Mass Readings for Deaconate Ordination October 25, 2008

These are the reading which Bishop Lennon chose for our Diaconate Ordination Mass:

1st (Old Testament) Reading: Numbers 3:5-9

Now the LORD said to Moses:
"Summon the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest, as his assistants. They shall discharge his obligations and those of the whole community before the meeting tent by serving at the Dwelling. They shall have custody of all the furnishings of the meeting tent and discharge the duties of the Israelites in the service of the Dwelling. You shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they have been set aside from among the Israelites as dedicated to me.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all you lands;
worship the LORD with cries of gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
Know that the LORD is God,
our maker to whom we belong,
whose people we are, God's well-tended flock.
Enter the temple gates with praise,
its courts with thanksgiving.
Give thanks to God, bless his name;
good indeed is the LORD,
Whose love endures forever,
whose faithfulness lasts through every age.


2nd (New Testament) Reading: I Peter 4:7b-11

Be serious and sober for prayers.
Above all, let your love for one another be intense,
because love covers a multitude of sins.
Be hospitable to one another without complaining.
As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another
as good stewards of God's varied grace.
Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God;
whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies,
so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
to whom belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel Proclamation: John 12:24-26*

Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.

* This was a verse of the Gospel of John which I wrote a paper on for our Scripture class on Johannine Literature. How providential to think that I've been preparing to hear this particular verse of the Gospel proclaimed since last Spring Semester when we took that class. -CJT.

The Prayer of Ordination for the Sacred Order of Deacon

For those who wish to prepare with my classmates and I for this coming Saturday's Ordination rite, I am including the text of the Prayer of Ordination for Deacons. This is the prayer that the Bishop will pray aloud as he calls the Holy Spirit upon us and ordains us for ministry in the Diocese of Cleveland. It is always beneficial to our celebration together to have read through and prayed the prayers of the liturgy.

The Ordination Mass will begin at 10:00AM on Saturday, October 25, 2008 at The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (on the corner of Superior and E. 9th Street) in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. There is some open seating available and anyone may participate in this celebration of liturgy. (Come earlier...around 9:00 or 9:15 AM for the best chance at a good seat).

As we prepare to celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Orders this coming weekend, please keep my classmates and I in your prayers. Thank you.

Candidates for the Sacred Order of Deacon:

Kevin Estabrook
Sean Ralph
Matthew Pfeiffer
Anthony Suso
Christopher Trenta


And, so that we may celebrate well together...

"Draw near, we pray, almighty God,
giver of every grace,
who apportion every order and assign every office,
you who remain unchanged but make all things new;
who, in your eternal providence, order all creation
and make due provision for every age
through him who is your Word, your power, and wisdom,
Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.

For the upbuilding of the new temple,
you grant that the Church, his body,
should grow and spread forth
adorned with manifold heavenly graces,
joined together in the distinction among its members
and fastened in unity by the wonderous bond of the Holy Spirit;
and you established ranks of ministers
in sacred offices to serve your name,
as once you chose the sons of Levi
to minister in the former tabernacle.

Thus, in the first days of the Church,
through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
your Son's Apostles appointed seven men of good repute
to assist them in the daily ministry,
that they might devote themselves more fully
to prayer and preaching of the Word.
By prayer and the laying on of hands
they entrusted to these chosen men
the ministry of serving at table.

We beseech you, Lord:
look with favor on these servants of yours,
who will minister at your holy altar
and whom we now humbly dedicate to the office of deacon.

Lord, we beseech you:
send forth upon them the Holy Spirit,
that they may be strengthened
by the gift of your sevenfold grace
to carry out faithfully the work of the ministry.

May every Gospel virtue abound in them:
unfeigned love,
concern for the sick and poor,
unassuming authority,
the purity of innocence
and the observance of spiritual discipline.

May your commandments shine forth in their conduct,
so that by the example of their way of life
they may attract the imitation of your holy people.
May they remain strong and steadfast in Christ,
offering the witness of a clear conscience.
By imitating on earth
your Son, who came not to be served but to serve,
may they be found worthy to reign in heaven with him,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever."

All answer: "Amen."

Called to Holy Orders - 1 October 2008

Today I have officially been notified by letter that the Bishop of Cleveland, the Most Reverend Richard Lennon, has called my classmates and I to Sacred Orders, to the Order of Deacon for service to the Diocese of Cleveland. This is the final step before being called to Priesthood and is often referred to as the "Transitional Deaconate" (as compared to "Permanent Deacons" who will be deacons for the rest of their lives) since we will be in transition to becoming priests, God willing, in May 2009. So, October 25, 2008 there will be five new deacons here in Cleveland. I thought it would be fun to share the contents of the letter:

1 October 2008

Mr. Christopher John Trenta
Saint Mary Seminary
28700 Euclid Ave
Wickliffe, OH 44092

Dear Christopher,

It gives me great happiness to acknowledge receipt of your petition regarding ordination to the Diaconate for the Diocese of Cleveland. With this letter, I hereby call you on 1 October 2008 to Sacred Orders, to the Order of Deacon for service to the Diocese of Cleveland.

In these past years I know that you have given yourself to discernment and formation. You have achieved this readiness for ordination by applying yourself in priestly formation at Saint Mary Seminary. I thank the Lord for the grace He has given you to discern in your own heart a readiness whereby you now ask for the sacred gift of ordination.

This time of sacred ordination marks a commitment on your part whereby you pledge yourself to be faithful to Christ as His minister of His Word and Sacrament. With great joy, I thank God for the gift of your vocation and I pledge to you my priestly support as you soon will assume your responsibilities as a Deacon for the Diocese of Cleveland.

With my prayerful best wishes, I am

Fraternally yours in Christ,

(signed) +Richard Lennon
Bishop of Cleveland

...the gift of the sevenfold grace

Well, as many of you know, I have begun my last school year at Saint Mary Seminary here in Wickliffe, Ohio (just 20 minutes East of Cleveland). Today, in fact, my classmates and I (5 in total) had our final formal evaluation with the formation faculty at the seminary. After today's evaluation, they will place their final "votes" and the rector will make a formal recommendation to the Bishop of Cleveland as to whether they believe we should be called to the Sacrament of Holy Orders and ordained as Transitional Deacons on the way to ordination to the priesthood next May 2009. Tomorrow, we will also go as a group to meet with the bishop at the Chancery (the bishop's offices) at the Cathedral. We will then have a final one-on-one interview with the bishop on September 27th after which he will make his final decision as to who will be called forward for ordination. (This process will repeat itself in the Spring before priesthood ordination).

I can tell you that arriving at this point, rather the journey through the seminary, has been quite an experience. As part of this final faculty evaluation, we were asked to write a summary statement reflecting on our time in the seminary formation program. It turned out to be a wonderful exercise as I tried to recall how this particular segement of my journey in the faith began and followed its progress over the past five years of school. I have grown a lot, which I know is evident to some of you (probably Mom & Dad the most since they get to see me the most of those outside the seminary).

One of the tools I used to help me look back as I prepare to go forward was the US Bishop's document called the Program of Priestly Formation (5th edition). The 4th and 5th editions have been the documents that have governed my seminary formation. These are the values and goals that the U.S. Bishops hope each seminary will provide the seminarians and it identifies the characteristics of the growth that is expected for those faithfully engaged in the program.

As I reviewed much of the text, particularly the sections that outline the goals for spiritual, pastoral, intellectual, and human formation, I found myself knodding over and over again in agreement and recognized just how much I have grown in these areas. It is a fascinating document to read having gone through most of the program. My sense is, if you really want to know what goes into the making of a priest, this is a great document to read. (This might even help you understand your own parish priests a little better. ) Another good document on the formation of priests is John Paul II's Pastores Dabo Vobis (I Will Give You Shepherds) which really shaped the U.S. Bishop's last revision of the Program for Priestly Formation.

I know these are both really, REALLY, long readings for the casual observer. But, if you'd like to know more, much more, about what my classmates and I (and seminarians all over the world) have been experiencing, these expressions of the formation program is where to begin. In fact, I would highly recommend that you read (or at least skim through them) if you will be attending an ordination Mass soon. It would be a great way to help prepare yourself to enter into the celebration of the Mass and understand a little better what is happening.

Additionally, and I'll be saying this for the rest of my life, reflecting on the priesthood of Jesus Christ will help you put your own vocation into perspective (whether married, single, or religious). [This works both ways, in fact, and I'm quite certain it works because I've reflected a lot on the presence of Jesus in the gift of the vocation of marriage and it has strengthened my resolve to the charism and gift of celibacy to minister as a priest]. The bulk of what's in these documents can be applied to your life as well, and need not remain only the domain of those in formation for priesthood.

At the beginning of the school year, all of us seminarians participated in an annual house retreat. This year Fr. Lawrence Jurcak, the Bishop's Secretary for Clergy & Religious here in the Diocese of Cleveland, led the retreat. At a session for those in the final stages before deaconate ordination, he suggested that we reflect upon the ordination rite of the Church and the promises that we will be making as we become deacons. For the benefit of those who may be attending the deaconate ordinations here in the Diocese of Cleveland, I aim to include in this and future blogs some of the texts and prayers from the Rite of Ordination of Deacons. So, I have typed out below the calling forward of those to be ordained and the texts of the promises that the elect will make publicly in front of the Church. I ask that you pray with me for my classmates and I as we approach these last steps to ordination. Pray over these promises and prayers and reflect upon them as we reflect upon them, that when we gather together in the presence of the Church on that day, we may all celebrate in joy together.

RITE OF ORDINATION OF DEACONS:

ELECTION OF THE CANDIDATES

197 The candidates are called by a deacon: "Let those to be ordained deacons come forward."
Their names are called individually by the deacon. Each one answers, "Present."
Each candidate goes to the Bishop, to whom he makes a sign of reverence.

198 When the candidates are in their places before the Bishop, the priest designated by the Bishop says: "Most Reverend Father, holy Mother Church asks you to ordain these men, our brothers, to the responsibility of the diaconate."

The Bishop asks: "Do you know them to be worthy?"

The priest answers: "After inquiry among the Christian people and upon the recommendation of those responsible, I testify that they have been found worthy."

Bishop: "Relying on the help of the Lord God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, we choose these, our brothers, for the Order of the Diaconate."

All present say: "Thanks be to God."

PROMISE OF THE ELECT

200 After the homily, the elect alone rise and stand before the Bishop, who questions all of them together: "Dear sons, before you enter the Order of the Diaconate, you must declare before the people your intention to undertake this office.

"Do you resolve to be consecrated for the Church's ministry by the laying on of my hands and the gift of the Holy Spirit?"

Together, all the elect answer: "I do."

Bishop: "Do you resolve to discharge the office of deacon with humble charity in order to assist the priestly Order and to benefit the Christian people?"

Elect: "I do."

Bishop: "Do you resolve to hold fast to the mystery of faith with a clear conscience, as the Apostle urges, and to proclaim this faith in word and deed according to the Gospel and the Church's tradition?"

Elect: "I do."

Bishop: "Those of you who are prepared to embrace the celibate state: do you resolve to keep for ever this commitment as a sign of your dedication to Christ the Lord for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, in the service of God and man?"

Elect: "I do."

Bishop: "Do [all of] you resolve to maintain and deepen the spirit of prayer that is proper to your way of life and, in keeping with this spirit and what is required of you, to celebrate faithfully the Liturgy of the Hours with and for the People of God and indeed for the whole world?"

Elect: "I do."

Bishop: "Do you resolve to conform your way of life always to the example of Christ, of whose Body and Blood you are ministers at the altar?"

Elect: "I do, with the help of God."

201 Then each one of the elect goes to the Bishop and, kneeling before him, places his joined hands between those of the Bishop. If the Bishop is the elect's Ordinary, he asks: "Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors?"

Elect: "I do."

The Bishop always concludes: "May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment."