Isle-born Capuchin ‘excited, nervous’ at coming ordination
By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald
Bishop Larry Silva will ordain Capuchin Franciscan Brother Marvin Bearis of Ewa Beach a priest at 10 a.m., June 13, in the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu.
The newly ordained will celebrate his first Mass of Thanksgiving at 11 a.m. the next day, June 14, at his home parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ewa Beach.
“I am excited and nervous as the special day approaches,” Brother Bearis wrote in an e-mail message to the Hawaii Catholic Herald on May 24. “The thought of being ordained seems somewhat surreal because of the amount of work, ministry, and Capuchin formation I have experienced, and have been challenged by, in my journey to the priesthood.”
Bearis returned to Hawaii this week from Boston where he recently finished his studies. He hopes some quiet prayer will help him through the next two weeks.
“I hope to spend more quality time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, go to daily Mass, and seek some private quiet time with God during the next couple of weeks,” he said. “I know this will be a difficult task but I need to do this in order to stay grounded and less anxious.”
Bearis, 30, will be the first person from Hawaii to be ordained a Capuchin Franciscan priest.
He is the son of Ben and Carmen Bearis of Ewa Beach where he was born and raised. He belongs to the Capuchin Franciscan’s vice-province of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, which encompasses Guam and Hawaii and falls under the Capuchin Province of St. Mary serving New York and New England.
Bearis joined the Capuchin Franciscans in 2000, their first local recruit in the order’s 25 years in Hawaii. He has been through postulancy, novitiate and has professed his simple and permanent vows.
He was ordained a deacon on June 7, 2008, in New York, by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston, who is also a Capuchin Franciscan.
Brother Bearis has spent the past academic year completing two master’s degrees, one in divinity and the other in theology. He graduated from Boston College on May 18, in the first graduating class of its School of Theology and Ministry, which was created when the Weston Jesuit School of Theology merged with the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry, and the continuing education courses of the Church of the 21st Century program.
Flying in for his ordination will be 25 friends from Boston, mostly archdiocesan youth ministers and parishioners of St. Mary’s where he served as a deacon, and 20 more mainland family members and friends.
Bearis said that he has asked some friends who started a young adult ministry called LIFT to present a LIFT event at St. Elizabeth Parish, Aiea, 7-9 p.m., June 17, “as another way of showing my thanksgiving for the numerous people who have supported and prayed for me throughout the years.”
Receptions will follow both the ordination Mass and the Mass of thanksgiving. The ordination reception will be in the Damien Memorial School cafeteria, not in the St. Theresa church hall as previously announced. The first Mass reception will be on Our Lady of Perpetual Help School grounds.
Bearis’ first assignment as a priest has not yet been determined. He is considering teaching high school theology and serving as a high school chaplain or being an associate pastor on Guam.
Hawaii now has five Capuchin Franciscan priests serving in three parishes on Oahu.