On this December 12th evening, the Feast of Our Lady of Gaudalupe, and as I rest in a hotel suite in northeast Georgia, I am fondly recalling that tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of the ordination of the 2008 Permanent Diaconate Class for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Along with 22 classmates, I was transformed forever by the laying on of hands and the power of the Holy Spirit as we all received the Sacrament of Holy Orders.
It was a chilly yet beautiful Saturday morning in New Orleans outside St. Louis Cathedral as we lined up as acolytes and marched in the Cathedral to profess our promises, to pray in supplication on the marble floor of the Cathedral, to receive the laying on of hands from Archbishop Hughes and the Book of the Gospels. We received the dalmatic, the vestment of the Deacon. Before we knew it, we recessed out of the Cathedral into that same chilly sunny Saturday as Permanent Deacons, ordained to proclaim the Word and to minister charity to the people of God. What a wonderful day; an awesome memory that will last forever!
All 23 of us are still in active ministry, serving at assigned parishes and various ministries from hospitals to homeless shelters to prisons and more. Unfortunately, for whatever reasons they may be, all 23 of us have never been assembled together since that December 13, 2008 in one place. In part, that would be because we are all pretty involved in our ministry and stay very busy.
December 13th is also the feast day of St. Lucy who on my ordination day became one of my personal patrons. Along with St. Jane de Chantal I have two pretty impressive ladies in my corner as they both serve as powerful intercessors before God.
So while December 13, 2012 will find me traversing the last 450 miles of my journey to rendezvous with #1 grandson Calvin, I will say a little prayer of thanksgiving for the ministry entrusted to me and a prayer for my classmates as they continue their ministry as well.
To all my brothers: Ad Multos Annos
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