Deacon on the move

I got news on Tuesday that one of the two deacons at our parish, Deacon Bob Smearing, is about to move-he informed the Knights of Columbus of this Tuesday night. I'm sorry to see Deacon Bob go, although I have known that it would likely happen at some point for awhile now. Deacon Bob has been a quiet but moving example to me of the way that a good deacon ought to go about his ministry. Deacon Bob preaches with no small amount of force when he thinks it necessary, but outside of his duties at the altar he goes about his ministry in a humble and unassuming way-indeed I'd venture to say that few parishioners at St. Pat's even realize what he does away from Mass.

He has spent much of his time in ministry to the sick, the home-bound, and the very poor. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Ministerial Association Temporary Shelter-or MATS-and has gone about delivering Our Lord in the Eucharist to a great many people who otherwise can't make it to church on Sunday or on Days of Obligation. The quiet fashion in which he carries out his duties has been an example to me of how I ought to behave in my own ministry as the Lord allows, and I also appreciate that he has been there to give me advice and a cheerful smile when I have needed it thus far along my journey.


St. Albert the Great is getting an excellent addition to their ministry staff, while St. Pat's is left-at least for the time being-with two priests (one while our pastor Father Joseph Hammond is visiting his family and friends in Ghana), but only one very overworked deacon.