priest/bishop that walks in the NCW?

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    15. Dear Anonymous at 3:13 pm,

      The Archbishop is there to oversee all the communities, not just his community. He chose to walk with the NCW, but because he is the Archbishop, he is treated differently. For example, he does not have a catechist, and he is not a catechist for a community because he oversees the entire Neocatechumenal Way.

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    16. To Anon arguing why Archbishop joined the Way and arguing or questioning initiation and formation....please take a glance at the ad hoc committees just appointed as "vital groups to help the Church move forward" Comittee II Ongoing Formation. One never reaches a point where we no longer need conversion we as Christians are called to convert, learn and grow each day until we die. Hope this helps your doubt.

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    17. Dear Anonymous at 4:34 pm,

      Every catechists has a priest; therefore, the priest is part of the catechist team. Because the priest is part of the catechist team, he is there to guide them.

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    18. "he does not have a catechist"

      Really? Does he not go through the steps in the community? If so, how does he avoid the catechists? And if not, what does it mean to say that "he chose to walk with the NCW"?

      Also, do priests who "choose to walk with the NCW" have catechists or not? Are they required (or encouraged) to be obedient to their catechists?

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    19. Dear anon at 2.59pm

      "If anything, him being a bishop, and being a member of a group that encourages walking towards Jesus Christ, is the PERFECT EXAMPLE of a Church leader. A leader that is willing to walk with his flock, is a great leader, and a perfect example of a an archbishop."

      Ok so when you say a "leader that is willing to walk with his flock" are you referring to shepherd or to one of the sheep? If he is the shepherd, then he should not be part of the flock. If he is a sheep, he should not be Bishop or priest.

      This is the obvious issue with priests and bishops "walking". They are meant to be the shepherds, but you know as well as I that the shepherds are subject to others who lead them! And these others are not ordained nor do they have any qualification to lead the pastors.

      As I said at the outset, the NCW claims it is a means by which Christians can be formed - that is what is meant by the term "itinerary of Christian formation". Bishops and priests should already have been formed so that they can form others. The fact of the ordained clergy "walking" is a great problem and should make you stop and think.

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    20. The statutes of the NCW state that the NeoCatechumenal Way is a POST-baptismal catechumenate. Many priests (and some bishops) have benefited from their joining the Way not only in their priestly vocation but in their more basic vocation as a baptized Christian. Priests are baptized Christians also, and like lay people they need the support of other fellow Christians, for conversion for everyone is a lifelong process. The latest Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith document Iuvenescit Ecclesia (2016) states that the Church and its members need both the hierarchical institutional Church and the dynamic and new "charismatic" realities like the NeoCatechumenal Way, the Charismatic movement and the Focolare to enrich their faith life. Both the hierarchy and the new charismatic realities are from the same Holy Spirit. Overemphasizing one at the expense of the other impoverishes the Church and its members. Thus it is GOOD if a priest joins these new realities for their own spiritual growth.

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    21. "he oversees the entire Neocatechumenal Way"

      What does he do to "oversee the entire Neocatechumenal Way" What role specifically does he have say in the second scrutiny of the third community? The catechist has clearly defined roles in that case, but what about the bishop?

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    22. Dear Anon 5:20 pm, the referred text claims:

      Ordained ministers also may find through their participation in a charismatic entity both a reminder of the meaning of their own baptism by which they became sons of God and their own specific mission and vocation. An ordained member of the faithful will be able to find in a determined ecclesial group help to live, at a deep level, the challenges of his own specific ministry both in relation to the whole People of God, particularly to that portion that has been entrusted to him, and in relation to the sincere obedience owed to his Ordinary.[102] Analogously, the same thing may be said in the case of candidates for the priesthood belonging to a particular ecclesial group, as affirmed in the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis;[103] such a relation should express itself in an active docility to one’s own specific formation, enriching this with the charism in question. Finally, the pastoral help that a priest will be able to offer to an ecclesial group, depending on the group’s own proper characteristics, must always be in conformity with the regimen foreseen in the ecclesial communion for Holy Orders as related to incardination[104] and the obedience owed to his own Ordinary.[105]

      http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20160516_iuvenescit-ecclesia_en.html

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    23. I emphasize here that the priest provides help to NCW communities in conformity with the regimen of his incardination and in obedience to his Ordinary.

      What does this mean? When the faithful follows instruction from a layman catechist, s/he always can turn to the priest present for affirmation. This priest will follow his priestly vows and will give advice through the hierarchical gifts imbued in his office. His obedience to his Ordinary is a guarantee that the Church's authority is maintained throughout the stages and steps the community is passing through.

      The document calls the relation between hierarchical and charismatic gifts co-essential which means they are equally important to each other in order to make an impact on our ecclesiastical life.

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  3. I'm hoping that you testified at today's public hearing relative to the statute of limitation regarding child sexuL abuse. It would be comforting to know that the NCW is adamantly against sexual abuse and even more so against sexual abuse on children.

    I was at the hearing. I didn't see any of the clergy present.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:16 pm,

      The hearing was supposed to be against child sexual abuse, but it turned into a hearing against Archbishop Apuron because his name was constantly being mentioned. We knew all along the true nature of the hearing, and it never had anything to do with child sexual abuse.

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    2. "it never had anything to do with child sexual abuse. "

      Except that Archbishop Apuron has been accused of child sexual abuse. Good grief, you are terrible.

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 10:49 am,

      In that hearing yesterday, the Archbishop was not accused of sexual abuse. He was already labeled guilty of sexual abuse without the due process of trial. The hearing was more of a publicity stunt for alleged victims to recount their stories.

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    4. So, all the senators that were present were a part of this publicity stunt?

      Question...did you sign the petition to lift the statute of limitation that would allow for a civil lawsuit?

      Don't try to mislead your readership. This proposed law is in place for ALL children that may have been sexually abused.

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    5. Dina do you understand Apuron has been accused of Child Sex Abuse.

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  4. Tim Rohr is not Catholic.

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  5. I didnt sign because its part of conspiracy to take down the archbishop..i dont want any part of it. Letting Rome do the investigation..
    Senators are there to to thier job...
    I agree to protect the children generally speaking not specifically based on one person and using that as testimony....it just shows what session wad all about....figure it out...

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  6. Tim. Rohr is a better Catholic that you can ever inspire to be. He follows our faith and practice's our faith as we were taught by our local priests and family. How about you?

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 10:31 am,

      A person with a foul mouth spitting out profanity is far from practicing the Catholic faith.

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    2. Profanity is a grave danger to everybody, especially for the underage, who are misled by believing that following Christ means cursing and spitting out ugly words. Well, it is not! Following Christ means you abandon your pride, take up your cross and walk his way humbly, in humility before God.

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    3. "Rohr is a better Catholic that you can ever inspire to be."

      Lol, this is against the teaching of the Catholic Church! Idolizing man, as jungle folks idolize Rohr, is from the devil. Our Lord Jesus said there is only one God in heaven who is Lord of all.

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  7. There is nothing wrong with profanity provided it is justified profanity.
    A person who abused our children deserves profanity.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:27 am,

      There is no such thing as justified profanity. A person can always communicate his message without the use of profanity.

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  8. No one is perfect and Tim has faults like all of us. His resorting to profanity may be a short coming but I think you are way off base saying he is not Catholic. He loves his church and his island and is fighting to help all of us. Why can't you see this? The Neo way is not the only way.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:42 am,

      I agree that all of us are not perfect and have character flaws, but what Catholic do you know goes against the Vatican? His public criticism of Archbishop Hon is a criticism against Pope Francis who sent him in his stead. His message to his followers not to ask Rome for any help is against the Catholic faith.

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    2. "...what Catholic do you know goes against the Vatican?" Lots of Catholics!

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    3. Pope Francis welcomes criticism as well as the rest of us. He has changed his mind on a myriad of subjects since he took office as I am sure you are aware. Just because he sent Archbishop Hon here doesn't mean that Guam has to follow blindly all that Hon has proposed for us to follow. There can be a meeting of the minds so all of us can co-exist here on Guam

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    4. Dear Anonymous at 7:19 am

      Have you ever seen Pope Francis criticize a person?

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