Parishioners, friends and family members joined together June 2 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels to witness the calling from their midst of five men to become priests for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

The ordination of Fathers Edward Benioff, Marco Antonio Durazo Valencia, Anh-Tuan Nguyen, Rafael Venegas Raygoza and Jay Jay Wu reflects the ethnic diversity of the Archdiocese. Collectively, the new priests speak languages commonly found within metropolitan Los Angeles - Vietnamese, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and English --- languages incorporated in the prayers, readings and music of their Mass of Ordination.

The ceremony began with the five men, in their last moments as transitional deacons, processing into the cathedral. They sat among the congregation and, when called, answered, "Here I am," and came forward to the sanctuary for the rite of ordination.

In his homily, Cardinal Roger Mahony commented on the beauty and appropriateness of the readings chosen by the newly ordained, notably the prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to prisoners."

Those words, the cardinal emphasized, are a powerful mandate of service for the newly ordained priests. "God will lead them in the world, strengthen them, surround them with his grace as they serve those on the fringe of society and be a voice for the poor, be their advocates," he said.

Following the ordination each newly ordained priest gave their first blessings in the Cathedral Plaza. Waiting in line to be blessed by Father Wu, his former co-worker at Pacific Alliance, Eddie Tolentino, praised his friend's perseverance, noting that "He worked very hard to study and learn English and he did it."

Then he offered comments that could apply to each of the newly ordained.

"He is a very holy person, I can tell you that," said Tolentino. "He is loved by everybody; he is going to be a good priest."

During the weekend, the newly ordained celebrated their first Masses, and on July 1 will begin to serve at parishes that, like the group, reflect ethnic diversity: Holy Trinity, San Pedro (Father Benioff); Santa Clara, Oxnard (Father Durazo); Our Lady of the Assumption, Ventura (Father Nguyen); Holy Family, Glendale (Father Venegas); and Holy Angels, Arcadia (Father Wu).