This weekend I had the opportunity to witness two important things.
First, I concelebrated at the ordination of 5 deacons who will be journeying toward priesthood ordination on May 16, 2009. Ordained this past weekend in the Diocese of Cleveland were: classmate Deacon Sean Ralph, good friend Deacon Chris Trenta (see "The Latest Adventures of Chris" in the blog list to the left), Deacon Anthony Suso, Deacon Matt Pfeiffer, and Deacon Kevin Estabrook. Congratulations brothers!
At the ordination I remember walking in the procession and seeing the smiling faces of the guys to be ordained. It was at that moment, although I had been excited beforehand, I was even more so filled with excitement, joy, and happiness for these guys that I have had the privilege to know over the past 8 years!
This Diaconate ordination caused me to the think of two things in particular. First, I started thinking back to my own Diaconate ordination (Nov. 4, 2007) and thinking: has it really been a year already??? Reflecting upon all the graces of the past year, I am reminded once again how great this vocation is!
Second, as I witnessed the joy on the faces of my deacon brothers, I was reminded of the great mystery of God's love that we enter into more deeply as we claim our vocations - no matter what that vocation is! When we say yes to the Lord, when we begin and officially claim our vocations, there is a certain inexplicable sense of the mystery of God's love - the Holy Spirit - that you experience! That you are entering into something greater than yourself and its in this context of God's love and the faith community that all things make sense and we see the experience the deeper meaning of life. The fire within burns brighter!
The second event I experienced this weekend was the vocation witness given at our parish Masses by one of our own seminarians: Tim Roth. Tim shared his story of coming to a maturity in his faith and making the decision to enter the seminary. Tim also shared the joys and challenges of being a seminarian and working toward the priesthood. Tim's witness reminded me once again of awesomeness of saying yes to the Lord and embracing one's vocation with that yes. Tim's words also were inspiring and it is my hope that his words planted seeds in the hearts of the young people at St. Charles, to consider a vocation to priesthood or religious life.
To conclude for this round - again I'd just like to say another word of congratulations to our new deacons, Sean, Chris, Anthony, Kevin, and Matt and also thank you to Tim for his wonderful witness.
Peace be with you!
No comments:
Post a Comment