IJAMSVILLE – On the morning of his Dec. 14 ordination, Deacon Rondall C. Howard III was all smiles and full of excitement. At its end, Father Rondall C. Howard III was beaming with pure joy.
“Everyone is like ‘Are you nervous? Are you excited?’ I’ve been nine years on this journey,” Father Howard said beforehand, watching the parking lot at St. Ignatius of Loyola in Ijamsville steadily fill. “The amount of love and support from them, that’s where my heart is today. I know I am called to serve those who have given me so much.”
About 525 people – including 32 priests, 60 seminarians, 10 deacons, family members and friends, filled the pews of the Frederick County parish to celebrate Father Howard’s ordination.
“God the Father looks upon you with love. You are his son,” Archbishop William E. Lori said in his homily. “Jesus calls you his friend as he sends you forth to bear the good and lasting fruit of the Gospel. What do you hope to accomplish? … The answer is love.”
During the liturgy, Father Howard prostrated himself in front of the altar as the congregation chanted the Litany of Saints and asked heavenly intercessors to pray for him. Archbishop Lori laid his hands on him, calling down the Holy Spirit. Each priest did the same.
During the liturgy, the archbishop anointed the hands of the new priest and presented him a paten and chalice. He embraced Father Howard, a gesture repeated by all the other priests.
Father Howard was originally to be ordained to the priesthood last year, but requested extra discernment time. He spent some time away, even working as a bank teller. During his diaconal assignment at St. John in Westminster, Father Howard told the Catholic Review, he felt affirmed in his call to religious life.
“It took courage to say, ‘I need more time,’” Father Howard’s sister, Amy Howard, said after the ordination Mass, calling her brother a “role model.”
“He took a little bit of extra time, and I think that extra time paid off,” said Father Steven Roth, vocations director for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Father Roth vested Father Howard with the chasuble of a priest during the liturgy.
Lisa Howard, Father Howard’s mother, said his family is excited and happy for him.
“We’re just proud of him,” she said.
Father Howard is the eldest of four children. His father, Rondall Howard Jr., died in 2021.
Samantha Urban met Father Howard 13 years ago when they worked together in youth ministry at Christ the King in Glen Burnie.
“He is an amazing man,” Urban said. “It is so good to see him be Father Ron.”
During the Mass, Archbishop Lori announced that Father Howard will begin his priestly duties at St. Ignatius where he will serve as associate pastor alongside Father Brian Nolan, pastor. After his ordination, Father Howard offered priestly blessings to some who lined up to receive them, with many more receiving blessings at an off-site reception.
“It was a great day for Father Ron,” Father Nolan said. “The parish is excited. They love Father Ron.”
Archbishop Lori, joined at the liturgy by Auxiliary Bishops Adam J. Parker and Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., noted Father Howard was the 50th priest he has ordained in his time as leader of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
“If I say my blessings, eat my Wheaties and don’t get fired, I can get that number up to 70,” the archbishop said, as he gestured to the seminarians present. “God has blessed us.”
Father Howard said afterward that the experience was more than he “could ever imagine.”
“I’m a priest of Jesus Christ,” Father Howard said. “It doesn’t get better than that.”
Email Katie Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org
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Also see: Deacon Rondall Howard ready for ordination to priesthood
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