On the Anniversary of My Ordination

Today I celebrate the third anniversary of my receiving the Sacrament of Holy Orders as a deacon. As I told one of my confreres the other day at a parish picnic, there is a very real sense in which the day passes as if it is any other day. I have to carry on with the responsibilities of my daily life, and my ministry carries on as well. 

The responsibilities of both ministry and family life are oblivious to the calendar. The next time I assist at the altar during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will not be substantially different than it was when I assisted this past weekend. The various formulae for blessing objects and people do not change because I have passed another year in ordained Ministry. There is a very real sense in which I am grateful to God merely to be able to carry on.

I love being a deacon, and I did not love it any less yesterday and did not love it any less on the day I was ordained than I do today. I will love it as much tomorrow and as much next week as I do right now. The one thing I do envy about my brothers who have passed many more years in the ordained service of the Church is that they have the added benefit of greater experience that can only come with time.

I placed my hands in Bishop Stika's hands to promise obedience
(Dan McWilliams/East Tennessee Catholic)

Ontological change happens with the simple act of the Laying On of Hands
(Stephanie Richer/Stephanie Richer Photography)

Just because I understand the reality that the anniversary of my ordination is just another day in both my ministry and my family life does not mean that the significance of the day lost upon me, or than I am attempting to shrug it off. Quite the contrary. There is a reason that those of us who are ordained remember the day that it happened, just as we remember our wedding anniversary. We understand that the day we were ordained we were changed forever.

When we vest, we kiss the cross on our stoles as a reminder of the sacrament and gift of ministry we have received.
(Stephanie Richer/Stephanie Richer Photography)

The change that myself and my brothers experienced that day was an ontological change. We all received a sacrament by means of the laying on of hands, the outward sign of the ontological mark on the soul.

Cardinal Rigali helps me put on my dalmatic, the vestment proper to a deacon, for the first time, along with my wife.
(Stephanie Richer/Stephanie Richer Photography)

The Graces we receive from this sacramental ontological change, however, are Graces which we must be open to and we must accept in order for them to have the effect that they need to have on our lives, our families, and our ministries. I know that I daily must be open to the Graces of God in order for my Ministry to be effective in the lives of the people that I serve.

Receiving the Book of the Gospels from Bishop Stika
(Stephanie Richer/Stephanie Richer Photography)

On the day I was ordained, Bishop Stika said to me (and my classmates): 

“Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.”

I truly love to serve, and I hope that I have many more years to continue to do so. pray for me that God will grant me a double portion of humility, that I may be an effective servant, and a far better reflection of Christ to others.