Reasons for Hope – Our 7 New Deacons

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

When I concluded my previous column with the words, “As I complete my first year as Bishop, I am very grateful and I am looking forward with hope to the year and years ahead!” it had not occurred to me that, less than two weeks later, our Diocese would receive seven new transitional deacons and what a sign of hope these men are for our Church.

When deacons and priests are ordained, part of the beautiful and ancient ceremony, centered on the “laying on of hands” and calling down the Holy Spirit, and filled with so many beautiful symbols and words of prayer, the Church also offers an “instruction” which is often part of the Bishop’s homily. In the instruction for the Ordination of Deacons, the Bishop addresses the candidates with an exhortation,

… Firmly rooted and grounded in faith, you are to show yourselves chaste and beyond reproach before God and man, as is proper for the ministers of Christ and of the stewards of God’s mysteries. Never allow yourselves to be turned away from the hope offered by the Gospel. Now you are not only hearers of this Gospel, but also its ministers …

At the ordination, I shared that the words, “… Never allow yourselves to be turned away from the hope offered by the Gospel …” are one of my “favorite lines” in the instruction. I also shared that for the deacons about to be ordained and for all of us, this is “easier said, than done.” It is easy to say (paraphrasing), “Don’t let anything take away your hope, offered by the Gospel.” Yet, we all know, when we hear bad news, whether it be low Mass attendance, Catholics not believing in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, or finances, or cultural and political debates and, destructively, polarization, we can certainly be tempted to allow ourselves to be “turned away” from hope.

I like the phrasing of the sentence, “Never allow yourselves to be turned away …” The Church is telling the men to be ordained deacons and, through them, the Church is telling us: it is up to us; our choices and attitudes matter and make a difference. There will always be forces working very hard to turn us away from hope and, in life, there are sad realities and circumstances that are part of the “mystery of the cross” which will certainly tempt us to allow ourselves to be “turned away” from hope. How do we respond? How do we “fight the good fight”? Again, it is easy to talk about being hopeful. True hope does not deny the realities of suffering and pain, nor the real problems and challenges that we face as individuals, families, communities, and the Church. Moments like Saturday’s ordinations can fill us with the hope that comes from God.

In ordaining these seven men, who, God willing, will be ordained priests for our Diocese in the coming year, it struck me that the ordination “pointed” and was a testimony to so much more than simply seven men ordained for service in the Church. I tried to express it on Saturday, and would like to take this opportunity to invite each reader to reflect on what the ordination of these seven men says about the Church in our Diocese (and the larger Church). Two of the men are home grown, born and raised here in our Diocese, two were born and raised in the Philippines, one from Colombia, one from Ecuador, one, born in Mexico, but raised in the city of Paterson.

The longer I serve as Bishop of the Diocese, the more grateful I am to our Bishop Emeritus, Bishop Serratelli, for so many ways in which he “labored in the vineyard” and shepherded the Church of our Diocese. I am beginning to think that one of his greatest legacies will be all that he did to promote and encourage vocations to the priesthood in our Diocese. These new deacons are truly the “fruits” of Bishop Serratelli’s labors.

In getting to know these seven young men, I can share that they will each bring unique gifts and talents to the Church of our Diocese. It is also inspiring to see their enthusiasm for the faith and the Church and their desire to serve. It is also wonderful to see and hear their gratitude for the way in which they have been supported and encouraged by so many throughout our Diocese as they discerned and now have said “yes” to this call. Each of these men have been welcomed and embraced by the parishes in which they have grown up and lived and served during their years in the Seminary. As we reflect on hope and what the ordination says about the Church, we should be aware of all the women and men who have supported and encouraged these men, especially the pastors, priests, deacons, religious, parish staff members, leaders, and volunteers in the parishes of our Diocese.

I also expressed our thanks to the rectors and faculty of the three seminaries in which these men have studied (and will study for the coming year): Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., and the North American College in Rome. I believe that those who serve in the ministry of seminary formation, especially spiritual directors, are among the “unsung heroes” in the Church. We should remember them in our prayers.

There are many other ways in which the ordination of these seven men gives us reasons for hope and testifies to the vibrancy of the Church in our Diocese, but there is one additional reality that we must never forget: “Vocations come from families.” At the ordination ceremony, I thanked the parents, grandparents, siblings, and families of the men who were ordained. As I came to appreciate my own parents and family in discerning and responding to the call to priesthood, in my years as a pastor and in parish ministry, in my years as a vocation director, and now as Bishop, I see how much we need to pray for, support, encourage, and thank parents as they raise their children in the faith. We also need, at times, to remind and/or ask parents and families to be “open” to the possibility that God could be calling their son or daughter, grandchild, sibling, niece or nephew, to a vocation to priesthood or consecrated religious life. If your child or someone in your family is “hearing” the call and says that he or she in thinking about priesthood or religious life, please encourage them, give them the support that they need.

Seven families, some physically present and some who joined via livestream, saw their son/brother/nephew/godson ordained to the diaconate on this past Saturday and now look forward to their ordination to priesthood in the coming year. As a diocesan family, we express our gratitude to the parents and families of our newly ordained deacons, as their ordination fills us all with hope.