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Dio SaginawIn his message of thanks for his Ordination Mass, Father Daniel Christe drew a striking parallel between May 30, 1995 and May 30, 2025. It was the 30-year anniversary of his little sister Jeannie’s funeral liturgy.
“It was a very sad day as the Christe family gathered at St. Mary of the Assumption in Bay City to say our farewell to you,” he wrote. “Now the Christe family gathers at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption for a joyful celebration.”
To his sister Jeannie, he wrote, “I know that it is through your prayers in Heaven that I found my way back to the Church and this call to the priesthood.”
It was a long and winding road, which will be featured in July’s Great Lakes Bay Catholic magazine, for Father Daniel to find himself at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption on May 30.
Bishop Robert Gruss celebrated the Mass with the Rite of Ordination at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in Saginaw, which includes the laying on of hands and the Prayer of Ordination.
During the ordination Mass, Father Daniel vowed to “discharge the office of priesthood with humility and love, hold fast to the mystery of faith, proclaim this faith in word and deed, embrace the celibate state and pray for the Church and the whole world.” The rite also includes a promise of obedience to the bishop and his successors.
The liturgical rite is also rich in symbolism. Father Daniel was vested in his priestly garments— a stole and chasuble— by Father Andy LaFramboise, director of vocations for the Diocese of Saginaw. Bishop Gruss anointed his hands with sacred chrism oil, symbolizing his distinctive participation in Christ’s priesthood, and placed bread and wine into Father Daniel’s hands, pointing to his duty of celebrating the Eucharist and following Christ crucified.
“Your years of formation have prepared you for this important ministry in the Church. The Lord is asking you to place all your gifts at the service of Christ and His Church,” said Bishop Gruss in his homily. “The Lord has formed you over the whole of your life; he has planted many gifts in you that have come alive over the years and have developed to make you who you are today. As your priestly ministry begins, my encouragement is: be yourself, put all those gifts at the service of the Holy Spirit and trust that the Lord will use them in ways that you cannot imagine. It requires a daily surrender and unshakeable confidence in the Lordship of Jesus.”
A Bay City native, Father Daniel studied at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, obtaining a certificate in Catholic theology, then earning a Master of Divinity at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Franklin, Wisconsin.
Father Daniel will serve as parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Parish in Mount Pleasant and St. Mary University Parish, Mount Pleasant.
