Ordination update: 6 new deacons for San Diego

Details: 

Before ordaining six men to the permanent diaconate, retired Bishop Robert H. Bromreflected on the vocation to which they have been called.

All Christians have the “common vocation” of “love in response to love,” Bishop Brom explained in his homily June 6 at St. Gabriel Parish in Poway. But, he added, “Deacons are called from among the servant people of God and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, are empowered [through their ordination] to be the face of Jesus.”

In the ministries of the word, the altar and of charity, he said, deacons act “in persona Christi.” This means that they are “to personify” Christ. However, as the bishop explained, this is not the same as “impersonating” Him.

“If deacons were anointed to impersonate Christ in their ministries, they’d say something like, ‘Well, since Jesus couldn’t make it, I’m here to fill in for Him.’ That’s impersonating,” he said. “‘In persona Christi’ is to make the servant Jesus present in their flesh,” so that when the deacon baptizes, proclaims the Gospel, ministers at the altar and reaches out to the poor, it is Jesus Himself who is doing those things through the deacon.

Just as he did when he distinguished between “personification” and “impersonation,” Bishop Bromalso stressed that deacons should be “icons” of Jesus, not “idols.”

“Idols draw attention to themselves; they’re dead-ends,” he said. “Icons draw attention to the transcendent, to God, to the servant Jesus, who is the human face of God.”

Bishop Brom presided at the ordination liturgy in place of Bishop Cirilo Flores, who is still recovering from a recent stroke.

Those ordained to the diaconate on June 6 included Deacon Juan Buenrostro of St. Rose of Lima Parish, Chula Vista; Deacon Dino Serafini of St. Didacus Parish; Deacon Raul Millan of Corpus Christi Parish, Bonita; Deacon Salvador Huitron of Our Lady of Refuge Parish; Deacon Freddie Thornton Jr. of Queen of Angels Parish, Alpine; and Deacon John Gabbard of St. Rose of Lima Parish.

Congratulations, brothers, and welcome.  Ad multos annos!