June 14, 2017

By Kristina Dean
Staff writer

OGDENSBURG  -- Calling a priest’s life a love story, Bishop Terry R. LaValley welcomed Father Michael J. Jablonski to the priesthood in front of a crowd of several hundred at St. Mary’s Cathedral May 27.

In his homily, the bishop emphasized the importance for a love of God in a priest’s life and that his life must be a song of praise to God in the midst of the discord in the world.

“This love begins where duty ends,” the bishop said, adding that priests must be willing to give their shirt when their coat is taken.

“You, Michael Jablonski, are about to enter a fraternity of priests whose lives have been spent walking that extra mile,” he said to the candidate.

Bishop LaValley told him that he must nurture his parish with his love story, using prayer to sustain him and said he would be a link in a chain that extends from the cross to eternity.

The bishop thanked the candidate’s family for their son, and acknowledged the family and friends, some of whom traveled from Las Vegas. He joked with the congregation that “the odds for today are very good.”
Prior to the  homily, Father Douglas Lucia, diocesan director of vocations and seminarians, presented the candidate to Bishop LaValley, stating there were no doubts regarding his readiness for ordination,
Immediately after the homily, the future priest vowed to the bishop to carry out the office of a priest under the direction of the bishop. As the congregation stood, the candidate prostrated himself before the altar, and the Litany of the Saints was sung.

Afterward, the bishop laid his hands on Father Jablonski’s head and conferred the office of a priest upon him through the prayer of ordination

Father  Jablonski was vested in his stole and chasuble by Father Gregory Weider of the Diocese of Albany. Each concelebrating priests laid their hands on the new priest’s head and prayed for him.

After the Bishop gave Father Jablonski the fraternal kiss welcoming him into the ministry, the newly ordained priest gave his first blessing to his parents. He also spent time after Mass giving his first priestly blessings to a long line of people waiting.

During Mass, Corey Haynes of St. Regis Falls and Jamie Burns, Canton, proclaimed the scriptures. The Gospel was read by Deacon Michael J. Allan. Gift bearers were Joseph Jablonski and Stephen Jablonski, Jr.

In 2016, Father. Jablonski was ordained to the diaconate at St. John’s Church in Plattsburgh. He has served as a deacon at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio, from August, 2016 to April of this year.

His first assignment as a priest will be as parochial vicar of the Church of the Sacred Heart and St. Lawrence and to St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s in Massena, effective June 21.

Father  Jablonski is originally from Montgomery County, where he was raised on a dairy farm by his parents, Joseph and Rachel Jablonski.