From NC Catholics:
Eleven men were ordained deacons in the Diocese of Raleigh June 27. The bilingual Mass took place at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, which opened its doors that morning to the new deacons, their family members and friends and members of the clergy.
The new deacons are Antonio Cordova (St. Thomas More/Chapel Hill), Thomas Aquinas Costello (St. Francis of Assisi/Raleigh), Jon David Henz (UNC Newman Center), Joseph Marco Longo (Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral/Raleigh), Julián Sandoval Ramírez (St. Matthew/Durham), Antonio Enrique Rodriguez (Santa Teresa del Niño Jesus/Beulaville), Jorge Victor Rosende (St. Teresa of Calcutta/Cary), Gary Alan Rourke (All Saints/Hampstead), Joseph Martin Sebik (St. Mary Magdalene/Apex), Matthew Joseph Sullivan (St. Thomas More/Chapel Hill) and Joseph Werner (St. Mary Magdlene/Apex)…
…In his homily, Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama thanked his brother priests and deacons for their attendance. He encouraged the candidates to think of why they were at ordination and engaged in conversation with them.
“What is going on right now in this moment is your experience of that kind of love that you don’t understand,” Bishop Luis said. “It’s an experience of an encounter … a celebration … this is the moment in which you need to be as human as you are.”
The bishop explained that love isn’t something people can handle with their minds or control, but it’s an invitation of freedom to live and celebrate.
“Let that love be part of your daily life. This is what the Lord is inviting you to … you are called today to be ordained,” he continued. “Your first obligation and your first duty is being servants and that sounds a little complicated … you will receive a dalmatic and a stole as the dignity of your office. But are you letting him to vest you in that love? To put on the stole of a deacon, to learn that your office is to become a servant … [and] Jesus is serving you first.”
Congratulations, brothers, and welcome! Ad multos annos!
