Rite of Ordination of a Deacon

Considering we had ten men ordained as deacons this past weekend, I found the Rite of Ordination of a Deacon online. This whole interweb thing is great, eh?

As I imagine that married couples remember their wedding day when they attend a wedding; so does attending an ordination bring back memories of my own ordination.

A few things stick out in my mind of the day I became a cleric for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

First, I was the only one of the seven ordained that day (an eighth joined us later that year) who wore an off-white alb. I had several people ask if we were all seminarians since my alb was different. My quip back was "Oh, yeah, we are, it's just that I am a little off color!" The looks turned even stranger after that.

Secondly, I was going back to preach at the parish where I interned during seminary for the weekend. A few weeks earlier, Fr. Tim (my pastor) asked me if I wanted to jump in with both feet; as there was a baptism of twins at the 4:30 Mass that same day. Hey, that's pretty cool, I'm a twin so why not also baptize a set of twins for my first baptisms?!? That was great fun, and a real honor. The next weekend began the onslaught of family functions as I think I got one of my nieces, but I can't remember which one, Elizabeth, maybe?

It is great to see the guys so happy and excited the morning before the ordination; 'bouncing off walls' seems to be the most apt description. Please keep them in your prayers, as well as the three men being ordained in less than three weeks now.