Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton
HOMILY
Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate – November 26, 2011
It is a joy to welcome all of you to Saint Peter’s Cathedral this morning, together with so many brother priests and deacons, and especially the wives and children, family members and friends of those to be ordained. I thank you for your presence, for your prayers, and for the vital role that you have played in enabling these men about to be ordained deacons to hear and answer the call of the Lord and to become equipped for every kind of good work through the formation they have received during the past years.
Thank you as well to all who have been responsible for the formation of our candidates – countless numbers of instructors, spiritual directors, pastors – and in particular, those who have served as Directors of the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Scranton for the seven men to be ordained today – Monsignor Grimalia, Father Polednak, and most recently, Monsignor Bohr.
I am especially grateful to the wives of our candidates. In so many respects, because of the call that you and your husbands answered to your first vocation to married life, you assumed an integral role in these candidates’ journey to their second vocation: Holy Orders. Your willingness to encourage them to open their hearts to the call of the Lord – your selfless love and support amid their struggles to discern their place in the Lord’s plan – and your fidelity in prayer as together you have journeyed to this day – have been a blessing not only to your husbands but to the Church of Scranton and especially to the lives of all those who will be touched by their ministry of service. Thank you. May you too find fulfillment, meaning and peace in the days and years ahead.
And now, I’d like to share a few words to my brothers who are to be ordained to the Diaconate.
First of all, it seems that we are taking the scripture lesson from the Acts of the Apostles rather literally today. Just as the twelve Apostles called together the community of disciples to choose seven reputable men filled with the Spirit and wisdom for a ministry of service, so too have I, as a successor to the Apostles, consulted with those responsible for your formation and have chosen you – Maurice, Bill, Ray, Matt, Pat, Jan and Bob – seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom – to serve the Church of Scranton as deacons.
But note this, my brothers: You have not been called to ordination because you are perfect – because you are holy – or even because you have some natural ability to preach and teach. You have been called by the Lord and chosen in the mystery of God’s plan because the Lord, who knows you and loves you, knows that you love him and seek to serve him in his people. … Isn’t that amazing? In God’s plan of salvation, there is a place for every one of us. And because of that plan, six years ago you set forth on a journey that has brought you to this day. How blessed we are because of your openness to God and because of the marvelous ways in which God continues to work wonders in our lives through faith.
The words of the Second Vatican Council put your role within the Church in perspective. “Strengthened by sacramental grace,” you are called “to serve the People of God, in the diakonia of liturgy, word and charity, in communion with the Bishop and his presbyterate.” As such, you are ordained to be a sign and instrument of Christ, who came “not to be served but to serve,” and to give his life for the sake of the many.
Your service to the People of God is three fold: service to the Word of God – service at the altar of the Lord – and service to the poor. Allow me to share a few words about each of these ways in which you are called to serve.
As deacons, … you shall proclaim the Gospel, preach homilies, convey the needs of the people of God in the General Intercessions and offer many other forms of instruction. You are to be agents of the New Evangelization and proclaim Christ to the world. … But in receiving the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you become, remember that it is his Gospel that you preach, not yours; it is the Word of God proclaim, not your own.
The Church has a unique service to render to the world – the service of the truth. As ministers of the Church, you must understand that it is the truth that judges events – not vice versa. By your faithful service to the Gospel in its integrity – without compromise, without accommodation, hesitation or fear – you must help the world to discover the Truth that has a human face, the Truth that is the person of Jesus Christ.
As deacons, … you shall also serve at the altar of the Lord, preparing the altar for the banquet of Christ’s sacrifice, distributing Holy Communion to the faithful, as well as to the sick and homebound. You will baptize, preside at weddings and funerals and other prayer services. … I urge you to be good servants of the Church’s sacramental life. Fulfill your role with reverence in accord with the Church’s liturgical directives.
Blessed Pope John Paul II reminded us in Ecclesia de Eucharistia: “The Church has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord not as one gift – however precious – among many others, but as the gift par excellence, for it is the gift of himself, of his person in his sacred humanity, as well as the gift of his saving work.” Thus, as servants of the liturgy, always point to Jesus who is our life and our hope.
Finally, as deacons, … you are called to be the living and working expression of the charity of the Church. To you, then, is entrusted in a special way the ministry of charity that is at the very origin of the institution of the deacon. You are to serve the poor and needy, imitating the Lord who washed the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is about to walk to his death. The eloquent image of the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies reminds all who desire to follow after Jesus and to come to eternal life that they, like him, must be prepared to lay down their lives in self-gift. … But there is more to this self-gift than generosity. The disciple of Jesus is called to reverse the attitude of Jesus’ opponents. They cling with closed fists to what is theirs: they love their lives and make an absolute of what this world can offer, and thus they lose their lives. … The one who is prepared to let go of this world, however, has eternal life: a life of meaning and purpose in this world and hereafter. In short, the authentic disciple must be where Jesus is.
A few verses following the gospel passage just proclaimed, we discover where Jesus was and is to be found. … Jesus rose from the table upon which he shared the Passover meal with his disciples, removed his outer garments and knelt to wash the feet of Peter and the other apostles. In so doing, a tension arose between Peter and Jesus. Peter refuses to allow Jesus to wash his feet and Jesus, in turn, warns him that what is at stake is having a part in the very life of Jesus. That part means to be a part of the self-giving love that will bring Jesus’ life to an end.
Jesus washed the feet of his disciples to give them – and us – an example. “As I have done, so you must do.” They – we – are to repeat his example of the loving gift of himself symbolized in that gesture. Being a disciple of Jesus means taking the risk of accepting and following the example of Jesus – which entails a commitment to love – even if it leads to death – a willingness to lose that which is so integral to who we are.
My brothers, because you have heard and proclaimed the Word and shared deeply in the sacramental life of the Church, you are well prepared to empty yourselves by reaching out in love to the poor, the vulnerable, the sick and the troubled. Jesus command – “As I have done, so you must do” – lies at the heart of the vision of hope that I have spoken of so often for our Diocese. It also lies at the very heart of your ministry to the People of God.
Remember the early deacon of Rome, Saint Lawrence, who was martyred in the year 258. When ordered by the pagan emperor to hand over the treasures of the Church, Lawrence gathered the poor and sick and said: “This is the treasure of the Church.” Through your ministry, the Church can and must make herself present to the world of need and pain that too often remains invisible to us within the walls of normal parish life. You must continually remind us that there, among the needy and the marginalized, lies the true treasure of the Church.
One final word: there are three parts to your ministry but it is only one ministry that you assume. The ministry of the Word and ministry at the altar in no way conflict with the ministry of service. On the contrary, the Word proclaimed and the mysteries celebrated oblige us to love one another and to be good servants of the poor. Please do not compartmentalize your ministry into conflicting models or gravitate only to that part of your three-fold ministry that you find most rewarding.
You must show how the three essential elements of the Church’s life – Word, Worship and Service, presuppose one another and are inseparable. And remember also that a deacon’s ministry is neither fully diaconal nor unified if he is only a servant of the Word or the altar, but does not serve the poor directly. Your ministry must include some form of direct service to the poor and those who are most in need.
My brothers, don’t be afraid of the responsibilities that are being placed upon you this day. Embrace them with joy and know that the Lord Jesus walks with you every step of the way. So stay close to him. Walk with him in prayer. Follow Jesus’ example. Just as he himself has done, you also should do. … Do God’s will from the heart. And serve God’s people in love and joy as you would the Lord himself.
Supported by the prayers of your wives and families, by the deacons and priests of this Diocese and beyond and by the great communion of Saints whom we will invoke in prayer, may the Lord who has begun this good work in you bring it to completion.
