Phillip A. Ganir, SJ
Hawaii-born Phillip Alcon Ganir will be ordained a Jesuit priest on June 8 at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood, Calif.
The new priest will celebrate a first Mass of Thanksgiving at his home parish of St. Elizabeth in Aiea, at 6 p.m., June 23. A light dinner will follow in the parish hall.
Ganir is the son of Brigido and Lourdes Ganir of Foster Village, Honolulu. He attended St. Elizabeth Grade School, is a 1994 graduate of Damien Memorial High School and went to the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He entered the Jesuit order in 1999.
During his 14-years of formation, a fairly typical length of time for a Jesuit, he earned a number of academic degrees and served in a variety of ministries across the Mainland. He also worked or studied in a least six foreign countries.
Ganir was ordained a deacon by San Jose Bishop Patrick McGrath last Oct. 20 at Santa Clara University in California.
In an interview with the Hawaii Catholic Herald last December, Ganir expressed gratitude to all those who helped him on his path to ordination.
“I am grateful to the order and to our benefactors for investing their time, energy and resources into my vocation,” he said. “I am grateful to my Hawaii-based family and friends who have communicated their steady love and support through phone calls, email, letters, gifts and care packages.”
“Most importantly,” he said, “my gratitude to God only deepens because I am more aware that the call to religious life is a pure gift — a freely given grace. I did nothing to earn it. The story of my vocation is the story of Jesus captivating my heart, and my (willing though sometimes sloppy) response to that call.
“This gift of my priestly vocation compels me to give of myself fully and generously for no other reason than because Jesus gave of himself so fully and generously,” he said.
“I am thrilled to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Elizabeth Church, Aiea, my home parish,” he said.
