ROCKFORD—“This is it! Sign on the dotted line and give my life over!”
Kyle Manno’s excited voice matched his huge smile as he chatted with friends shortly before the Rite of Ordination of Deacons began at the Cathedral of St. Peter on May 16.
“That’s all I want to do — give my life over,” he added before heading off to get in position for the entrance procession of other seminarians, deacons, priests, Knights of Columbus and Bishop David Malloy.
Calling the event “truly one of the most joyful moments in the year for our diocese,” Bishop Malloy welcomed the two men to be ordained as deacons — Manno and Charles Fitzpatrick — their friends and families, representatives of their seminaries, Bishop Emeritus Thomas G. Doran, and several priests and deacons of the diocese.
A short time later, Fitzpatrick and Manno were called forward to stand before the bishop and be presented for ordination. Bishop Malloy directed his homily to them, and said it was “the day you are called to step forward … from among the faithful – your friends and family – and invited into a special relationship to Christ.”
Jesus, he noted, “called forth a group to follow Him more closely, to be configured to Him more fully. Theirs was not an honor or a reward, but a service.”
The men’s call to service as deacons, the bishop added, includes the “specific service” of commitment to a life of prayer. Faithful recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, regular daily prayer and Mass are to “be for the Church and the world,” he said.
Calling celibacy “truly a gift, not an imposition,” Bishop Malloy said that “it is following and imitating the very celibacy of Jesus,” and it is a gift that brings freedom “to serve your brothers and sisters.”
“You will also imitate Christ who gave His will completely to the Father,” the bishop said, by promising respect and obedience to their bishop. “This giving away of self – even to the point of giving away your will – is real. It can never be far from your mind or from your ministry,” he added. “Your promise of respect and obedience trusts God to form and purify your own will, even through human instruments.”
“To be a deacon is not simply a task, a function. It is a constant model of witness to Jesus Christ,” Bishop Malloy said. “Your every word, every action will be one of a minister of Christ, whether your brothers and sisters are watching or whether you are alone with God.”
He concluded his homily with a “constant question” they are to ask with joy and love: “How can I help? How can I serve the Church and Jesus Christ?”
The men than gave their resolutions and made their promises, and they were prayed over by all gathered before being ordained by the bishop. They were vested as deacons, and Bishop Malloy then handed on the Book of the Gospels to each of them. Both men assisted at the altar and with the distribution of the Eucharist as Mass continued.
After Mass, the new deacons greeted family, friends and other well-wishers in back and received certificates from Bishop Malloy officially proclaiming them as deacons. The celebration continued with a luncheon downstairs.
The two new transitional deacons have summer assignments before they complete their studies in anticipation of priestly ordination next year. Deacon Fitzpatrick will serve this summer at St. Joseph Parish in Lena; Deacon Manno will spend the summer at St. Rita of Cascia Parish in Aurora.