ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear brother Bishops, Priests and Deacons,
Dear Candidates for the Diaconate,
Dear Wives and Children of these chosen men,
Dear Friends in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Servant of Humanity,

Yesterday the Church celebrated the love of God as it passes through the humanity of Jesus and is manifested in His Sacred Heart. Today, the feast of the Visitation we celebrate the same reality of God’s love as it passes through the humanity of Mary and is manifested by her loving service to Elizabeth. But we also celebrate the love of God as it passes through the generous service of those to be ordained Deacons this morning.

In our first reading we recalled the words God spoke to Jeremiah: "To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear…because I am with you…says the Lord."

Today these words are addressed to our deacons about to be ordained, whose names are important to the Church. They are: Joseph, Mark, Dennis, Gary, James, Edward, Mark and William.

These men take their place today among the successors of the first deacons, in a close and sacramental partnership with the priests of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, indeed with the priests of the world. This partnership is a partnership in the Gospel of Christ. It is a vocation of special service to the people of God, special service closely associated with that of the priests.

The service we are speaking about for our Deacons is above all a service of charity; it is an outreach in the name of Jesus Christ and the Church. The service of the diaconate is a dynamic part of the spiritual structure of the Church, as willed by God.

The service of each deacon is more than a personal contribution of an individual. It is part of the life of the Church and the mystery of Christ. But in each individual, this service begins at the altar, with the power that comes forth from the Eucharistic Sacrifice; it is consolidated and intensified in personal prayer; it presupposes the witness of an upright life.

This service strives to respond to so many needs—to needs wherever they are found among God’s people. As a special sacramental service, the diaconate further extends and fulfills the service that Baptism requires of all.

My dear brothers: your training has helped you to understand the challenge you now embrace as part of the Church’s life. Your wives and children are here to pledge collaboration and support, and we are so happy for this.

Your call to service is sacramentally inspired and sustained, and it clearly challenges you to be like Christ, who says to each one of you: "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you."

Jesus further explains the type of love that He is talking about, saying: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

You are being asked to lay down your life in service. Never before have you aspired to the greatness that you now take on. Jesus says: "...whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant" (Matthew 20:26).

In practice, your service will require zeal and the ingenuity to discover the needs of God’s people and to help fulfill them: the needs of the poor, the sick and suffering, the homeless, those uninstructed in the faith, those in need of love, those languishing in despair, all those in need of Christ.

And so you fulfill a basic role in communicating Christ by word and example. Your word must be inspired by God’s word as proclaimed, interpreted and lived by the Church. Your example must be deeply rooted in prayer and charity. It must express a life of justice, honesty and truth. You will always be expected to speak and act in communion with Benedict our Pope and with his successors, with the presbyterate of Philadelphia and in the communion of faith of the universal Church.

In giving you a sacramental configuration to Christ, the Servant of humanity, the Church is asking a great deal of you. She is counting on your perseverance and on the authenticity of your lives. To accomplish this you will absolutely need the energy and strength that flow from the Death and Resurrection of the Lord, which are renewed in the Eucharistic Sacrifice; and so often you will have the opportunity to share in this Sacrifice at the side of the priest.

The Church , moreover, needs your efforts to model the relationships required of Christian families in charity, prayer and openness to the needs of others.

In all your life and ministry, what is needed is a team mentality of collaboration, and the team is the Church of Jesus Christ. And "the rules of the game" are the Gospel of Christ as proclaimed and interpreted and lived by the Church.

Every individual gift of yours is needed and esteemed, but all of them must be coordinated by the action of the Holy Spirit in the communion of the Church. In the years to come, your words of faith must flow forth from a heart steeped in prayer. Everything that you teach and communicate will be in union with the teaching of the Church—which is one, holy, Catholic and apostolic.

Now, more than ever before, the Church needs your holiness and zeal. And this means that you personally need the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Penance, prayer, meditation on the word of God, an intimate relationship with Christ and a loving trust in His Mother Mary. An intimate relationship with Christ requires an openness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, who can never contradict the guidance He offers us through the Church.

Through your selfless giving and through your holiness of life, Christ’s own ministry of service in the world will be perpetuated. His servant Church will be more effective, more authentic, more compassionate, more loving.

Yes, dear brothers, the love of God passes through your ministry of service as deacons in the Church, just as it passes through the humanity of Christ and His Mother Mary, and finds expression in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

From now on, as deacons, you too will be special signs of God’s love in the Church, because you will be dedicated to a service that can only be motivated and sustained by God’s love.

Dear brothers, deacons to be, and dear friends in Christ all: there is a special reason for the Church today to proclaim God’s love to be revealed in the humble and self-effacing service of His new deacons. Amen.