Diocese embraces Fathers Trong Tran and Wesley Schawe

Ordination photos:

75 dpi (viewable format; shorter download time)

150 dpi (printable format; longer download time)

Attending were the priests of the diocese, and the Most Rev. Doc Bui, Bishop of the Diocese of My Tho, Vietnam, who had served as Father Trong Tran’s spiritual director, and who only a day prior to the ordination had celebrated five years a bishop.

Although beginning like any other Mass (with the Liturgy of the Word) it was impossible to escape the almost regal feel of the event. As the choir performed, "Hail Thee, Festival Day," several Knights of Columbus in full regalia lined the main aisle and lifted their feathered hats as the priests of the diocese, deacons, seminarians, and the two bishops, processed into the worship area of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Surrounded by family, friends, well-wishers, and others who answered Bishop Ronald Gilmore’s open invitation to attend the event, Wesley Schawe and Trong Tran were ordained in a age-old fashion seeped in tradition and symbolism.

Bishop Gilmore said in his homily, "Trong and Wesley, as we lay hands upon you today, as we configure you to Christ the Head, I challenge you to be captivated by the beauty of the Risen Lord. I invite you to be transfixed by the radiance of the Risen Lord. I implore you to become more and more transparent so that the Risen Lord may shine through you.

"You are called to be Christ the Head for the sake of others. Go from Beauty to beauty in your work and in your lives. Then our disciples too might see and might rejoice." (Bishop Gilmore’s column highlights many of the key points he spoke of in his homily.)

One of the most sacred moments of the ordination came with the "laying on of hands," in which Bishop Gilmore "invoked the Holy Spirit to come down upon the ones to be ordained, giving them a sacred character and setting them apart for the designated ministry."*

Laying prostrate at the altar symbolizes their "unworthiness for the office to be assumed and their dependence upon God and the prayers of the Christian community."*

Three languages -- English, Spanish and Vietnamese -- were spoken during the ordination.

Following the celebration, all those in attendance moved to the fellowship hall for a lunch reception.

Father Schawe is the fifth of seven children of Donna and Leroy Schawe of Dodge City. Father Tran is the youngest of 11 children of Vincent Tran Khac Hanh and Martha Nguyen Thi Hue.

In service at the ordination

Visiting Bishop: The Most Reverend Doc Bui, Bishop of the Diocese of My Tho, Vietnam

Concelebrants: Very Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades, STL, JCL, Rector Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland; Rev. Thomas M. Molini, M.A., Vice Rector and Dean of Students Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri; Priests of the Diocese of Dodge City Visiting Priests

Vesting Clergy: The Most Reverend Doc Bui; Reverend James E. Baker, JCL

Deacons: Deacon Erasmo Rodriguez; Deacons from Mount St, Mary’s Seminary and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary

Readers: Kelby Schawe; Sister Thuong Tran

Servers: Seminarians of the Diocese of Dodge City; Visiting Seminarians; Cathedral Parishioners

Gift-bearers: Mr. & Mrs. Leroy Schawe, Mrs. Cuong Tran, Mrs. Oanh Tran

Musicians: Diocesan Choir directed by Mrs. Rosemary Wehkamp & Mrs. Mary Jane Goebel

Hospitality/Ushers: Chancery Staff and Volunteers

Honor Guard: Knights of Columbus

Musicians (under the direction of Mrs. Rosemary Wehkamp and Mrs. Mary Jane Goebel): Mary Ann Shriwise, Jetmore; Charla Wenzl, Dodge City; Kathy Hirschfeld, Dodge City; Terri Armstrong, Dodge City; Robert & Marty Neidhart, Dodge City; Dee Burke, Dodge City; Vivian Goetz, Dodge City; Bonnie Messenger, Zenda; Colleen Messenger, Zenda; Pat & Janet Gleason, Meade; Don Bedore, Jetmore; Mark and Julie Bogner, Wichita; Leon & Linda Sobba, Ellinwood; Terry & Leah Van Nahmen, Cimarron; Sr. Janice Grochowsky, Dodge City; Sr. Nancy Jane Kuntz, Sharon; Theresa Rogers, El Dorado; Carolyn Gleason, Kinsley; Judy Gleason, Spearville; Sarah Holthusen, Cunningham; Cindy Goebel, Jetmore; Barbara McKenna, Garden City; Dolores Mesa-Lopez, Garden City (Organist); Dan Hubbell, Dodge City (piano)

Hoang Bui & Mai Nguyen, Garden City; Minh Van, Garden City; Huy Hang, Garden City; Mai Khanh, Garden City; Ly Nguyen, Garden City; Dao Quong Nha, Dodge City; Thuy Vu & Mai Ha, Dodge City; Ptruong Do, Houston, TX; Huyen Linh Le, Houston, TX; Le Kim Chi, Garden City; Nguyen Thi Dinh, Garden City; Hoa Le, Garden City; Huong Le, Garden City.