Happy Ordination Day!

Today the Diocese of Orange will ordain six men to the Catholic priesthood, for them forever to be priests in the order of Melchizedek. This news gladdens my heart.

I know the blogosphere's own Orthometer is in town for it, as the brother of one of his priest friends is being ordained (how cool is that for the family - two priests!), and this article in the Orange County Register made me a little verklempt for David Klunk:

This is a lifetime commitment, for better or for worse, and he's ready to take the plunge.

David Klunk, 50, of Huntington Beach, will walk down the aisle Saturday to say "I do" but it won't be the way he envisioned in his younger days.

Klunk is one of six Orange County deacons to be ordained priests in a ceremony at St. Columban Church in Garden Grove.

He once had wanted to get married and raise a family of his own. He loved his job working as a hazmat specialist for the Santa Fe Springs Fire Department and, better yet, he was good at it.

"He was the master mind," said long-time friend and former employee Steve Koester, 50, of Irvine. He took a city that was pretty dangerous and really was the person to make it a very safe city to work and live in."

A guy's guy, Klunk was dubbed "Klunk the Hunk" by TV reporters in his area – fitting for the rugged man who loved surfing, running and hiking.

But then the signs started to appear and, over the years, they became too obvious to ignore.

Go read the rest of the article and keep all six men in your prayers today.