Bishop Carl A. Kemme looked at the 10 men sitting in front of him and said: "Your hour has come."

He said it was time for them to take their place as priests of Jesus Christ, "to put your hand to the plow with Christ without ever looking back, to abandon the nets of previous plans that you had or others may have had for you and be fishers of men and women for Christ."

In his homily Saturday, May 27, in an overflowing Church of the Magdalen in Wichita, Bishop Kemme told the men who were about to be ordained that the hour had come for them to take their place at the altar, "and to do what Jesus did at table and say what Jesus said 'This is my Body; this is my Blood.'"

He asked them to offer the church a joyful priestly witness. "Radiate the joy of knowing that you have been chosen and called in this hour for others not by any merit of your own but simply because God has chosen you and sends you forth. Therefore never fail to give a bold, courageous and persevering witness to the church."

Bishop Kemme prayed that their example be an inspiration to others, that their preaching of the Gospel would move hearts, that their love for the people sustain them and the people they will serve as all journey to the kingdom of God.

	The priests-to-be lie prone during the Litany of Supplication.

After talking about how he was one of the most envied bishops in the country because of the number of men he was ordaining, Bishop Kemme talked about how the men to be ordained were men of faith with many gifts and who had a desire to offer their lives in service to the faithful.

"The scope of their ministry, the many and profound ways that their lives will change the lives of others is well beyond our ability to comprehend," he said.

The phrase in the day's Gospel, "When the hour came," Bishop Kemme said had been a source of reflection for him in preparing for the ordination.

"The hour is not a reference to a chronological time...It is not like the proverbial lunch hour or happy hour. No, the hour refers to God's time, the time of fulfillment, the time of mission and salvation" he said.

Instead Jesus understood that the time of fulfillment had come and took his place with the Apostles for what would become not just a yearly Passover supper," he said, "but a memorial sacrifice in which Jesus would offer himself in atonement for the sins of the people.

"In this hour, he took the bread and the cup and said, 'This is my Body, which will be given for you. This cup is the new covenant in my Blood, which will be shed for you. Do this in memory of me.'"

The disciples would soon experience the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and would go forth to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth, Bishop Kemme said.

"In God's eternal providence, our hour has come, the time for the mission of Christ for you and for me, the time of discipleship," he said to the seminarians. "God has appointed us to live in this moment of human history. We may sometimes wonder why, but we should never question God's choice, for now is the hour for us, to make the most difference in the mission of the Church."

Ordained to the priesthood were Andrew Bergkamp, John Betzen, Jacob Carlin, Kyle Dugan, Adam Grelinger, Edmund Herzog, Andrew Hoffman, Clay Kimbro, Andrew Labenz, and Jorge López.

Ordained Saturday, May 20, also at Magdalen, were Michael Brungardt, Garett Burns, Isaac Coulter, Matthew Davied, Nicholaus Jurgensmeyer, Michael Kerschen, Christopher Martin, James Schibi, Todd Shepherd, and Derek Thome.

More about Bishop Kemme's homily at the ordination to the transitional diaconate online here, in the digital Advance here, or in the printed edition.

Bishop Kemme congratulates the Rev. Mr. Matt Davied after his ordination to the diaconate Saturday, May 20, at Church of the Magdalen. Above, the men to be ordained priests lie prone during the Litany of Supplication Saturday, May 27, at Magdalen. Video links are at the left. (Advance photo)

Father Jorge Lopez gives a traditional first blessing to family members who attended his first Mass Sunday, May 28, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita. Father Lopez was one of 10 men ordained for the Diocese of Wichita the day before at Church of the Magdalen in Wichita. (Advance photo)

Bishop Carl A. Kemme has announced the appointments of the priests who were ordained last week, and two other assignments. All of the appointments are effective June 20, 2017.

The Rev. Andrew Joseph Bergkamp - Newly ordained, Parochial vicar, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Wichita

The Rev. John David Betzen - Newly ordained, Parochial vicar, St. Anne Parish, Wichita

The Rev. Jacob Keith Carlin - Newly ordained, Parochial vicar, St. Patrick Parish, Wichita

The Rev. Kyle Martin Dugan - Newly ordained, Parochial vicar, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Wichita

The Rev. Adam Ewald Grelinger - Newly ordained, Parochial vicar, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Wichita

The Rev. Edmund Michael Herzog - Newly ordained, Parochial vicar, St. Margaret Mary Parish, Wichita

The Rev. Andrew Koelling Hoffman - Newly ordained, Parochial vicar, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Wichita

The Rev. Clay Alexander Kimbro - Newly ordained, Parochial vicar, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Pittsburg

The Rev. Andrew Joseph Labenz - Newly ordained, Parochial vicar, St. Francis of Assisi, Wichita

The Rev. Jorge Armando Lopez - Newly ordained, Parochial vicar, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Wichita

The Rev. Gabriel Greer - Assistant Master of Ceremonies, remaining as Parochial Vicar, Church of the Magdalen

The Rev. Matthew Marney - Administrator, Christ the King Parish, from June 20 - Aug. 1, 2017, without prejudice to being pastor of Holy Spirit Parish, Goddard, effective June 20. (The term "without prejudice" means that although Father Marney will be the administrator of Christ the King Parish, it does not affect his appointment as the pastor of Holy Spirit Parish.)

Bishop Carl A. Kemme is the envy of most bishops - he just ordained 10 priests. The challenge for him is...he has 10 new priests.

Bishop Kemme said he had the great privilege last week of ordaining men to the priesthood who will teach, sanctify, and preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the faithful of the Diocese of Wichita.

"While they are a blessing beyond words," he said, "these men have also presented me with the difficult, though enviable, responsibility of choosing their first assignments. Many of our parishes would benefit greatly from an additional priest, yet as is so often the case, those most in need are those least able to afford this added expense."

Bishop Kemme said the diocese has responded admirably to assist parishes through the St. Katharine Drexel Catholic School Fund, but that the needs of many of the poorest parishes extend beyond the financial needs of the schools.

"Several have experienced increases in registered households and their needs for sacramental ministry continue to grow," he said. "It is vital that they receive additional pastoral support."

With that in mind, Bishop Kemme has assigned parochial vicars to four of the parishes most in need, with a promise of financial assistance from the diocese. They are St. Patrick, St. Anne, St. Margaret Mary, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishes, all in Wichita.

St. Margaret Mary, with over 1,200 families, had 115 first communicants and 97 confirmandi this year, in addition to a Catholic school with over 200 students.

"St. Margaret Mary is a very young, quickly growing parish," said its pastor, Father Eric Weldon.

The parish has benefitted sacramentally and ministerially from having two priests in the parish, he added. Father Devin Burns, the parochial vicar there for nearly two years, has been reassigned to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Pittsburg.

Michael Wescott, director of the diocesan Office of Development and Planned Giving, said in any given year, 22 to 24 parishes qualify for participation in the St. Katharine Drexel Catholic School Fund that provides financial assistance to parishes with schools that are struggling financially.

"The assignment of a parochial vicar - an assistant to the pastor - at several parishes is by all means a blessing for the faithful of that parish," he said.

"The parishes that are struggling are the ones experiencing growth in the number of parishioners, have an increased number of baptisms, confirmations, and other demands on the ordained ministers. A second priest is vital to meeting the pastoral needs of those parishes."

Wescott said he was confident that those who have prayed for and worked so hard for the blessing of priestly vocations will help those parishes so desperately in need of pastoral and financial assistance.

He said the cost of a parochial vicar is $40,400 to the parish. The figure includes the priest's salary and health care premiums.

"The hope would be that the parish would pay for 50 percent of the parochial vicar in his first year, 50 percent in his second year, and 33 percent in his third year," Wescott said. "That gives the parish time to adjust to the new expense and at the end of the third year assume the full cost."

The Development office will be soliciting assistance via mail in addition to the Catholic Advance. The goal is to raise $80,800, an amount that would cover half of the cost of the expense to the four parishes in need.

The diocesan Development office will accept gifts of any amount to help parishes fund a parochial vicar. Gifts can be made online at Give.CatholicDioceseOfWichita.org or mailed to the Parochial Vicar Fund at 424 N. Broadway, Wichita KS 67202.  

The goal is to raise $80,800, an amount that would cover half of the cost of the expense to the four parishes in need. For more information, contact Mike Wescott at 316-269-3915.

A beautiful day contributed to the size of the group who participated in a Memorial Day Mass at Ascension Cemetery in Wichita. Masses were also celebrated at cemeteries across the Diocese of Wichita. The Mass honors those who served in the military and remembers those who died while serving. (Courtesy photo by Kathy Petr)

A fresco showing Noah releasing doves, lower right, and other scenes representing salvation are seen during the unveiling of two newly restored burial chambers in the Christian catacombs of St. Domitilla in Rome May 30. The Catacombs of St. Domitilla are believed to be the world's oldest Christian cemetery. (CNS photo)

ROME (CNS) -- Under a mown hayfield, whose dried-out stalks crunch underfoot, lies the four-level labyrinth of the early Christian Catacombs of St. Domitilla.

Ten miles of tunnels, carved out of soft volcanic tuff rock, snake and fork out in a dizzying number of different directions. Luckily, capsule bulbs of lights strung sparsely overhead work like Hansel and Gretel's trail of breadcrumbs leading to the sought-after destination: two newly restored burial chambers not yet open to the public.

The sprawling catacomb complex has about 70 burial chambers, or cubicula, but only 10 have been restored, said Barbara Mazzei, who oversaw the restoration of the chambers' frescoes.

She led a group of reporters to see the finished results May 30. They were unveiled by the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, which oversees the upkeep and preservation of more than 100 early Christian catacombs scattered all over Italy.

	Jonah is spit out of the whale in this fresco seen during the unveiling of two newly restored burial chambers in the Christian catacombs of St. Domitilla in Rome May 30. The Catacombs of St. Domitilla are believed to be the world's oldest Christian cemetery. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz)

The Catacombs of St. Domitilla are believed to be the world's oldest existing Christian cemetery and are among the largest in Italy with a total of some 150,000 burial spots.

The majority are small niches carved into the tunnel walls for poorer Christians; the niches were sealed with a slab of marble or walled up with brick. The round and sumptuously decorated cubicula rooms were built by wealthier families and trade cooperatives, whose members pooled their money for a more dignified resting place.

The newest restoration work was done on the chambers for the city's bakers, who ran a lucrative state-supported industry of ferrying grain into Rome and making and distributing bread, which was considered something every Roman had a right to with a daily ration.

Bernardino Bartocci, president of the modern city's association of bread makers, told Catholic News Service he attended the unveiling as a sign of how bakers continue to be and "have always been united as a group, like a big family."

The importance and spiritual significance of bread is evident throughout Christian beliefs, he said, and the early Christian bakers proudly displayed the glories of their craft on the ceiling's frescoes.

Pagan symbolism, such as depictions of the four seasons or a peacock representing the afterlife, together with biblical scenes are integrated without contradiction, Mazzei said.

The unifying motif is salvation and the deliverance from death as is underlined by the varied depictions of Noah in his ark welcoming back the dove, Abraham's aborted sacrifice of Isaac, Jonah and the whale, and the multiplication of the fishes and loaves, she said.

Restorers used lasers to send pulses of precise frequencies to selectively remove specific substances -- soot, algae and calcium carbonate -- without damaging the color pigments and underlying surfaces, she said.

Despite the seven years of meticulous work to reveal the frescoes' original splendor, restorers intentionally left the graffiti and autographs penned by visitors from the 1600s and 1700s.

The most prolific selfie-signature seen throughout the complex was "Bosio," left by Antonio Bosio, a Maltese-born lawyer and scholar who discovered this and many more abandoned catacombs in Rome.

His intense exploratory spirit and stunning discoveries earned him the name, "the Christopher Columbus of the catacombs," Mazzei said.

He also struck a new path for modern archaeology in which the focus switched from discovering pieces for collectors to understanding what those objects could have meant and disclosed about the past.

He also inadvertently revealed an abundant source of bones to feed the "martyr-mania" raging at the time, she said. He mistakenly believed the dead were all early Christian martyrs, when instead, they were simply devoted faithful who sought to be buried close to the site's original two martyrs: Sts. Nereus and Achilleus.

While the bakers' cubicula were to remain closed to the public, a small museum by the catacombs' main entrance was to open in June to showcase marble busts, ornately sculpted sarcophagi and simple slabs marking the daily lives and legacies of some of the church's early Christians.