Tag Archives: Deacon

Reflection on Last Weekend’s Retreat

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As I have posted previously, members of the Diaconate classes ordained in 2012, 2013, and 2014, are required to come together for a jointEnders Island Chapel retreat.  This year’s retreat was held at Saint Edmund’s Retreat Center, on Enders Island, Mystic, CT.  Our retreat director was Father William Murphy, who is on the staff of St. Pope John XXIII National Seminary, MA.

Some random thoughts from the retreat:

The Church’s primary message, received from Jesus Christ, what we Deacons are to proclaim by our words and actions: God loves us, God cares for us.

No matter what matter troubles afflict us, no matter what anxieties there are in our lives, “we are being held in God’s arms, we are safe!”

In the Book of Exodus, we see the Hebrews threatened by Pharaoh’s army, God tells them to stand firm, and not to be afraid, and He will save them.  God is also telling us to stand firm in the face of pain and suffering we may be experiencing; He will be there to help us.  God wants us bring all thing to Him, our joys and our fears.  In the Gospels, Jesus promises that He will be there to help us with our burdens.

As Deacons, we are to be witnesses of the Love of God.  When we proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, by the words we speak to others, by the care we give to others, we are witnessing to God’s love.  When we help to raise people up from their burdens, we are witnessing to the love and hope that comes to us through Jesus Christ.

I know that for some these words may sound hollow; I will admit that at times the road ahead right now looks dark threatening.  But I also know that God cares for me, and is trying to help me, right here, right now, if only I just open my heart and soul to his Presence.  I trust in the words of Jesus, when today, He promises to be with me, and will be with me till the end of the agEnders Chapel JFJe.

This is the truth all of us Christians, especially we ministers of His Word must witness to, at every moment of every day.

A task Father gave to us Deacons was to remember the words from our Ordination and live them: “receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ whose heralds you have become.  Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.”

The retreat was definitely a time to practice deeper prayer, to be more present and open to my God.  The challenge now is carrying that experience forward into my daily life. Enders Island 3

Can We Linger for Awhile?

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TabernacleKissing your feet with all the love I am capable of, I beg you to show the greatest possible reverence and honor for the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things, whether on earth or in the heavens, have been brought to peace and reconciled with Almighty God (cf. Col 1:20). (St. Francis of Assisi, Letter to a General Chapter. Omnibus of Sources)

Times that I have lingered. Before I continue on, a point of information for those who are not Catholic. The Church teaches, and Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is truly present, and remains present in the Bread and Wine, the moment the priest repeats Jesus’ words: “Take and eat; this is my body,” and “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant,…” (Matt 26: 26-28) At the end of the distribution of Communion, any remaining consecrated Wine is consumed; any remaining consecrated Hosts are placed in a container, called a ciborium, and placed in a tabernacle.
As a Deacon, I assist at two Masses on Sunday morning. After the first Mass, I get everything set up for second Mass. One of my responsibilities is to check the ciborium, to see if I need to set out more unconsecrated hosts for Communion. I open the tabernacle; look into the ciborium, then close the tabernacle. It is at that moment that I may just stand there, because I am aware of a Presence, of Christ’s Presence. I cannot describe the experience, I just know, and that I do not want to leave the spot. Eventually, after a few minutes, the Lord lets me go, and I go on with my work.
I believe that God is always asking us to linger for just a moment, and be open to His Presence. Sometimes, we stop and open our minds and hearts; sometimes we let the anxieties, the cares, and the distractions of this world get in the way. We rush about, here and there, doing this or that. If Christ was to knock on the door of our heart, would we linger?
Linger

Reflections on the Easter Vigil – 2015

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Easter Candle 2015

It is Saturday evening when I entered the Church of St. Mary, Star of the Sea.  I am there for the Easter Vigil Mass.  The church was built in the late 1800’s; it has high vaulted ceilings, large stain glass windows, dark wood pews.  Even with the all the church lights on, it is very dim inside.  I am assisting as a deacon at the Mass; I have been the responsibility of chanting the great Easter hymn, “the Exsultet,” which takes about 9 minutes to chant.  And I really do not want to muck it up!  From the sacristy, I stand in the sanctuary of the church, and pray: “My Risen Lord, be with me this night!  All good I am able to do to because of your grace; may your Spirit be within me!”  At that moment, I experience something, I cannot describe; I am rooted in that place, and for a few seconds I am not aware of what is happening around me.  The feeling passes and I go back into the sacristy.

The church has some fine vestments, for the evening Mass, I put on a gold and white dalmatic, the deacon’s vestment.  It feels stiff to me; I usually wear only an alb and stole.  The priests and the other deacon, Michael, also vest.  We then head to the back of the church, as the lights begin to go out.  By the time we are ready, the entire church is in darkness.  Father Mark lights a fire in a brazier, by the light of that fire, he blesses the Easter Candle; from the fire he draws a flame to light the Candle.  The fire is extinguished, the only light that pierces the darkness in the church, is the flame of the Easter Candle.  Deacon Michael lifts the Candle, and he and I walked down the main aisle.  Deacon Michael stops, lifts high the Candle; and I intone: “Lumen Christi!”  The choir and the congregation respond: “Deo Gratias!”  Then from that one Candle, the light is shared with dozens of other candles, points of light begins to spread throughout the darken church.  Twice we stop, twice I chant “Lumen Christi,” twice the light is shared, until the entire church is full of points of light.  The Easter Candle in placed in its stand, its flame flickering throughout the sanctuary.

I climb into the pulpit, open my binder, take a deep breath, and sing out: “Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven,….Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice, arrayed with the lightning of his glory, let this holy building shake with joy, filled with the mighty voices of the peoples.”

“Christ is Risen!”  He is Risen Indeed!”