VATICAN CITY – Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington ordained 21 men from the Pontifical North American College to diaconate in St. Peter’s Basilica on September 30th. Among the newly ordained was Deacon Mauricio Portillo of the Diocese of Arlington.
Hundreds of family members, friends and students attended mass at the altar of the chair in St. Peter and watched the joyous liturgy full of symbolic tradition.
The concelebrants of the Mass included Cardinal James Harvey, Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, and Cardinal George Pell from Australia, former Prefect of the Vatican Economic Secretariat. Also present were US Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, retired Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher and former Rector of the US seminary in Rome, as well as several US bishops.
Two of the new deacons entering college are Australians; one was consecrated for the Archdiocese of Sydney and the other for the Archdiocese of Melbourne. The 19 Americans were ordained for 15 different dioceses in the United States, three of them from the Archdiocese of Washington.
Cardinal Gregory, who was called to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis 10 months ago and who took possession of his titular church in Rome at the end of September, gave the sermon.
“The Church has always set very high standards when it comes to choosing those she calls to holy orders,” he said. The diaconal order is an important “moment of transition” for those who will continue to prepare for the priesthood, and it is an important opportunity to grow in Christ and humbly serve God and his people.
The office of deacon is associated with “the service of charity,” he said. A deacon must be “a man of charity, (with) genuine and sincere compassion and care for the poor, neglected and marginalized of our world. A deacon without a heart for charity will be a hollow and worthless son.”
“Deacons are called to visit the sick, to work for justice, to work for immigrants, to comfort the grieving, to help the hungry, to find food, bare clothes, and to find homes for the homeless,” said the cardinal. “Deacons are never far from them whom the Lord Jesus has identified as the least of his sisters and brothers. “
However, their ministry is much more than “mere social work” because they are filled with the grace of their office by the Holy Spirit, he said.
They can offer the bread of eternal life from the Lord’s altar and preach the gospel by sharing God’s invitation to seek his kingdom.
“As you become a preacher today, please do so in faithfulness to the truth of the gospel and the tradition of the Church,” Cardinal Gregory said to the new deacons. “People are looking for inspiring preachers who will challenge them, encourage them to deepen their faith, and help them discover God’s presence in their lives.”
He urged them to “be attentive celebrants of the liturgical life of the Church, to carefully examine the details of the rituals, so that people may be erected by the worship of the Church and sanctified by the sacraments and prayer of the Church” and never by ” too loose “distracting or too obsessive.”
Their assumption of celibacy is less burdensome, he said, if they live like Christ with transparent modesty and great simplicity and draw strength from constant prayer and conversation with God.
“When your prayer life is strong and faithful, when your lifestyle is devoid of too many possessions, conveniences, and distractions, your life and loving will reflect the same look that Christ himself created for people who like his teaching and ministry found compelling, ”said the cardinal.