HONESDALE – Amazed and overwhelmed.
Those are two words that Rev. William A. Asinari used to describe his feelings shortly after his Ordination Mass to the Priesthood on June 29, 2024.
“I am overwhelmed in the best way. All I can think of is God filling me with joy to the point where I overflow, and it doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t feel overwhelming in a negative way. It feels like you’ve just got blessing upon blessing and all you can really do is just sit in it and enjoy it,” Rev. Asinari said.
Hundreds of family members, friends, and fellow parishioners filled Saint John the Evangelist Church in Honesdale for the Ordination Mass. The Wayne County church is the place where Asinari grew up and first learned how to pray.
“I am overjoyed that the people who were here long before I was born, who’ve seen me since I was a little kid, who have watched me grow and have shaped me, get to be present for that moment where they can see the fruit of all of that throughout their lives and how much they cared and really supported me,” Rev. Asinari added.
The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant, homilist, and ordaining prelate for the Mass. The Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani, Ghana, along with many priests of the Diocese of Scranton concelebrated the liturgy.
“Bill, the priestly ministry that will be entrusted to you this day will bear fruit in your life and in the lives of those given to your care only if you understand that your ministry is a gift from God, that it is Jesus whom you must follow and proclaim, and that it is His life and example that you must make your own,” Bishop Bambera told Asinari during his homily.
Before the Bishop delivered his homily, Asinari was officially called forward.
Father Alex Roche, Diocesan Director of Vocations and Seminarians, testified that after inquiry among the Christian people and upon the recommendation of those involved in Asinari’s formation, he has been found worthy of the Priesthood.
“As a priest, the Church will call you ‘another Christ.’ Remember well, however, that this title has little to do with rank or status among the People of God,” Bishop Bambera added. “Instead, it carries with it a perpetual challenge to be like Christ.
Always hold in your heart the same selfless commitment to love and service that so characterized Jesus’ ministry. Live with integrity the life of celibacy, obedience, and simplicity.”
Prior to the Prayer of Ordination being said by Bishop Bambera, Asinari lied prostrate on the floor of Saint John the Evangelist Church in a gesture of solemn petition. The people in attendance, through the intercession of all the saints, asked God’s blessing upon him.
After the Prayer of Ordination, Father Asinari was vested, his hands were anointed, he received a chalice and paten and was congratulated by all the priests in attendance with a fraternal kiss.
Among all those special moments, Father Asinari said the moment did not hit him until someone greeted him by saying “Congratulations Father.”
“I gasped. It didn’t hit me and just hearing it, it felt like someone acknowledging you for something far greater than what you are,” Father Asinari explained. “It’s as if someone walked up to someone on the street and addressed them as a king. It almost felt otherworldly.”
Upon the conclusion of the Mass, Father Asinari spent an hour greeting family and friends and providing personal blessings to those in attendance.
His first priestly blessing was given to his family.
“They have always been there for me. I learned faith from them. I learned how to pray from them. I learned everything along the way from them. If it hasn’t been for my mother and my father being open to me about this, I don’t know if I would have done it, but the love and support that they’ve shown over the years in the worst times and in the best of times, I wouldn’t trade it,” the newly ordained priest ended by saying.