A Call to Service

Deacons in the Catholic Church are the living discipleship of Christ, called not to be served but to serve. 

That was Bishop Michael G. Duca’s message Aug. 13 when he ordained four permanent deacons at St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge.

Deacon Randall Waguespack, Deacon Pat Witty, Deacon Ed Hanks and Deacon Tram Phan were  ordained after completing the five-year formation program through Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University. The new deacons also received certificates from FranU recognizing their academic achievements.

“After all of the talk and conversation about holy orders, it was a rewarding and proud moment to see them finally experience the sacrament,” said Director of the Office of Formation for the Permanent Diaconate Father Paul Gros. 

The ordination was his first since officially taking over as director, although he assisted former director Father Jamin David a year ago.

“The reward really comes when hearing the fruits of their ministry to laity in the diocese,” Father Gros said.
Bishop Duca said the deacons will assist him and the diocesan priests in the ministry of the word, of the altar and of charity. He said they will show themselves to be servants, proclaim the Gospel, prepare the sacrifice (during the offertory at Mass) and distribute the Lord’s body and blood to the faithful.

“Furthermore, at the bishop’s digression it will be their duty to exhort believers and nonbelievers alike, instruct them in holy doctrine, preside over the public prayer, administer baptism, assist and bless marriages, conduct funerals.” 

He said they will also perform works in the name of the bishop or the pastor where they are assigned.

“Through you, the church will be ministering (to the faithful) as though Christ was ministering to them,” the bishop said. “All of us are called to do that in the body of Christ, to make Christ real and physical as we live the Gospel.

“We received the body of Christ not just for our redemption but to empower us in the presence of Christ, to go and love as God loves us, to  forgive and be forgiven as we have been forgiven, to be the hands and feet, the body of Christ in the world.”

Bishop Duca said the sacrament of holy orders the deacons received is a gift presented to them.

“It means wherever you go, whether you like it or not, you are a public witness of the church,” he said. “Even though you may not be going to a deacon event, or may not be a church event,  you are a public witness in the church. Always live that with dignity, always representing Christ, first of all, his church, myself, priests and all of the other people you serve.”

Along with serving others, Bishop Duca said deacons must be peacemakers, assuring no one is left behind. He said the men need to be called to build unity, not controversy.

“Go into the corners of the diocese and bring people back, to make sure they are receiving the word of the Lord,” he said. “Part of your job is to be that outreach, to be men who proclaim the Gospel and take care of and minister to the needs of the church and build on the foundation of service.”

Father Gros said he was grateful to finally witness the bishop’s hands placed on (the candidates’) heads. Personally for him, the most moving ceremony was the prostration before the altar during the Litany of Saints. 

“It is usually at that point during the ordination that any man called to holy orders experiences the reality of their unworthiness and the need to surrender to God’s providence,” he said. “After all of the studying, reading, praying and reflecting it always seem to pay off.”

Father Gros called the ordination to the diaconate the foundation to the sacrament of holy orders. He said the fact that every priest and bishop is first ordained a deacon is significant to their call to service and selflessness in ministering to God’s  people. 

He said the role of permanent deacons of service to God’s word, to liturgy and to charity is a great need in the church today.

“Priests must rely on holy, prayerful deacons to assist them in what can often be an overwhelming task in ministering to all the needs at hand in the church today,” Father Gros said. “I am so very grateful for these men and for all of our deacon candidates who are preparing so diligently to follow God’s will for their lives.”