Fifteen new priests!

I realize this is old news for some, but others may not have heard:

Priests forever: 15 men make history at archdiocese’s largest ordination in decades

In an ancient ritual, each ordinand knelt before Archbishop Flynn, who laid his hands on their heads as he silently prayed for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. For more than 30 minutes, hundreds of priests also streamed past the kneeling ordinands, stopping briefly to place their hands on each one as a sign of unity.

Did you catch that? Hundreds of priests. A little imprecise perhaps, but it sure conjures up an image. It must have been a sight!

For great photos of the event, go here. (Photo page courtesy Veritatis Splendor)

This is the lucky fella of those 15 who was assigned to my parish, Nativity of Our Lord: Fr. James Liekhus.
At 25, he's now the youngest priest in the state of MN.

Fun anecdote:

A special memory Liekhus has is when he met Pope John Paul II after a private Mass with him. As he stood in line waiting for the Holy Father to greet him, Liekhus reviewed in his mind what he was going to say.
“I was going to say something like, ‘Pray for us, Holy Father’ or ‘God bless you, Holy Father,’” Liekhus said.
But when the pope stood before him, Liekhus couldn’t speak. “I just genuflected and kissed his ring like everybody else, and I had a huge smile on my face,” he said with a chuckle.

See the article here.