The Joy of Leading Souls to Christ: Archbishop Emeritus Samuel Aquila Celebrates 50 Years of Priesthood
- André Escaleira, Jr.
- 3 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Hundreds gathered in Denver to honor Archbishop Aquila’s golden jubilee and the countless lives touched through five decades of priestly ministry, reflecting on God’s faithfulness, the joy of the Gospel and a lifetime of grace.
“Play That Funky Music” dominated radio waves. The Lite Brite lit up family rooms everywhere. In those Happy Days, on June 5, 1976, a young Samuel J. Aquila lay prostrate on the floor of the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, offering his life to the Father as a gift and becoming a priest of Jesus Christ.
Fast forward 50 years, the now-retired Archbishop of Denver gathered with hundreds of faithful at the St. John Paul II Center for the New Evangelization in Denver, which houses St. John Vianney Seminary and Redemptoris Mater Seminary, to celebrate God’s faithfulness through the decades with a special Jubilee Mass and celebration.
“[My entire ministry] has all been focused on leading you to encounter Jesus Christ, to come to know his love for you personally and to be on mission with him,” Archbishop Emeritus Aquila said in his homily at the special Jubilee Mass. “As I have reflected and prayed over the last few weeks with this anniversary and the meaning of it, what came to me was, first of all, deep gratitude to Jesus.”
Despite imperfection and sin, the archbishop emeritus said, he has been blessed by God with profound gifts over the years.
“I deserved nothing. I was entitled to nothing. All was gift. Each and every one of you is gift in my life,” he said.
The greatest gift of all in the last 50 years, though, is the privilege to witness others fall in love with Jesus Christ, Archbishop Aquila shared.
“The greatest joy has just been watching people who have encountered Jesus Christ. My greatest desire is for them to come to know Jesus Christ, the love of Christ for them and to really open their hearts to receiving that love and living that love out,” he told the Denver Catholic. “Jesus loves every one of us. No matter how great of a sinner we have been, no matter what sins we have committed, Jesus is completely and totally committed to every human being. They have to open their heart to receive that gift. Certainly, it would be my hope that every human being would.”
(Photos by Daniel Petty/Denver Catholic)
The sheer magnitude of a 50-year ministry was not lost on those present, as many pondered how many souls were impacted by Archbishop Emeritus Aquila’s ministry. How many had he baptized? Confirmed? Anointed? How many souls were reunited with the Father through the archbishop’s hearing Confessions? How many people received Jesus Christ at one of the thousands of Masses he celebrated? How many priests and deacons had the archbishop ordained?
“50 years of priesthood is a gift for him, but much more for the Church, because it’s not our priesthood, it’s the priesthood of Jesus Christ, and this is how Christ cares for the Church,” Denver Archbishop James Golka explained. “So I’m trying to imagine, in 50 years, all the people that were touched by the Lord because of your words and simple actions. That’s, for me, an uplifting and a great day for the Archdiocese.”
“I think when you look back, and you say, ‘I gave my life to Jesus,’ I think it's very encouraging and inspiring for us to see, ‘Well, this is what I'm living. I'm leaving a Church with new priests, new churches and a vibrant Catholic community in Colorado,’” Bishop Jorge Rodríguez added.
“One of the things that I really love to reflect on, especially with Archbishop being ordained for 50 years and saying Mass every day, is the amount of Masses that he said,” said Thaddeus Conder, an archdiocesan seminarian studying at St. John Vianney. “For the archdiocese and for the people, it’s amazing. I mean, every Mass is infinitely valuable, but to do that every day for 50 years, I want that. That is so inspiring and so beautiful.”
Among the Jubilee attendees were a fraction of the thousands of souls impacted by Archbishop Aquila’s ministry, all of whom were filled with a deep spirit of gratitude and awe for what God can do with one “yes.”
“When God has us in his plan, in his way, all that he desires for us or all that he has for us is wonderful. That’s really important, how God forms and transforms us. Then all that he does with us is wonderful,” Ana de Marco, a parishioner at Queen of Peace Parish in Aurora, told the Denver Catholic.
“It’s a great opportunity to be here to celebrate 50 years for Archbishop as a priest and everything he’s done for Denver,” added Brandon Ortega. “For me personally, his words written and spoken made me think deeper about my faith, and they helped me come to a deeper conversion and relationship with Jesus.”
For Chris Stefanick, who has known Archbishop Aquila well for years, the prelate’s anniversary was a chance to “thank God for the gift he’s been to our family personally,” as well as to the local Church.
“I love my archbishop. I mean, I just love the guy. He's not only been a great leader, which takes a load off. You know, when you’ve got a good dad, there are a lot of things you're not worried about as a kid,” he said. “In the spiritual community here, he's been a good father and a strong leader in the midst of a crazy world and a clear voice to where there’s not a lot of craziness we’ve had to worry about. That’s been a blessing to the Archdiocese and will continue to be for a very long time.”
That faithful leadership did not come without cost, both the archbishop and others noted. Throughout his ministry, he led the faithful through innumerable cultural and societal changes, harrowing tragedies and serious challenges. Even still, he did so with a profound spirit of prayer and trust in the Lord.
“Before we knew it, the Lord knew that the archbishop was going to be a priest forever. This particular archbishop went through a lot. It was hard for him. I watched him pray. I watched him cry. And I really saw a man that was not afraid,” said Sandra Miley, who has worked with Archbishop Aquila for several years. “The only thing that saved him was his prayer life, his relationship and communion with the Lord. He’s a man of prayer.”
Referencing the first reading from the letter of St. Paul to Timothy, Archbishop Aquila exhorted those gathered to be faithful in persecution and consolation, in challenging times and in good, because “he only desires that you have salvation, and he is faithful. He is the one who perfects our faith. He is the one who helps us, even when we fall, to grow in holiness.”
At the beginning of this next phase of his ministry, albeit a more hidden one in retirement, Archbishop Aquila left the faithful with one simple call, one that has resounded through his 50 years of priestly ministry: know and love Jesus Christ.
“My sisters and brothers, I ask you to open your hearts to all of the promises of Jesus and what he desires for you personally. Join with me in gratitude for all of the blessings that I have personally received, that you have received and offer your heart in gratitude, even for the suffering and persecution that you have experienced in being Catholic,” he concluded. “And most of all, take to heart the words of St. John Paul II, ‘Be not afraid.’ Jesus Christ is faithful when we are faithful. He is merciful, and he is loving. And he desires, as Jesus prayed in his prayer, that we may be one with him and with the Father.”
