From the diocese:
Bishop Bradley ordained 13 men as Permanent Deacons on Saturday. Click here for our Facebook photo album. Immediately following the Mass Bishop Bradley gave the new Deacons their parish assignments (which are listed after their name). Shown above, front row: Front row from left: Deacon Alan Sosinki, Collaborative of St. Charles Borromeo, Coldwater, St. Mary’s Assumption, Bronson and Our Lady of Fatima, Union City; Deacon Alberto Rivera, St. Gabriel Parish, Berrien Springs; and Deacon Philip Sirk, Holy Maternity of Mary, Dowagiac, Sacred Heart of Mary, Silver Creek and Holy Family, Decatur; middle row, from left, Deacon Jason Aiello, St. Monica, Kalamazoo, Deacon John Wielgos, Collaborative of St. Mary’s Assumption, Bronson, St. Charles Borromeo, Coldwater and Our Lady of Fatima, Union City; Deacon Ed LaRoche, Collaborative of St. Mary’s Visitation, Byron Center, St. Stanislaus, Dorr and Sacred Heart, Watson, Bishop Emeritus James A. Murray, Deacon Timothy Kistka, St. Joseph Parish, Kalamazoo; Deacon Ed Nickel, Collaborative of SS John and Bernard, Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, St. Joseph and St. Joseph, Watervliet; and Deacon Don Bouchard, St. Augustine Cathedral. Top row, from left, Deacon Brian Kaluzny, St. Catherine of Siena, Portage; Deacon Duane Poage, Collaborative of St. Mary, Paw Paw, St. Jude, Gobles, St. John Bosco, Mattawan and St. Margaret Mary, Marcellus, Bishop Paul J. Bradley, Deacon Jim Bauer, Collaborative of Blessed Sacrament, Allegan and St. Margaret, Otsego; and Deacon David Krajewski, Collaborative of St. Joseph and St. Jerome, Battle Creek.
The bishop’s homily:
You, dear Candidates, will very shortly experience that ancient, yet ever-new rite of the Laying on of Hands by me, a Successor to the Apostles—and, in turn, you will become successors to Stephen, Philip, Prochurus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas.
As we will hear in the Instruction in just a few moments, Deacons are to “help the Bishop and his Priests in the ministry of the word, of the altar, and of charity, showing themselves to be servants to all.” That’s quite a mandate! Even as your Baptism incorporated you into the Body of Christ and committed you to faithfully follow Jesus throughout your lives, and even as you have further committed yourselves to your spouses in the Sacrament of Marriage, bearing fruit in your children and in your family life, so this Sacrament of Holy Orders that you are about to receive sets you apart for service to God’s people in the Name of Jesus. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it: this Sacrament “marks you with an imprint (that is, “a character”) which cannot be removed and which configures you to Christ, who made Himself the “deacon”, or Servant, of all.” (#1570)
As we heard Jesus tell us in this morning’s Gospel passage from St. John: “This is My commandment: love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
While Jesus gives this challenging command of loving one another to ALL who choose to follow Him, you, my dear Sons, who are called to be “configured with Christ” through Holy Orders, are called to enter into a truly special “Friendship” with Jesus. Through Holy Orders, you are bound together with me as your Bishop in this Local Church in cooperation with our priests; and we are the first to be called to lay down our lives in imitation of Jesus, the Head, with Whom we are sacramentally configured, for the sake of His Body, the Church.
Read it all. It’s excellent.
Congratulations and welcome, brothers! Ad multos annos!
