Ordination to the Diaconate

On June 6th, 2009, Edward Bresnahan, Mick Kelly, and Jason Weber were ordained as Transitional Deacons at the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, by Bishop Paul S. Loverde. Deacon Weber used to be a member of my Legion of Mary Junior Praesidium and I was blessed to be his Confirmation Sponsor. God willing, they will one day be "priests after the heart of Jesus."

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The deacon will help the bishop and his body of priests as a minister of the Word, of the altar, and of charity. As a minister of the altar, he will proclaim the Gospel, prepare the sacrifice, and give the Lord's Body and Blood to the community of believers.

It will also be his duty, at the bishop's direction, to bring God's word to believers and unbelievers alike, to preside over public prayer, to baptize, to assist at marriages and to bless them, to give Viaticum to the dying and to lead the rites of burial. Once he is consecrated by the laying on of hands that comes from the apostles and is bound more closely to the altar, he will perform works of charity in the name of the bishop and the pastor.

By his own free choice he seeks to enter the order of deacon. It is a ministry which he will exercise in celibacy, which is a sign and an incentive of pastoral charity. Moved by a sincere love for Christ, he will make a new and special consecration of himself to Christ. By his life he will give witness that God must be loved above all else and that it is He whom he serves in others.

Adapted from the Rite for the Ordination of Deacons