Bishop Earl Fernandes ordained diocesan seminarian Daniel Colby to the diaconate on Nov. 10 at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral.
Ordination to what is referred to as the transitional diaconate for a seminarian is one of the final steps before being ordained as a priest.
Colby, 33, is on track to be ordained to the priesthood next spring with four other diocesan seminarians.
Deacons who are seminarians on the way to the priesthood perform the same duties by virtue of their ordination as deacons who are married and will not become priests. Married deacons are often referred to as permanent deacons.
A deacon’s role in the Church is to proclaim the Gospel, serve the people in celebration of the Eucharist, lead them in prayer, share in the celebration of baptism, bear witness to the sacrament of marriage, help celebrate the hope of the resurrection at the time of burial and bring the consolation of the Lord to the sick, the poor and the dying.
Four of Colby’s seminary classmates – Tyler Carter, Michael Haemmerle, David Johnstone and Jason Fox – were ordained to the diaconate in the spring.
Major concelebrants at the Mass with Bishop Fernandes were Father William Hahn, diocesan director of vocations; Father Steven Beseau, rector and president of the Pontifical College Josephinum where Colby is studying; and Father Matthew Hoover, Colby’s parish priest at Columbus Immaculate Conception Church. Other priests from the diocese were also in attendance.
Joey Rolwing, a diocesan seminarian, served as a lector for the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, and Johnstone proclaimed the Gospel from St. Matthew. Colby’s deacon cohorts performed other duties at the Mass, and seminarians participated as altar servers.
The Rite of Ordination within the Mass began with the Election of the Candidate immediately after the Gospel. The candidate was presented to Bishop Fernandes, who formally chose him for the Order of the Diaconate.
Colby came forward after being called to the altar by the bishop, who then proceeded with his homily.
Bishop Fernandes began by mentioning that Friday was Colby’s 33rd birthday.
“The Lord has been preparing this day in your life from your childhood to your conversion to the Catholic faith and entrance into the Church through the seminary to this moment which you are about to be ordained a deacon,” Bishop Fernandes said. “It is a great day in the life of the Church and in the Diocese of Columbus.”
The bishop noted that the ordination was taking place on the feast of St. Leo the Great. Leo strongly emphasized the person of Jesus Christ.
In reflecting on the diaconate, Bishop Fernandes noted that Leo strongly emphasized the person of Jesus Christ.
“Christ is our Deacon. We should contemplate that,” Bishop Fernandes said. “He came to serve, not to be served. He came to serve all of humanity, and still today He serves.
“Through the ordination of deacons, we celebrate the fact that Christ the Deacon remains present in time in His Church. And this is something beautiful for us to contemplate. Men are set aside, as they were, in Numbers, to be dedicated to God’s purpose, dedicated to prayer, dedicated to the service of the Lord at the altar, dedicated for the ministry.”
The bishop focused on two principal roles of the deacon: to announce and to be a true servant of charity.
“A deacon, in imitation of Christ, announces the good news of salvation,” Bishop Fernandes said. “Christ, when he appeared in the temple, unfurled the scroll of the prophet Isaiah (He who had been anointed). He had been sent to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, freedom to the oppressed, to announce a year of favor from the Lord. And he went about proclaiming the good news of salvation, especially to the poor.
“So, too, the deacon today, through the proclamation of the Word, helps those who are poor to have hope, those who are suffering to know that the Lord is near to them. … Always and everywhere, we announce Christ. This is what Leo the Great did.”
After the bishop’s homily, the ordination ceremony continued with an examination of the candidate during which Bishop Fernandes questioned the elect about his resolve to undertake and fulfill faithfully the ministry to which he was about to be ordained and his willingness to serve the Church in union with Christ.
The elect then knelt and promised respect and obedience to the bishop.
A Litany of Supplication came next and was followed by Bishop Fernandes laying hands on the candidate and reciting the prayer of ordination. The bishop completed the act of ordination by asking God to dedicate this deacon to the service of the altar and the Word.
After the prayer was the investiture with the stole and dalmatic, which signifies incorporation into Holy Orders. The stole and dalmatic, which are worn by a deacon, are signs of his ministry and office.
In the handing on of the Book of the Gospels, Bishop Fernandes symbolically placed the book in Colby’s hands, representing his commitment to proclaim God’s word.
A fraternal kiss of peace completed the ordination rite. Bishop Fernandes extended a greeting of peace to the new deacon as a sign that he is a co-worker in the ministry of the Church. Other deacons in attendance gave Colby the sign of peace.
At that point, the Liturgy of the Eucharist proceeded in the same fashion as a typical Mass with the new deacon assisting at the altar.
“Everyone here in the church has been praying for you,” Bishop Fernandes said earlier in his homily. “But now we pray that an abundance of grace would be poured out upon you so that you may boldly proclaim the Gospel in its entirety.
“As you begin your ministry and enter into the clergy of the Diocese of Columbus, I urge you to contemplate the words of Pope Leo the Great: ‘Remember, O Christian, your great dignity.’ You have great dignity as a child of God, but now the Lord calls you to holy orders, to the diaconal ministry, the ministry of service, the ministry of announcing the joyful good news, the ministry of true charity.
“Remember these words, remember your great dignity, and how Christ calls you to the ordained ministry. Remember that great dignity six months from now when, with your classmates, we will also call you, God willing, to the priesthood to offer the saving sacrifice for the salvation of all humanity, and we hope and pray that God grants you that grace.”