Through tears of joy, Rosarito Fuentes, mother of one of the men about to be ordained to the transitional diaconate, called the day nerve-wracking and a blessing. “I feel humble,” she said before the Mass.
Her son, Javier A. Fuentes Cabrera, and eight others were ordained May 21 to the diaconate, the final step for them before they expect to be ordained to the priesthood next year.
Before the Mass, Rosarito Fuentes noted that Javier had been involved in the church since he was a little boy. “He fulfilled his career as a chemist first and then answered God’s call. It’s good to see him still discerning that call to serve others,” she said.
Without knowing it, the mother anticipated the themes of Archbishop William E. Lori’s homily, in which he urged the men to be bold and humble in service.
The men – Deacons Daniel Acquard, 26; John Bilenki, 27; Javier A. Fuentes Cabrera, 30; Rondall Cantwell Howard III, 30; Paul Kongnyuy, 29; Luke Koski, 27; Felix E. Mmuoh, 30; Nicholas Mwai, 43; Sampson Onwumere, 36 – had chosen the readings for the Mass, including one from Jeremiah in which the prophet encourages them to be bold and courageous in responding to the call of the Lord.
“God’s Word is calling us, therefore, to reflect on the three-fold ministry of the deacon through the lens of a humility that is bold and a boldness that is humble,” the archbishop said in the homily at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland.
“The call of Christ as confirmed by the church prompted you to step forward boldly, to place yourselves in intimate proximity to the Holy of Holies,” he said. “Your ongoing formation and your life of prayer enjoins you to step forward humbly, conscious that the earthen vessel of your humanity is becoming the instrument through which Christ continues to redeem the people he has made his own.”
The nine men include two from Nigeria and one each from Cameroon and Kenya. Fuentes Cabrera was born in Puerto Rico but was raised in Maryland. “They have made this church their home,” the archbishop said.
Noting that deacons are ordained to be ministers of the Word and sacrament, the archbishop said that the archdiocese provides untold charitable care, but that alone is not enough to serve the people of God.
“We need to be involved in some hands-on charity. Ministers of word and sacrament must also be ministers of the poor, not in some remote way but rather in such a way that we encounter the poor. By encountering the poor, we encounter Christ and learn from them how to bear witness to Christ in a way that touches the heart and thus opens the mind,” Archbishop Lori said.
As the time-honored rite began, each man’s name was called, and he stood, announced “Present,” and stepped forward into the sanctuary.
After the homily by Archbishop Lori, each man knelt in front of him to pledge respect and obedience to him and his successors. The archbishop responded by saying, “May God who has begun this good work in you bring it to fulfillment.”
Then the men lay prostate on the floor for the litany of saints. After the moving chant, they knelt again before the archbishop as he laid his hands on each one in turn to confer the Holy Spirit upon them.
They knelt together as the archbishop prayed the prayer of ordination and then each was vested by a priest with the symbols of the diaconate, a stole worn diagonally across the chest and dalmatic, a liturgical vestment.
The archbishop then prayed over each man with the book of the Gospels, saying, “Believe what you read, teach what you read and practice what you teach.
Archbishop Lori and Auxiliary Bishops Denis J. Madden, Adam J. Parker and Bruce A. Lewandowski gave them the kiss of peace, followed by all the other deacons present at the Mass, prompting sustained applause from the congregation.
Reflecting the African origins of four of the men, many in the congregation were attired in traditional dress of the continent, and the final song included drums evoking the rhythms of the church.
Dionidiah Mwaura and Peter Njau of St. Matthew Parish, Northwood, represented Nicholas Mwai’s parents, who could not come from Kenya for the ordination.
“It’s a great day. We have seen him going through the school, and because he has that call to serve the Christian community, we have to wish him well to be strong in the faith,” Mwaura said before the Mass.
The parents and twin brother of Daniel Acquard were eager for the Mass to begin. His mother, Geraldine, said her son has worked hard to fulfill the Lord’s work. His father, Charles, said, “It has been long and challenging, but he’s made it.”
Brian Acquard noted that the calling to serve as a priest doesn’t come to everyone, and that his brother had helped him with his faith. “I couldn’t have done it without him. That’s why I know he’ll be great with his people.”
After the Mass, as families gathered to have their photos taken with the newly ordained, Deacon Acquard said he was at peace because “It’s what God wants me to do.”
Deacon Koski chatted in sign language after the Mass with Sue Smith, a deaf parishioner who has been helping teach him sign language. “I’m becoming proficient,” he said, of the gracious amount of time Smith and Chris Duck, director of the archdiocesan Office of Deaf Ministry, and his wife have spent teaching him ASL so that he can learn to minster to the deaf community.
“I feel so grateful, so happy, so at peace. It’s everything I thought it would be and more,” Deacon Koski said of his ordination.
Deacon Howard said that as he and the other men lay prostrate on the floor during the ordination rite, his first thought was of all the others who had laid in that same spot as they made their commitments over the decades. He then recalled how he had laid himself on the floor of the seminary chapel when he began his journey toward the priesthood. “God called. It’s been a theme running through my discernment,” he said.
He is looking forward to being able to perform baptisms as a deacon. The family has a little one due in July, and he plans to be the minister for her initiation into the church.
His father died about a year ago, and Deacon Howard felt his presence. “He was walking with me through it all.
At the end of the Mass, Archbishop Lori announced the pastoral assignments for the new deacons as they complete their final year of study before their eventual ordination in 2023: Deacon Acquard, St. Mary, Hagerstown; Deacon BIlenki, returning to the Pontifical North American College in Rome; Deacon Cabrera, Sacred Heart, Glyndon; Deacon Howard, the pastorate of Holy Family, Middletown, St. Mary and St. Francis of Assisi, Petersville; Deacon Koski, St. John the Evangelist and St. Joseph on Carrollton Manor, Frederick; Deacon Mmuoh, St. Francis Xavier, Hunt Valley and Our Lady of Grace, Parkton; Deacon Mwai, St. Joseph, Fullerton; and Deacon Onwumere, St. Mark, Fallston.
Email Chris Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org
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