Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate | Credit: Catholic Courier

Article 6. The Sacrament of Holy Orders

In Brief (cont’d)

(1596) Deacons are ministers ordained for tasks of service of the Church; they do not receive the ministerial priesthood, but ordination confers on them important functions in the ministry of the word, divine worship, pastoral governance, and the service of charity, tasks which they must carry out under the pastoral authority of their bishop.

(1597) The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by the laying on of hands followed by a solemn prayer of consecration asking God to grant the ordinand the graces of the Holy Spirit required for his ministry. Ordination imprints an indelible sacramental character.

(1598) The Church confers the sacrament of Holy Orders only on baptized men (viri), whose suitability for the exercise of the ministry has been duly recognized. Church authority alone has the responsibility and right to call someone to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders.

(1599) In the Latin Church the sacrament of Holy Orders for the presbyterate is normally conferred only on candidates who are ready to embrace celibacy freely and who publicly manifest their intention of staying celibate for the love of God’s kingdom and the service of men.

(1600) It is bishops who confer the sacrament of Holy Orders in the three degrees.

Article 7. The Sacrament of Matrimony

(1601) “The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.”

I. Marriage in God’s Plan

(1602) Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of “the wedding-feast of the Lamb.” Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its “mystery,” its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising from sin and its renewal “in the Lord” in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church.

Source: USCCB

Diaconate Ordination at the Altar of the Chair, Basilica of St. Peter, Rome | Credit: Pontifical North American College, Rome

Article 6. The Sacrament of Holy Orders

III. The Three Degrees of the Sacrament of Holy Orders

The ordination of priests—co-workers of the bishops (cont’d)

(1568) “All priests, who are constituted in the order of priesthood by the sacrament of Order, are bound together by an intimate sacramental brotherhood, but in a special way they form one priestly body in the diocese to which they are attached under their own bishop. . . .” The unity of the presbyterium finds liturgical expression in the custom of the presbyters’ imposing hands, after the bishop, during the rite of ordination.

The ordination of deacons—”in order to serve”

(1569) “At a lower level of the hierarchy are to be found deacons, who receive the imposition of hands ‘not unto the priesthood, but unto the ministry.’” At an ordination to the diaconate only the bishop lays hands on the candidate, thus signifying the deacon’s special attachment to the bishop in the tasks of his “diakonia.”

(1570) Deacons share in Christ’s mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (“character”) which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the “deacon” or servant of all. Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity.

(1571) Since the Second Vatican Council the Latin Church has restored the diaconate “as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy,” while the Churches of the East had always maintained it. This permanent diaconate, which can be conferred on married men, constitutes an important enrichment for the Church’s mission. Indeed it is appropriate and useful that men who carry out a truly diaconal ministry in the Church, whether in its liturgical and pastoral life or whether in its social and charitable works, should “be strengthened by the imposition of hands which has come down from the apostles. They would be more closely bound to the altar and their ministry would be made more fruitful through the sacramental grace of the diaconate.”

IV. The Celebration of This Sacrament

(1572) Given the importance that the ordination of a bishop, a priest, or a deacon has for the life of the particular Church, its celebration calls for as many of the faithful as possible to take part. It should take place preferably on Sunday, in the cathedral, with solemnity appropriate to the occasion. All three ordinations, of the bishop, of the priest, and of the deacon, follow the same movement. Their proper place is within the Eucharistic liturgy.

(1573) The essential rite of the sacrament of Holy Orders for all three degrees consists in the bishop’s imposition of hands on the head of the ordinand and in the bishop’s specific consecratory prayer asking God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his gifts proper to the ministry to which the candidate is being ordained.

(1574) As in all the sacraments additional rites surround the celebration. Varying greatly among the different liturgical traditions, these rites have in common the expression of the multiple aspects of sacramental grace. Thus in the Latin Church, the initial rites—presentation and election of the ordinand, instruction by the bishop, examination of the candidate, litany of the saints—attest that the choice of the candidate is made in keeping with the practice of the Church and prepare for the solemn act of consecration, after which several rites symbolically express and complete the mystery accomplished: for bishop and priest, an anointing with holy chrism, a sign of the special anointing of the Holy Spirit who makes their ministry fruitful; giving the book of the Gospels, the ring, the miter, and the crosier to the bishop as the sign of his apostolic mission to proclaim the Word of God, of his fidelity to the Church, the bride of Christ, and his office as shepherd of the Lord’s flock; presentation to the priest of the paten and chalice, “the offering of the holy people” which he is called to present to God; giving the book of the Gospels to the deacon who has just received the mission to proclaim the Gospel of Christ.

Source: USCCB

Over the last several months of seminary formation, the mural in the seminary’s chapel has been speaking to me more and more each day. As many of you have read in my blog posts over the last couple of years, the discernment of the priesthood of Jesus Christ is not easy.

The Church asks a lot of someone who is in the discernment process of becoming a priest. We are asked to take a look at the deepest recesses of our hearts and examine who we are at our inner most cores. That journey can be very painful at times because all of us begin to open wounds and hurts that we have experienced throughout our lives. When we recall those events, we are asked to bring them to spiritual direction to find healing. Over the past couple of years, as I have taken this inward journey, I have begun to discover who I am and what the Lord is asking me to do with my life.

Since returning to the seminary in late-August, I continued to take this inward journey to try to discover where the Lord is leading me in my life. As I began the year, something was amiss with me and I was not quite sure what that something entailed. The slightest little thing began to upset me and I had to take a look at why that was happening. I began to wake up every morning dreading the day, not wanting to do anything. However, I simply knew I had to get up and get going. A phrase my Uncle David used to say came to mind: “You gots to do what ya gots to do.” However, because I was experiencing this immense unhappiness, I did make the decision to take it to spiritual direction.

During my direction sessions, as my spiritual director and I began to discuss why I was miserable, I began to really wonder if priesthood was where the Lord was calling me. Shortly after all these things began emerging, my prayer changed into, “Lord, what do you wish me to do with my life?” Over the next few months, I began to see that the Lord was possibly changing my path.

Throughout my times in prayer, the desire for a family began to re-emerge. As many of my closest friends know, the reason I was hesitant to enter the seminary was because I so profoundly desired to have a family of my own. I took this to spiritual direction as well. As the conversation continued to deepen, I also recalled my first passion in life—law enforcement.

My spiritual director initially told me that, at times in our lives as we seek to follow the Lord more closely, our previous desires begin to re-emerge and make us question whether we want to continue in the path on which we are currently embarking. However, this is usually just a trick that the evil spirit plays on us to make us swerve from our true path in life. Nonetheless, he asked me to continue praying about what the Lord was asking me to do.

At that point, I began praying to the Blessed Mother, asking for her assistance in helping me to know her Son more intimately and understand what He was asking me to do with my life. As Christmas Break began, my prayer changed yet again: “Blessed Mother, help me to know your son; allow me to grow in a relationship with him; teach me how to pray; grant me understanding in knowing what God is asking me to do with my life. Blessed Mother, be my star; guide me along the rough waters of life and illuminate my path.”

Throughout the Christmas recess, I spent some time focusing on the things I had experienced throughout the first semester of this academic year. As the dust began to settle more and more, I began to realize that the Lord was calling me to leave the seminary and pursue some other kind of service. Initially, I was unsure as to what that meant.

During the end of the first week on break, I served a funeral for an Orange County Deputy Sheriff who had recently died of cancer. Because the Cathedral of St. James was undergoing renovations, the funeral was moved to St. Charles. Throughout the days before the funeral, I was remembering how I wanted to be a police officer before entering seminary and I began wondering if this was what the Lord was calling me to do. During the funeral, I experienced the brotherhood of the law enforcement community in a very powerful way, which allowed me to really see that maybe this was the path the Lord was calling me to take in my life.

On New Years Eve, I was sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Charles and I prayed the prayer that I had been praying for the last several months: “Lord, what do you wish me to do with my life? Am I called to be a priest or am I called to serve your people in some other capacity?” Then it hit me and I knew. I knew the Lord was asking me to leave the seminary, take what I had learned, and go out to serve the people. I was immediately reminded of the scripture passage on the mural in the Chapel of St. Raphael: “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures.”

When I got back to seminary a few days later, I took my experiences to my spiritual director who told me to begin listening to the voice of the church to see if the Lord speaks through them as well. Throughout the following weeks, I did exactly that; I listened to the priests’ homilies more intently, I paid particular attention to what my professors were saying, and I began talking to a couple of my brother seminarians. When the seminary community began our January Day of Recollection, I took all of these experiences to the silent retreat and really focused on them. I again asked the Blessed Mother to be my star, illuminating my discernment.

The next meeting with my spiritual director was the best spiritual direction session I had ever encountered. At that point, my spiritual director also began to see that the Lord was calling me to something else. Since January, my spiritual director and I have been discussing what was next in my life and he helped me arrive at a decision, which is to leave the seminary at this time to pursue serving God’s people as a police officer. However, there are many steps that need to be taken before I explore this next part of my journey.

I have set goals for the next couple of years that I must complete before even thinking about entering the police academy. My first and most important goal is obtaining a degree in Public Administration from the University of Central Florida. The next is getting in shape, which I am going to have to work on over the next several months. I also would like to begin working at the Sheriff’s Office so that I can learn the ropes of the organization and begin to better understand the law enforcement community.

As I begin the process of discernment outside the seminary, I know that the Lord is going to be walking with me more than ever. I will take with me the love that I have experienced from the Lord through the many people who have been instrumental in my life. I will take with me the knowledge and understanding that things happen in the Lord’s time, not mine. And, most of all, I take with me the faith to put all my trust and hope in the Lord, knowing that He will lead me where He pleases.

I thank all of you: the members of my family; Archbishop-Designate Wenski, Fr. Miguel, Fr. Michael, Fr. Joseph, Fr. Tom, Fr. Augustine and all of the priests who have been instrumental in my discernment; my brother seminarians who have walked this journey with me; my closest friends who have supported me over the years; and all of those who have offered financial assistance and prayers for your unceasing support over the last couple of years as I discerned the priesthood of Jesus Christ. As I begin this next portion of my journey, I also begin discerning the Permanent Diaconate. Seminary has illustrated to me that I am being called to serve the Church in a special way, by offering myself for the benefit of others. I ask that you all please continue to keep me in your prayers. Please be assured of my prayers for you.

Pax.