The Deacon's Bench
From The Catholic Sun:
Fourteen men were ordained to the Order of Deacon in a unique celebration at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception May 19: Bishop Robert J. Cunningham ordained ten men as permanent deacons to serve in the Diocese of Syracuse; one man as a permanent deacon to serve in the Diocese of Tucson, Ariz.; and three men as transitional deacons for the congregation of the Legionaries of Christ.
“With great joy, we welcome you to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception as fourteen members of our Catholic family step forward and prepare for service as deacons,” Bishop Cunningham told the congregation of family, friends, and supporters filling every pew and then some.
The dual ordination was due to some providential timing: the formation programs of diocesan ordinand Terrence O’Loughlin and Legionary ordinand Brother Patrick O’Loughlin, Terrence’s son, just happened to sync.
…Father Aiello beamed with joy at seeing the class ordained. “These are ordinary men, by the grace of God, doing extraordinary things,” he said.
In being ordained, Father Aiello said, the deacons “didn’t just receive a sacrament, they became a sacrament. So every person they encounter — they are the presence of the Lord in the charism of charity, as they look in those peoples’ eyes and ask the question, ‘What are your needs and how can I help you?’”
Father Lou Aiello [Director of Deacon Formation] noted that the new deacons will not only bring their considerable and diverse professional experience to the Church — the class includes men whose careers have included law, education, engineering, business, and the military — but also bring the Church to the world in their daily, “ordinary” lives.
“These men are on fire with the Lord,” he said. “You can just see it. I am both inspired and edified by them. They inspire my priesthood. They renew for me that sense of priestly grace by the lives they live and they edify me.”
Read it all. Congratulations, brothers, and welcome! Ad multos annos!
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