Today, on the Fifth Sunday of Easter, we continue to celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  And we recall also, with fond memories, the beautiful papacy of Pope John Paul II.  Then, with happiness and joy, we watched as the 265^th successor of Peter, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was chosen to be our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.  In the past few days, in fact, all of April, we have watched our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II lay gravely ill, in pain and suffering, and dying.  We were saddened, of course, by his pain and suffering.  But at the same time, we wanted him to go home to his Creator, so that his pain and suffering could end.  That he, by his suffering with dignity, gave us an example of how all of us must face pain, suffering, and death itself; with complete and total submission to the will of God, with complete trust in God.  John Paul II left an immense mark on our church and also on the entire world.  Then Pope Benedict, we know that with our prayers, and our complete and total support, plus the assistance of the Holy Spirit, he too will carry on and teach what God wants us to know, and what Jesus taught us.  Of course, the news media has already started attacking Pope Benedict because of his teachings and his beliefs.  Since 1981, he has been the Prefect of the Congregation to the Doctrine of the Faith.  Simply that means, defender of our Catholic dogma.  But do the media and the critics really think that the will of God, in the person of the Pontiff and the Magisterium, is going to change to suit their needs or their whims?  The laws of God are not going to change, or bend, to meet popular no-fault theology present in our world today.  Remember, the truths of the church do not change to meet our needs.  It is we, the believers, who must change and submit to God’s laws and the teachings of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Pope Benedict will, I can assure you, never waver as he instructs us in the ways of God.  So, I ask all of us to remember our Holy Father daily in our prayers. I am sure he prays for us constantly.

This weekend, the theme of the readings is that we should always have faith and trust in God, and that we should always do His will.  We do His will by being of service to our brothers and sisters, especially those in most need.  Chapter 6 of the Acts of the Apostles, which was read this morning, describes the early church in terms of a situation that had developed because of Paul.  Apostles would be called upon, not only to preach the Good News, but also to serve nourishment to the many people who were being attracted to the church.  We also know that Jesus came, not to be served but to serve.  So, the Acts read this morning, talk about servanthood, serving others.  What the apostles did was to select seven reputable men, they laid hands on them, and commissioned them to serve the people nourishment and to help them with their needs.  As far as we know, this is the first ordination of deacons in the Catholic church, the start of deaconia, which means servant. 

Today, in the Catholic church, we have two distinct classifications of deacons.  We have the transitional deacon, that is a man studying for the priesthood.  And then, far more in numbers, we have permanent deacons, who are men ordained under the sacrament of Holy Orders to serve the church.  At the time of the ordination, if they are single, they must take an oath to remain celibate.  If they are married, then at the death of their wife, they do not remarry, except with dispensation from the Holy See.  And speaking of marriage (and I forgot to mention this at the rest of the masses), the wives play an important role in the ministry of the Deacon.  We are partners in our ministry.  So important is the role of the wife, that she must give a letter indicating that she will support her husband through the formation program, and before that man is ordained, she must certify in writing to the Archbishop that she grants her approval for him to be ordained. 

As I mentioned, we are ordained in the sacrament of Holy Orders, much like priests and bishops.  A deacon is one who lives among us.  We are called from the laity.  We live in the marketplace, so we have one foot as cleric and the other foot as a lay person.  So that renders us uniquely qualified to provide ministry to the needy in our church. 

The role of the deacon is, first and foremost, to be the eyes and the ears of the bishop.  We are ordained for the archdiocese and serve at the pleasure of the Archbishop.  But being the eyes and ears for the bishop does not mean that we are here to spy on Father John or the other priests.  We are here to look out in the marketplace, among the people of God, and to identify areas where the Archbishop can use his influence, his position, to rectify these needs.  Two years after my ordination, I was asked by Archbishop Michael to serve as his Deacon of Directors for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.  I’ve been doing this for the last ten years, and my major responsibility is to administer the affairs of the 204 permanent deacons in the Archdiocese, in fact, the entire deacon community.  Deacons in the Archdiocese are assigned to parishes, much like the six in our parish.  Some work as chaplains to hospitals, prisons, jails.  Some work at the Catholic Center, for schools.  We even have some that serve as parish life coordinators, that is, they are in charge, administratively, of a parish in the absence of a priest. 

We currently are completing the second year of the current formation program, we have six men in formation.  It’s a four-year program, and with the grace of God, they will be ordained in the year 2007.  The Archbishop has given us permission to start a program every two years, and so we are interviewing men for the program that will start this August.  It’s a unique program, because we will be teaching the men, those that are English-speaking in English, those that are Spanish-speaking (a lot of immigrants) in Spanish, their language, and we have a special program to teach Native Americans.  I think to date we have 10 or 12 applicants in the Native American Program.  So, this is a good time to urge the men of this parish to consider the deaconate.  As you look at the deacons in our parish, you can see some of us have a few gray hairs, white hairs, so its time to get some more help.  Talk to me or talk to any of the deacons or their wives, and we’d be very happy to tell you about the deaconate. 

The deacon’s service is three-fold.  The first one is service of the Word, what I’m doing now – proclaiming the Gospel, preach, teach and instruct.  The second service is service of the Altar – we assist the priest, the celebrant, in the celebration of the mass by preparing the Cup, preaching, proclaiming the Gospel.  And then the last major ministry of a deacon is Ministry of Service – that is, service to the needy, the homeless, hospitalized, those that are imprisoned, the elderly, the young.  That is the primary ministry of the deacons, is to serve those in need.  To be a servant to others. 

As far as assignments, I make a recommendation to the Archbishop on all assignments, and then he will formally assign the deacon to a parish under the direction of the pastor.  We are to work in collaboration with the pastor, not against him, but with our church support and commitment to a pastor. 

With the letter of assignment comes faculties, which are rights and privileges granted to the deacon.  Let me tell you first the things a deacon cannot do.  We cannot celebrate mass, we cannot hear confessions, and we cannot anoint the sick.  An explanation on anointing of the sick – the reason we are not allowed to anoint the sick is because anointing of the sick and the elderly is associated with the sacrament of reconciliation, and we are not allowed to do that.  I do jokingly tell people on occasion if they ask, that I will hear their confession, but I cannot give you absolution.  So I want to make sure that you knew I was joking when I say that, OK?  We do not hear confessions.  Father does that.  Now let me tell you the things we can do.  We can baptize; we can conduct and lead communion services in the absence of a priest; we can take communion to the sick and elderly, those imprisoned; we can perform funeral services, interments; we can witness marriages; we can teach, preach, and instruct; we can bless persons, religious articles, automobiles, homes; and, obviously, proclaim the Gospel.  An interesting fact is, if a deacon is assisting the priest, bishop, or the Pope, at mass, then it is his duty to proclaim the Gospel.  In other words, he can assist in all matters, even paperwork, baptism preparation, marriage preparation, annulments.  In general, the deacon is trained and available to assist the pastor in the spiritual and pastoral needs of all the parish. 

In our parish, we have a total of six deacons assigned.  We have four that are active status, and two that are on retired status.  But disregard the fact that I said active or retired – all six deacons are working in the parish, along with their wives.  So, I do this I know in full agreement with my brother deacons and their wives, I ask you to please use us.  We have talents and we are trained to assist you in just about every need, except the ones that I mentioned are restricted to Father.  Father John is very available, in fact I tell him, “You’re too available.”  He gets overwhelmed with the demands of 1200 families in the parish, and everyone wants to deal with Father.  So do I, for that matter.  So, I urge you, use the deacons and let’s save Father for the things he loves to do – celebrate mass, hear confessions, and visit the sick and the hospitalized.  Those are the things he loves to do, and so I urge you again, please utilize the deacons, along with their wives, and we can help you in many of the things that Father does also. 

So I hope that I have given you an idea of what a deacon is, who a deacon is, what we can do, and what we can’t do.  And I ask your prayers, for the deacon community of the Archdiocese, for all of us, our wives, and families, as we continue to pray for you.  May God bless you.