Homily for the Ordination of Permanent Deacons

Feast of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

June 21, 2024
Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church
Arlington, Texas

Jeremiah 1:4-9
Psalm 100:1b-2, 3,4, 5
Acts 6:1-7b
John 12:24-26

Bishop Olson’s homily in English begins at paragraph 4.

En el Evangelio de esta Misa, Jesús nos dice, “Yo les aseguro que si el grano de trigo sembrado en la tierra, no muere, queda infecundo; pero si muere, producirá mucho fruto.” Estas palabras se revelan la primera característica del Sagrado ministerio del diaconado permanente: morir a una existencia de un grano singular en favor de florecer como un amigo de Cristo por servicio de la comunidad de la Iglesia y afuera de la Iglesia entre los débiles de la sociedad. Es más apropriado que nos unamos como la Iglesia local de Fort Worth para la ordenación de tres diáconos permanentes por servicio a la Iglesia en el espíritu de estas palabras sagradas de Jesucristo: “Él que se ama y si mismo, se pierde; él que se aborrece a si mismo en este mundo, se asegura para la vida eterna. Él que quiera servirme que me siga para que donde yo esté, también este mi servidor.”

¿Cual es el tipo de muerte de la que habla Jesucristo? Es una muerte de la ética contemporánea que ignora la presencia y las necesidades de otras personas, especialmente las de los débiles y pobres, en favor de la adquisición privada de riqueza material disponible. Es una ética sin integridad y ni honestidad. Es una ética que niega la verdad que la razón nos muestra y la fe autentica revela. Es una ética que prefiere permanecer en el aislamiento y la tristeza de un grano singular de trigo en lugar de la comunión entre los hijos de Dios que es fruto de la muerte a uno mismo.

El ministerio contemporáneo pero inmutable del diácono para las necesidades actuales de la Iglesia está capturado por estas hermosas palabras del Papa Francisco, “Hace falta volver a sentir que nos necesitamos unos a otros, que tenemos una responsabilidad por los demás y por el mundo, que vale la pena ser buenos y honestos. Ya hemos tenido mucho tiempo de degradación moral, burlándonos de la ética, de la bondad, de la fe, de la honestidad, y llegó la hora de advertir que esa alegre superficialidad nos ha servido de poco.”

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Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel, “I assure you that if the grain of wheat sown in the earth does not die, it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.” These words of the Gospel really reveal in brevity and depth the sacred ministry of permanent deacons. These words of Christ are rich material for our reflection as we come together to celebrate the ordination of these three men to the permanent diaconate.

As Pope Saint John Paul II said to the permanent deacons of the United States in September 1987, “If we keep in mind the deep spiritual nature of this diakonia, then we can better appreciate the interrelation of the three areas of ministry traditionally associated with the diaconate, that is, the ministry of the word, the ministry of the altar, and the ministry of charity. Depending on the circumstances, one or another of these may receive particular emphasis in an individual deacon’s work, but these three ministries are inseparably joined together as one in the service of God’s redemptive plan. This is so because the word of God inevitably leads us to the Eucharistic worship of God at the altar; in turn, this worship leads us to a new way of living which expresses itself in acts of charity. This charity is both love of God and love of neighbor.”

Tonight, by their ordination, these three men die to the contemporary ethic of the world that is fraught with narcissism and apathy. In their dying to self they receive the Gospel and become its heralds, by believing, by teaching, and by practicing the Gospel of Jesus Christ by remaining close to Him in being present to those most in need.

The Second Vatican Council called the Church to examine the cultural and intellectual world of the modern age in an effort to place the Gospel of Christ not under a bushel basket but on a lampstand to enlighten everyone living in the house of the present age. This is at the heart of the renewal of the permanent diaconate after the Second Vatican Council to shine the light of the Gospel on the priority of the poor who are intentionally overlooked in the darkness of the modern age. The modern age has collapsed into the postmodern confusion of contemporary political, intellectual, and cultural life – and the ministry of deacons has become even more urgent and clear in keeping the gaze of the Church and her ministers upon Christ who continues to shine in the darkness in the lives of the poor and marginalized whom the world views dimly as not worthy of compassion.

Compassion is when a person sees a poor or suffering person, experiences empathy, and assists that person with the thought that “There but for the Grace of God, go I.” Charity is when a Christian encounters a poor or suffering person, experiences empathy, assists the person and recognizes, “there by God’s Grace goes Christ.” The diaconate is a ministry of charity more than anything else. It is focused on Christ alone in the poor, who are people not inconveniences. The order of deacon, as a minister of charity, recognizes human dignity in each person and witnesses that they are dignified because each person has been imprinted with the image and likeness of God. Again, the order of deacon, as a ministry of charity, recognizes and witnesses to Christ who is present and who loves each of us without distinction and with complete and unconditional love – even if the poor remain poor, all the while they remain Christ among us.

It is this Charity which prompts us as the Church to ordain these deacons to lend their voices to the Holy Spirit in the ordinary proclamation of the Gospel in the celebration of Mass and in the celebration of Baptism. It is this Charity that prompts the Church to assign the deacon to hold the chalice of the Blood of Christ at the doxology of the Mass – the Blood of Christ that He shed in total and sacrificial love for all of us who have been impoverished by sin. It is this Charity that prompts the Church to assign the deacon to receive the marital vows of couples —especially those who have previously thought that the Church was closed to them. It is this Charity that prompts the Church to ask the deacon to be mindful of her members who have been alienated for some reason from Her and to foster a return by them to a “new horizon and a decisive direction” – those marks belonging to Jesus Christ. It is this Charity that is the Gospel which these deacons will herald by their belief, their teaching, and most especially their practice. This is the Gospel of Christ that proclaims, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”