From Michigan Catholic:
The role of the permanent deacon is relatively new in today’s Church. Since the ministry was reinstated after the Second Vatican Council, not everyone is familiar with exactly what a deacon does. But that’s OK, says Deacon K. Perry Clark; it’s part of a deacon’s job to help explain it. “We’re called to have one foot in the Church and one foot in the community,” said Deacon Clark, who along with three others was ordained to the ministry Oct. 1 for the Archdiocese of Detroit at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. “Being in the sanctuary and reading the Gospel is a big part of what we do, and that’s what we’re called to do. But I still work, I have people that I work with, and I can bring that perspective here into my homilies to say, ‘Look, I used to sit where you sit, and God’s glory is obvious.’” Deacon Clark, who less than an hour earlier had been ordained by Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron before a cathedral full of family and friends, already was reflecting some of the graces he’d just received as he and his classmates — Deacons Richard Rhein, Aleksander Stanaj and James Nicola — received warm hugs and congratulations. The four deacons will begin their assignments at parishes across the Archdiocese of Detroit, where it will be incumbent upon them to share the graces of their newfound ministry. “That’s part of my job to help them understand what the role is and the fact that this isn’t something I chose, but something that chose me,” said Deacon Clark, 58, who works in software sales and will serve at St. Fabian Parish in Farmington Hills. In his homily, Archbishop Vigneron reminded the men that it was ultimately God’s initiative that pushed them to discern the diaconate. “You are being consecrated today, as were the apostles, because you have been given by the Father to Jesus,” Archbishop Vigneron said, reflecting on the Gospel from John 17. “This is not your idea. You certainly had to respond — God didn’t put a gun to your head and force you into the cathedral today — but it’s God’s initiative that has brought you here. I don’t want to swell your heads, but you’re God’s gift to Jesus.”
Congratulations, brothers, and welcome! Ad multos annos!
Photo: Michigan Catholic
And today we celebrate...