June 10, 2025 // Bishop

‘They Want to Follow the Lord Without Reserve’

Scott Warden

Editor-In-Chief

Father Andrew Barnes, Father Nicholas Monnin Ordained as Priests

On the morning of Saturday, June 7, 56 priests gathered in the gymnasium of the Cathedral School of St. Matthew, where they vested for Mass and greeted one another as brothers with smiles and handshakes. At the appropriate time, they lined up in the school’s hallways and, beneath a perfect blue sky, processed down East Dubail Street and then south on Miami Street – the front of the long line stopping in front of St. Matthew Cathedral.

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More photos from the ordination.

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Two by two, each clad in cream-colored chasubles with gold embroidery, 56 priests processed into the church. Nearly two hours later, 58 priests processed out.

At St. Matthew, Bishop Rhoades ordained two sons of South Bend as priests of the diocese – Father Andrew Barnes and Father Nicholas Monnin, friends and former classmates at Saint Joseph High School.

After graduating from Saint Joe in 2017, Father Barnes attended Marian University in Indianapolis for two years before rejoining Father Monnin at nearby Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary. Their paths split for major seminary, as Father Barnes was assigned to finish his formation at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and Father Monnin accepted Bishop Rhoades’ invitation to study at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Bishop Rhoades has announced that Father Barnes will serve as parochial vicar at his home parish, St. Pius X in Granger. Father Monnin, a son of St. Matthew Cathedral, will serve as parochial vicar at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne until late August, when he will return to Rome for the next academic year to conclude his studies.

In his homily at the ordination Mass, Bishop Rhoades noted the significance of the timing of the ordination Mass as it related to the liturgical calendar, falling between two great feasts of the Church – “the Ascension, the culmination of Jesus’ life on earth when He passed from this world to the Father,” Bishop Rhoades said, “and Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles.”

With his Ascension, Bishop Rhoades said, Christ’s “humanity entered into divine glory.  Thus, He gained access for us human beings to that glory, to eternal life and joy with God in heaven.” And at Pentecost, “Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to bring us into communion with Him and to form us into His Body, the Church. Jesus continues His presence and his work of salvation in the Church and by means of the Church.”

Bishop Rhoades continued: “Jesus gave the Church the gift of the ordained priesthood so that His love as the Good Shepherd would never be absent from His flock. Today, Andrew and Nicholas will receive this gift. Through the Sacrament of Priestly Ordination, the Holy Spirit will configure them in a new and special way to Jesus Christ, the Head and Shepherd of the Church. They will become living instruments of Christ the eternal priest at God’s right hand who has chosen them to continue His saving work on earth.”

In a touching passage from his homily, Bishop Rhoades spoke of their upbringing, the role of their families in their faith formation, and their countercultural decision to live their lives for Christ.

“Deacon Andy and Deacon Nick have grown in their knowledge and love of the Lord throughout their lives, beginning in their families,” Bishop Rhoades said. “They would not be here today, giving their lives to Christ and the Church if not for their parents and grandparents, their first teachers in the faith and love of the Lord. They also received an excellent Catholic school education, Andy at Holy Cross School and Nick here at St. Matthew School. And together they graduated eight years ago from Saint Joseph High School. In the seminary, they continued to grow in their knowledge and love of the Lord.

“They stand before us today because their hearts have been touched by the love of Jesus’ heart. Why do they desire to live the evangelical virtues that seem so strange in today’s world? Why else would they kneel before the bishop today and promise obedience? Why else did they make the promise of lifelong celibacy last year when they were ordained deacons? Why else would they give their lives to the Church, with all its challenges and imperfections? Because they love the Lord and believe that the Church is His Mystical Body. They want to follow the Lord without reserve, to serve Him and His people. They know that the Church and the world need Christ and are ready to proclaim to all that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. They know that so many people today are like sheep without a shepherd. They know that God has given the world His Son as the Good Shepherd and has promised the Church not just any sort of shepherd, but shepherds ‘after His own heart.’ That’s what Andrew and Nicholas desire to be. Today they say a definitive ‘yes’ to the Lord’s call to share in His priesthood, with the strength of the Holy Spirit ‘to incarnate in the earthen vessels of their simple lives the priceless treasure of His Good Shepherd’s love’ (Pastores Dabo Vobis, No. 82).”

Today’s Catholic asked Father Barnes and Father Monnin about the sacrifices they’ve made – and will continue to make – in order to pursue their priestly vocations.

“When I entered the seminary, there were so many things about the priesthood that seemed too lofty and impossible for me to accomplish. Yet, I took the leap and entered seminary, and in my continuing to show up, pray, and trust in Jesus, He has provided for my deficiencies,” Father Barnes said. “This particularly is assuring entering the priesthood, where so much is impossible to accomplish on my own strength and abilities, but that is OK, because He will take care of it.”

Father Monnin also spoke of how his formation helped to prepare him for ordination and beyond.

“Seminary is not easy,” he said. “It purifies your desire for the priesthood and makes it possible to freely give everything back to God. That is what happens at ordination: Having been purified and prepared, a man makes a complete gift of himself, and God receives and multiplies that offering in the moment and the years following ordination. In short, I have received from my years in seminary the freedom to make a complete gift of myself, and praise be to God for that.”

At the Mass, a series of powerful interactions leads up to the moment of ordination, beginning with those about to be ordained lying prostrate on the floor of the cathedral sanctuary while the faithful chant the Litany of Saints. Then, one by one, Bishop Rhoades and the priests in attendance placed their hands on the heads of the men, who then knelt before the bishop as he prayed the Prayer of Ordination.

While it is at the conclusion of that prayer that Father Barnes and Father Monnin became priests of Jesus Christ, it was later in the Mass, they told Today’s Catholic, when they truly felt the weight of their ordination.

“For me, it was during the Eucharistic prayer,” Father Monnin said. “Praying and concelebrating alongside my brother priests and hearing my own voice during my concelebration part was incredible. It was an experience of the culmination not only of my years of formation but of my whole life. To consecrate the Eucharist with Bishop and my brother priests was a surreal and grace-filled moment.”

Father Barnes concurred: “It was significant for two reasons – one, simply that we were able to partake in the consecration of the body and blood of Our Lord; and two, that we were a part of the order of priests, among this great brotherhood present in our diocese. There is simply a lot of gratitude – and still a lot to process from all of this.”

Scott Warden is editor-in-chief of Today’s Catholic.