Diaconal Ordination
CMOQ
May 16th, 2026
I. The Calling
A. Dear brothers, so soon to be ordained:
Today, when you heard how the Church’s first deacons were called,
and then heard Jesus say, “It was not you who chose me but I who chose you,”…
did you not remember that moment when first you realized you were called
to serve the Lord and the Church in Holy Orders?
No doubt you can point to many factors that led you to that moment.
Perhaps the good example set by your parents.
Or the joyful and fruitful ministry of a parish priest.
Or meeting a seminarian whose example inspired you.
Those factors are real and the Lord works through them to deliver his call.
But at base it is the Lord himself who called you as his heart spoke to yours,
in moments of quiet prayer, with the sound and fury of the world kept at bay.
B. Today, the Lord renews his call.
He is calling you to take a decisive step on your journey to the holy priesthood
by being ordained deacons of the Church.
When moments ago your name was called, you answered, “Present!”
That word signaled more than your physical presence.
It meant that you are placing the whole of your humanity
at the service of the Lord and the Church.
And by the prayer of the Church and the laying on of hands,
the Lord himself will today touch the very depth of your being,
leaving the indelible imprint of his servanthood on your soul.
It is all at once a moment of joy, of grace, of wonder and awe!
II. Men of Good Repute
A. Because you are placing your humanity at the service of God’s People,
your seminary formation continues to emphasize
the importance of a well-formed humanity,
for, as the saying goes, “grace builds on nature.”
Take it from me, your humanity will always remain a work in progress.
For that reason, the Lord who calls and chooses you
will daily challenge you to grow in virtue, self-mastery, and holiness.
B. It was such qualities that the early Christian community looked for
in the deacons who were chosen to assist the Apostles.
They were to be men of good standing, filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom.
Similarly, St. Paul speaks of renouncing “disgraceful, underhanded ways”
that would dilute or compromise his preaching of God’s Word.
In answering the call of Christ,
you, like St. Paul, commend yourselves to the Christian community –
not in some boastful way but with humility and love.
III. Friends of Christ
A. Indeed, you present yourselves as servants and friends of Jesus.
Today you heard Jesus say to you, yet again:
“No longer do I call you servants
for a servant does not know what his master is about,
but I have called you friends” . . . What does that mean?
B. You know how important friendship is.
Without good friends and companions, life is bleak.
Nurturing friendship requires time and attention.
We spend time with our friends, we pay close attention to them.
They do good things for us and we do good things for them.
Along the way, we come to resemble our friends, at least in some measure.
C. Is it any different in our relationship with the Lord?
As you take time to pray each day, your friendship with Jesus will deepen.
Your heart will be conformed to his heart – the heart of a servant!
You yourselves will share in the very love shared by the Father and the Son.
You will be amazed just to think that Christ loves you
with that same infinite, pure, and self-giving love,
a love revealed most powerfully by his death on the Cross.
Immersed in that love and conformed to it,
you pledge obedience me, your bishop;
you promise to pray the Liturgy of the Hours for the people you will serve;
and you promise perpetual and chaste celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom.
As your friendship with Christ is purified, deepened, and transformed
you will truly learn what it means not to be served but to serve.
D. Thus, when you preach, it will be Christ speaking in you and through you.
When you serve at the altar, you will be a minister of his mysteries.
When you serve the poor, you will be serving Christ himself.
In ways big and small, you will give of yourselves;
you will lay down your life for others, as Christ has done for us.
Thus, the “ontological imprint” of Holy Orders will not remain hidden.
You will, with humility and love, commend yourselves to others
as a friend and witness of the Christ in whose name you serve.
IV. Fruitfulness
A. Your friendship with the Lord, soon to be sealed in Holy Orders,
is indeed a path of salvation for yourselves.
But more than that, your friendship with the Lord is to bear
the good and lasting fruit of the Gospel.
What is the harvest, the fruit, for which the Lord and Master is looking?
B. He is asking that your life and ministry bear the good fruit of love.
Your preaching and your service at the altar converge in the works of charity,
done without fanfare or without thought of repayment,
whether for a homeless woman on the streets of Baltimore,
or for someone who needs a friendly and compassionate listener,
or for a person who needs your help as they work through a crisis.
Ministry exposes you to the whole range of human needs.
By responding generously and compassionately, you lead others to Christ.
C. Dear brothers, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Risen Lord,
may the glory of God shining on the face of Christ,
shine in you and through you all the days of your life.