Unexpected call engineers life change for Deacon Hanks

Deacon Ed Hanks stood at the counter of a Covington sandwich shop perusing the menu, perhaps choosing from his go-to selection and maybe even considering going big with the footlong. 

In the midst of this contemplation, Deacon Hanks received a phone call that would change his life. On the other end of the line was Father Ramon Gonzalez OP, who was parochial vicar at St. Joseph Church in Ponchatoula.

“He said ‘You need to start deacon formation,’ and that was my calling,” said Deacon Hanks, who was ordained Aug. 13 after what one might consider a circuitous, cross-country journey.

“I had never thought of being an ordained minister until Father Ramon said to go to that,” he said.

Deacon Hanks is a lifelong Catholic, his theological roots planted in the rich soil of Nebraska City, Nebraska, where he lived until his family moved to Colorado shortly before entering his teen years. He would eventually attend high school in Kansas and graduate from Kansas State University with a degree in electrical engineering

He and his wife, Julie, a Colorado native, moved from Kansas to Laplace in 1994 as he perused a career in the oil and gas industry. By that time, however, Deacon Hanks admitted that he “was kind of away” from his faith. But that would soon change.

While in Laplace, he said Julie, also an engineer who was raised in the Lutheran faith but not practicing, encountered “kind of a crisis,” which led to a spiritual rebirth for the couple.

“We started doing things engineers do, reading self-help books, trying to figure out how to fix her,” Deacon Hanks said with a chuckle.

At the time, Ascension of Our Lord Church in Laplace was in the process of building an expansive Greek style church cradled in a suburban neighborhood. Deacon Hanks said he and his wife made a pact that once the church opened, they would start attending Mass.

“By the grace of God, we figured out it was going to be God that was going to fix (the crisis),” he said.

Julie converted to Catholicism, and a spiritually re-energized Deacon Hanks became active in his faith.

“It was my coming back and Julie coming into the church,” he said, adding that their marriage was co-validated. “It was a powerful experience for Julie and I. The sacraments of grace literally changed us.”

Childless at the time, the couple became open to life and not long after Julie learned she was pregnant. Deacon Hanks said it was then put on Julie’s heart they needed to become involved in foster care, and today they have three biological children and three adopted children, ranging from 18 to 10 years old.

Deacon Hanks became active in RCIA at St. Joseph and was soon heading up the program, along with other ministries. Perhaps recognizing Deacon Hanks’ spiritual growth, Father Gonzalez made the call, which the future deacon answered by registering for what was then known as the Religious Institute of Studies in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, a three-year precursor to deacon formation.

 But ordination would have to wait because at the end of those three years, Deacon Hanks, citing family demands with young children, discerned out.

“It was hard to step away from because of what weighed on my heart,” he said . “My heart was conflicted.

“But that distance really fortified and affirmed me coming back.”

He eventually contacted Father Jamin David, who was director of Diaconate Formation at the time, about returning. By this time, the RSI program had been shelved for a new five-year deacon formation partnership, spearheaded by Father David, that involved the diocese and Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University.

“Father Jamin made me no bargain,” Deacon Hanks recalled, who has also spent several years teaching RCIA classes at St. Margaret Queen of Scotland in Albany, where Father David is pastor. “He said ‘If you come back you are going to do all five years.’

“And it was the best thing in the world. I’m glad that happened.”

Deacon Hanks admitted the formation process was time consuming and hard on his family but he also credited FranU for the program and the instructors.

“A good chunk of (formation) is the schooling at FranU, taking two classes a semester,” he said “It was pretty serious academic work but for me; I loved it.”

“I liked coming to learn much more about the faith and learning it in a rigorous, academic way.”

Deacon formation, he said, is “more than just getting smart.” He said the four pillars of formation include, along with academics, human, spiritual and pastoral development. 

Admittedly, the formation process also changed him as a Catholic. Previously, Deacon Hanks was more of an apologist when it came to Catholic teaching.

“That zeal is okay but the past five years have kind of polished that zeal off of me and I’ve become much more at peace with the people and the way I go about my interactions with other people wherever they are in their faith journeys,” he said. 

Deacon Hanks will be assigned as a deacon assistant at St. Joseph and will serve as a chaplain at North Oaks Hospital in Hammond. Admitting that he has no experience in hospital ministry, Deacon Hanks said he is excited because he sees the challenge as “God saying ‘I’m ordaining you and I’m asking you to do something different.’

“I am comfortable with it because I think it is a calling from God.”

He also credited Julie, a passionate pro-life advocate and vice president at the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Hammond, for being his support throughout the formation process.

“There is no way you could do it without the support of your wife,” he said. “It’s not only a call of the man to the diaconate but it’s also a call of husband and wife into the ministry.”

A calling that began with a simple phone call.