Church History and real support

I'm really excited about this month's deaconate formation. It will focus on a topic that has always been a personal favorite and a fascination of mine-Church history.

Our instructor is His Excellency Bishop Joseph Martino, the Bishop Emeritus of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Since I learned last month that we would have a retired bishop come to instruct us, I've read up a bit on His Excellency. If any of the things I've read are even remotely true, then this man of God strikes me as a man of great zeal for the Church, as as a soldier of the Truth. I am eager to sit under his instruction, and I am wondering if this is going to be one of those classes where two months of this won't be enough to do anything but whet my appetite and I am going to be begging for more.

I want to thank everyone for their continued prayers, and again put in a good word for my wife, who has not only been extraordinarily patient with me throughout the discernment process, but she is eager to help. She enjoys our deanery workshops greatly, and afterwords has a lot to say to me. Nicole is often known for her very quiet demeanor-she doesn't stand out much, and tends to speak only when she has something she thinks is greatly important to say (yes, Brother Aspirants, that makes her my polar opposite!), but just as I couldn't continue in the program without the support of Steve Helmbrecht and Don Griffith, my fellow Aspirants here in the Five Rivers Deanery who are from St. Mary's in Johnson City who have made sure I make it to class, I would be even less able to do this without my wife.

We all know we need our wives' permission to enter deaconate formation and to continue in it. I have come to understand why that is in spades over the last seven months. Thank you sweetheart for accepting God's call for me, and for believing in me.