Diaconate Ordination
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
May 18, 2024
Miserando atque eligendo
The motto of Pope Francis is miserando atque eligendo. While most of you do not need a translation, his motto literally means “by having mercy and by choosing” – or as one might say, “by choosing mercifully”. God in his mercy calls. God in his mercy chooses. That is how St. Matthew described his calling in the Gospel that bears his name. And that is also how St. Paul describes his calling in today’s second reading: “Therefore [he says], since we have this ministry through the mercy shown us, we are not discouraged” (2 Cor 4:1).
Dear brothers, so soon to be ordained: In St. Matthew, St. Paul, and Pope Francis you have found a path for approaching the mystery about to be enacted in the depths of your spirit. You, as all of us in ordained ministry, must rely on the mercy of God. It is the Lord who chose you for the Office of Deacon – but not because you earned it or because you are more deserving than others. No, he chose you in his love and mercy. Ministry worthy of the name is always rooted in God’s mercy towards the minister. Nothing should bring us more consolation, encouragement, and joy.
Relying on God’s mercy, you have sought to be formed for the ministry of deacon. For you, Edward and Javier, soon to be ordained as “permanent” deacons, this has meant great sacrifices of time and effort and for that I thank you, your wives, and your families. Six more of you are to be ordained deacons – James, Bienvenu, Alex, Jun, Thomas, and Shadrick – and you will freely embrace the celibate state for the sake of the Kingdom of God, even as you continue on the path of formation leading to the ordained Priesthood. Thank you for your readiness to give yourselves generously to God and to his Church. But whether you are called to the transitional or permanent diaconate, all of you were chosen by God’s mercy, and throughout the process of formation, his mercy has led you to undergo a beautiful conversion of mind, heart, and spirit, and to develop your natural and spiritual gifts so as to place yourselves at the service of the Lord, the Church, and the people to whom you will be sent. How is it that you will serve them?
‘The Glory of God Shining on the Face of Christ’
The first prerequisite for ministry is to be overtaken by the beauty of Christ, to be captured by the beauty of his truth, the depth of his mercy, the glory of God that shines from his countenance. That glory must shine in the depth of your being as you renounce whatever is contrary to the Gospel and to your human dignity, and embrace the Risen Lord in purity of heart, thanks to the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, in the ministry of proclaiming and preaching the Word of God, you rely on your knowledge of Scripture and Theology, even as you seek to deepen it. But, as you know, preaching is never merely an academic exercise. Still less is it an occasion to call attention to ourselves. Rather, as St. Paul says, “…we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus” (2 Cor 4:5). Think about what those words really mean. It means that when we preach we are to allow the radiance of Christ to shine through us and in us, even amid our weakness and need for mercy. And we are putting ourselves radically at the service of God’s People for the sake of the mission that Jesus entrusted to his Church. We are bearing witness as we link faith and life, faith and culture, faith and service. Our preaching is persuasive and life-giving when, in the grace of the Holy Spirit, Christ shines in our hearts so brightly that we manifest “the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Jesus” (2 Cor. 7).
“Worship in Spirit and Truth”
If we behold God’s Word in careful study and daily assiduous prayer, and truly entrust ourselves day by day to the mercy of the One who chose us, then everything else we do in ministry will have a beauty not of our own making, but a beauty that flows from the grace of the Holy Spirit.
A case in point is how we fulfill our responsibilities as servants and leaders of the Church’s sacramental worship. The reading from the Book of Numbers describes the care with which your Old Testament predecessors, the Levites, were to fulfill their role in maintaining the tabernacle of the Lord. How much more, then, should you be “all lost in wonder” (Rev 18:17) as you contemplate your role of assisting at the altar, distributing Holy Communion, baptizing, presiding at marriages and funerals, visiting the sick and the dying, conducting prayer services and much more. If it is not yourselves that we preach, so too it is not our mysteries that we celebrate, but rather the great and marvelous deeds that Christ accomplished for our salvation. Thus, we are never to be casual or careless or freewheeling but always faithful and joyous as we seek to manifest through sacramental signs the glory of God shining on the face of Christ. Let us do everything with love! (cf. 1 Cor 16:14)
“As One Who Serves”
That same relationship with Christ, forged by daily prayer and reflection, will also manifest itself in how you engage those whom you are sent to serve – whether it is faithful parishioners who are “in the pews” week after week, or the unchurched or the seldom churched, or the alienated and the troubled, and especially the poor and the vulnerable.
Deeply conscious that we have been chosen by the mercy of God, we dare not approach God’s people as if we were high and mighty. Rather, our interactions must be marked by a gentle pastoral love that sets people at ease and invites them to open their hearts to Christ and to become active members of his Church . . . That same gentle pastoral love you must extend to those most in need, to those who are, as Mother Teresa often said, “Jesus in his distressing disguises.”
Miserando atque eligendo
Miserando atque eligendo. By now, you need no translation. You have only to translate those words by your life and ministry. May God bless you, dear brothers, and keep you always in his love!