Deacons "are" ahead of Deacons "do". Still Deacons do. I really enjoyed last Friday night when at the Archdiocese of New Orleans Catholic Foundation Dinner the Permanent Deacons of the Northshore were honored for their service to the people of God. It was affirming yet not necessary to carry on diaconal ministry because "I am a Deacon"; it's truly who I am.
And I say this with equal fervor today as I'm now less than 8 months shy of my 10 year anniversary of ordination to the diaconate.
This week is one of the many times I find myself exceptionally busy; yet it's all for the work of the Church. Any week when I have the Tuesday/Wednesday combination of Bible Study and Prison Ministry it is already a full week. Our Bible Study at St Jane parish is currently offering A Biblical Walk with Mary and is about the 5th study we have offered over the last 3 years. We will continue until we reach Revelation. While I facilitate our evening classes it is encouraging to note that between the morning and the evening we still have about 70 folks participating. That is a strong turnout for a parish our size. Every Wednesday night is not spent in prison, more like every other week. When I attend as the only member of the clergy I lead a communion service and get to preach on the readings for the following Sunday. When I attend with our Priest, I mainly assist him at mass and try to fellowship with the men before/after the Mass.
So this was one of those weeks with the Tuesday/Wednesday combo. So it's already been a full week. But there is much more to come. Tomorrow night I have an opportunity to either attend some deacon candidate classes across the lake in New Orleans, or, if schedule does not allow that, attend instead my KC 4th degree meeting where I serve as chaplain.
Friday night brings a wedding rehearsal for a highly anticipated wedding on Saturday evening. I am preaching and receiving the vows at this wedding and will assist the pastor throughout the Mass. I will say a lot more about this after the celebration on this Sacrament of Matrimony. Always the overachiever, I also have a Baptism Saturday morning and a Baptism Sunday afternoon. Again, these are beautiful Sacraments to celebrate and I look forward to them all. And then I will also assist two masses on this weekends schedule.
I've been invigorated by my schedule of ministry because more means more opportunity to reach others and share God's love and salvation story with them! Sometimes it is tiring, but it is always wonderful. At the same time ministry is busy, I am going through a period of work at the bank that is also both busy and fulfilling. Work has me tired these days as well, but my bank branch is experiencing a wave of growth and development not realized in recent memory. So my staff helps me immensely and also facilitates my ability to both be fully present at work and fully present and prepared to move on to ministry.
So tonight, home from prison and ready to face a busy Thursday, both at work and ministry, I remember the invocation in our daily prayer: Lord, come to our aid, make haste to help me!
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