From altar servers to priests: Three ordained to the priesthood (PHOTOS)

Father Zach Muldrow receives the chalice from Daniel Cardinal DiNardo during a June 3 Mass of Ordination to the Priesthood at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston. Father Zachary Muldrow, Father Matthew Krusleski and Father J Serrato were ordained to the priesthood, becoming the Archdiocese's newest priests. (Photo by James Ramos/Herald)

HOUSTON — Not even a fire could stop their journey.

Father Zachary Muldrow, Father Matthew Krusleski and Father J Serrato were ordained to the priesthood by Daniel Cardinal Dinardo at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston on June 3.

More than 1,276 turned out to witness the occasion, including Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, 75 priests, 22 deacons and many beloved family, friends, former teachers.

Also, in attendance, which Cardinal DiNardo pointed out, was their future pastors.

IN PHOTOS: 'You are Sent - 2023 Priesthood Ordinations

The crowd was not deterred by the small electrical fire that caused smoke and minor damage at the downtown Co-Cathedral on the early morning of June 2. No injuries were reported, and the Houston Fire Department responded promptly to extinguish the small fire.

“We give thanks to God that no one was harmed in this minor incident. I am grateful for the prompt and attentive care of the men and women of the Houston Fire Department to prevent any significant damage to our sanctuary,” said Father Jeffrey L. Bame, rector and administrator of the Co-Cathedral.

During his homily, Cardinal DiNardo congratulated the three new priests.

“God’s blessings upon you, who has brought you to this day,” he said.

Cardinal DiNardo stressed that when it comes to the priesthood, preaching is “pretty significant.”

“This will be a major work that you will have,” he said. “The first part of the Liturgy is for you to be attentive to the Word of God as it’s already filtered through the lives of your people to distill it as it is heard in the readings, and then to preach and teach.”

Cardinal DiNardo said that the kind of preaching and teaching he is looking for is “a sacrament of words.”

“That when you preach, the visibility of the invisible Jesus — but really He’s visible through you — will come about. And will come about because your preaching touches hearts,” he said.

Cardinal DiNardo said it is true that when a priest preaches — when they studied long for that — preaching is also “supposed to hit the head.”

“It’s really dangerous after a while for a priest who only wants to reach the heart and forgets about his head,” he said. “You have to understand what you’re doing, and you have to preach with intelligence. But preaching with intelligence has very little to do with giving a lecture.”

Cardinal DiNardo said the great importance to the Catholic faith and the faithful is that there be a parallel between the breaking of the bread in the Word and the breaking of the bread in the Eucharist.

“That you and with you — your people — realize that when you’re breaking open the Word of God in the Liturgy of the Word, something of the presence of Christ is there admittedly, not to the same extent as what happens in the Eucharist when Christ becomes substantially present through your ministry,” he said. “The sacrament of preaching is a sacrament in words; a visibility in speech manifesting in the great works of God in you and in all the people around you.”

Father Krusleski, who will be a parochial vicar at Sacred Heart parish in Conroe beginning July 1, said he attended Catholic schools from kindergarten through high school, becoming an altar server in fifth grade. That is where he began to love service in the Liturgy. After his high school graduation, he attended Texas A&M University, where he graduated with a degree in engineering technology.

“While I was there, I became more convinced of entering seminary through the influence of holy priests and friends,” he said.

Father Muldrow, who will be a parochial vicar at St. Martha parish in Kingwood, was also an altar server at a young age. After discerning throughout high school, he studied philosophy at the University of Dallas and Holy Trinity Seminary before being sent to St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston for graduate theology studies.

Father Serrato was born in Mexico, the youngest of nine siblings, and moved from Mexico to Texas to New Jersey and back to Texas before becoming an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and joining the Spanish Choir at St. John of the Cross in New Caney. It was there that his calling to the priesthood became clear, and he was accepted as a seminarian by the Archdiocese. The former altar server will serve as a parochial vicar at Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Manvel.