Fourth member of class of 2020 excited to serve God’s people in the model of the Good Shepherd
DETROIT — Fr. Andrew Mabee’s first words after being ordained June 8 at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament summed up his emotions.
“Holy smokes, I’m a priest!” Fr. Mabee, 32, exclaimed to laughter and cheers from those who came to support him.
The fourth of the five-member class of 2020 to be ordained for the Archdiocese of Detroit, Fr. Mabee expressed gratitude and joy after Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron ordained him to serve Catholics in southeast Michigan.
Fr. Mabee studied at Sacred Heart Major Seminary along with his classmates, Fr. Mark Tibai, Fr. John Carlin, Fr. David Pellican and Deacon Colin Fricke, who will be ordained tomorrow, June 13, at 10 a.m.
During his homily, Archbishop Vigneron remarked that Fr. Mabee’s ordination was a wholly unmerited gift from God for the sake of the salvation of souls.
“We’re here so we can not only witness but give God praise and thanks as Jesus shares through the power of his Holy Spirit his pastoral ministry with Andrew,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “This identity that he shares with Andrew is at the core of his being. He says, ‘I am the Good Shepherd,’ not, ‘I do this from time to time until I retire.’”
Fr. Mabee echoed the archbishop’s words as he thanked those who helped form him, stressing his desire to be a servant to God’s people.
“I want to run after God with all of you,” Fr. Mabee said. “I want to press into His heart with all of you. I want to know Him with all of you. I want to love Him, I want to make Him loved. I want to see Him adored and glorified. It is my privilege now, by the grace of God, unmerited in any way of my own, that I get to be a minister of His unbelievable love for each and every one of us.”
Fr. Mabee’s home parish is Our Lady of Good Counsel in Plymouth. He will begin serving his first pastoral assignment as associate pastor of St. John Fisher Chapel University Parish in Auburn Hills.
See more photos from the ordination Mass below.
