Thursday 2 August 2012

Living the (Extra)ordinary: LC Deaconate Ordination 2012


It's hard to write again after so long. I've been a deacon for just over a month. My life hasn't changed a lot, then again, it's been completely transformed.

I'm still studying, working, eating, sleeping, praying, and playing. Just that, I'm a deacon and will be forever. But what does that mean?

This seems to be the story of our lives. I shared this in one of my first homilies because we all experience it. Often the most meaningful moments of our lives come and go with the most normalcy. We spend hours, weeks, and even years preparing for something that happens in the blink of an eye. Then it's over, and nothing seems different though we know that everything has changed. Marriage, birth, death, and so on.

Perhaps it hit me hardest in the actual ceremony of the ordination to the diaconate.

All the priests that live at the seminary with me, warned me - they hardly remember anything of the ordination Mass and ceremony. I, however, was determined to reverse this trend. I started meditating on the prayers and the rite one month in advance, trying to soak it all in.

Then the hurricane of exams and last minute preparations hit: it was going to be hard to find time to reflect and pray. Finally it was over with the last exam for my Bachelor’s Degree in Theology. But eight entire days of silence, prayer, and reflection provided just what I needed– another chance to go deep.

After that, the big day dawned. I had finished up all the little details the night before - getting my things ready for the ceremony, packing my bags to go back to the seminary, and preparing for my parents visit - and had the whole morning to pray and really speak with Christ.

It was time. We gathered in the sacristy, put on our albs for the first time, and walked out. It was almost like a dream, but I was remembering! The readings inspired. St. Paul’s questioning exhortation to love, “If God is for us, who can be against us?... What will separate us from the love of Christ?” Christ assured me in the Gospel that we would have a challenging mission – not easy but worth fighting for, “Then you will be handed over to be tortured and put to death; and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name…. But anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Then I lost it. For all of my firm resolutions to remember and take it all in, I couldn’t. We promised to be humble, preach, live celibacy, pray, and be obedient in the service of the Church - one seemed to run into the other before I could realize what happened. As we laid prostrate on the ground for the Litany of Saints, I was totally distracted about how absolutely hot the chapel was on this scorching June day.

The rest was just a blur – receiving the Gospels, the vesting with the stole and Dalmatic, a “specific deacon outfit”, the sign of peace, and the rest of Mass.

To be perfectly honest, I did have a minute of lucidity once dressed stole and the Dalmatic on, it kind of hit me all of a sudden, “I’m a deacon now, and I will be forever.”

This reflects our lives, or mine at least. We constantly live one normal minute after another. Nothing seems spectacular, and we get caught up almost in the tedious passing of time. Yet God’s grace works unseen miracles.

In this case it was a diaconate ordination, but many times it’s a Mass. We receive Jesus’ body and blood. A confession - sins are forgiven and eternal life returned. Sometimes it's simply meeting a real friend that changes our life, bringing both closer to our true mission.

I guess it goes back to simply realizing that in the ordinary is truly the extraordinary. Grace hides in the natural. Transformation in our every day lives. God hides in the flesh!

Please comment and share your stories.


Here is a brief summary of the ordination in photos.

Trying to stay focused.

During the Litany of the Saints.

The imposition of hands.

Receiving the book of the Gospels in my "deacon outfit".
Greeting Bishop Leuzzi after the rite of ordination.

Giving my mom communion.

Group photo afterwards.

7 comments:

  1. Rev, Mark I have followed you for 12 years I am so happy for you. May God bless your diaconite Constance

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    1. Constance, thanks for your constant prayers and support. God has indeed blessed us all beyond belief.

      Deacon Mark

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  2. Que Dios siempre le de el don de la sabiduría y el entendimiento.

    Muchas santidad en su vocación y alegría en su voluntad.

    UN GRAN ABRAZO DESDE MÉXICO

    Antonio Guerrero

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    Replies
    1. Antonio, muchas gracias por sus oraciones y pido a Dios que también te bendiga mucho.

      P. Mark Thelen

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  3. Dear Deacon Mark,
    Thank you for sending the video tape of your ordination to the deaconate. It was very inspiring to see so many young men responding to their vocation. I am very happy for you. God loves you and has great plans for you. Know of my continue prayers for you as you prepared for you priestly ordination. Thank you again. God Bless you Deacon Mark.
    In Christ,
    Sister Arlene

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    Replies
    1. Sister Arlene,

      Thank you very much for all of your prayers especially as I prepare for priestly ordination. Please count on mine for you and all of your sisters. God bless.

      Deacon Mark

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  4. shslom,god with you all the time..be ready to be a new priest their has a lot of work waiting for you..have a blessed ordination on 15december ...take cre.

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