I love December 26th; first of all it is my wife Wendy's birthday and it is also the Feast of St. Stephen, a patronal feast day for all Deacons. Since becoming part of the diaconate family, way back in formation, I have tried to participate in the Mass and social for all Deacons in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Now I have not made them all as sometimes it's better to take Wendy out for her birthday or sometimes work gets in the way. I knew for a few days now that I would not be venturing south of the lake to participate in this years events. So I planned to attend Mass today and even received permission from the pastor to preach for such important a feast day for Deacons.
Well, I arrived this morning, ready to assist and everything was ok except no Priest. The long and the short of it is the Pastor was away for a post Christmas engagement and the other Priest was down with an illness, sick enough to not make Mass. There was no other alternative, Deacon Mike needed to offer a Communion Service. I made sure the tabernacle had sufficient Eucharist, made an announcement to the gathered crowd and proceeded to lead the prayers. We still had singing, I preached a homily on the importance of this feast day in the Octave of Christmas, we prayed for our ill Priest, everyone received Jesus in Holy Communion.
For me, the opportunity to provide this service today on the Feast of St. Stephen was an awesome moment in my diaconate ministry.
St. Stephen, deacon & martyr, pray for us!
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