Former Major League Baseball player Darrell Miller Sr., who played for the California Angels, was ordained a Catholic deacon of the Diocese of Orange in California.
To commemorate the occasion, the Diocese of Orange tweeted out congratulations to Miller and the 12 other men who were ordained alongside him. Their addition to the diaconate brings the numbers up to 154 strong.
According to Black Catholic Messenger, Miller, 63, began discerning a vocation in the diaconate about 12 years ago. After hearing Miller speak at a dinner hosted by the Italian Catholic Federation of Orange County, Bishop Emeritus Tod Brown approached Miller and urged him to consider the diaconate.
Of his discernment, Miller told BCM:
Catholic convert
Miller’s faith journey, however, did not start in the Catholic Church. A Catholic convert, Miller explains in a video produced by the Knights of Columbus that he only became introduced to Catholicism when he met his wife, Kelly. At that point, Miller said, he thought that Catholics were “lost” whether they knew it or not.
It was only after Kelly began getting involved in faith formation groups that Miller’s perspective began to change. He said in the interview featured above:
Miller soon began to strike up friendships with members of the Knights of Columbus, eventually joining the fraternal organization. The retired athlete can be seen wearing a KofC shirt throughout much of the video.
First Black deacon of the Diocese of Orange
Today, Miller is serving as a deacon at St. Juliana Falconieri Catholic Church, in Fullerton. According to BCM, he will split his time between his duties as a deacon and his day job at MLB’s Urban Youth Academy, in Compton. There, he coaches young athletes and prepares them for possible careers in baseball. Miller has been working with the Urban Youth Academy since 2005.
Miller asked readers of the article written about him for the Black Catholic Messenger for prayers as he takes on his new position. He noted that the prayers of the faithful provide him with more opportunities to serve, and thus the need for “a second Black deacon.”
He has this advice for young men on discerning a vocation within the Church:
