|
In Order to Serve Three Miles Jesu members were ordained to the diaconate this past December: Steven Drennan, Dan Osborn, and Kishore Kottana. Please keep these Miles Jesu deacons in your prayers as they prepare for ordination to the priesthood on June 15th, at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. As many of you may have already heard, three of us seminarians from Miles Jesu were ordained to the Diaconate on December 8, 2006, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The ordination took place in Rome at the Basilica of San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence)-outside-the-Walls. The Basilica of St. Lawrence in Rome is reckoned as one of the five great Basilicas because it is specially attributed to the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Perhaps not by coincidence, the relics of St. Stephen, the Proto-Martyr from Jerusalem, are also interred under the main altar. Since the fourth century, St. Lawrence, who was a Deacon himself, has been one of the most honored martyrs of the Roman Church. Constantine the Great was the first to erect a little oratory over his burial place in the fourth century. Pope Sixtus III (432-40) built a large Basilica with three naves, the apse leaning against the older church, on the summit of the hill where he was buried. In the thirteenth century, Pope Honorius III made the two buildings into one. The following history of St. Lawrence was commented on during the homily by the ordaining Archbishop, His Excellency John P. Foley, President of the Pontifical Council for Communications at the Vatican: St. Ambrose of Milan gives particular details about St. Lawrence's death. Ambrose relates that when St. Lawrence was asked for the treasures of the Church he brought forward the poor, among whom he had divided the treasure, in place of alms; also that when Pope Sixtus II was led away to his death he comforted Lawrence, who wished to share his martyrdom, by saying that he would follow him in three days. The saintly Bishop of Milan also states that St. Lawrence was burned to death on a grid-iron. Another significant figure in the history of the Church who is buried in the same Basilica is Blessed Pope Pius IX. Throughout his whole life he was very devoted to the Blessed Virgin. As early as 1849, when he was an exile at Gaëta, he issued letters to the bishops of the Church, asking their views on the subject of the Immaculate Conception, and on 8 Dec., 1854, in the presence of more than 200 bishops, he proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin as a Dogma of the Church. He also fostered the devotion to the Sacred Heart, and on 23 Sept., 1856, extended this feast to the whole world. It is of course difficult to express in sufficient words what a great grace and extraordinary privilege it was for me to be ordained Deacon in this Basilica in Rome. I would like to thank all of you for your prayers and support up to this point in my life of service to the Lord. I truly remembered everyone in a special way during the days leading up to ordination and most especially during the ceremony itself. The order of Deacons is 'in order to serve.' In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 1570 states that 'Deacons share in Christ's mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (character) which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the 'deacon' or 'servant' of all.' The name Deacon (diakonos) merely means minister or servant, and is employed in this sense both in the Old Testament in the book of Esther, e.g. 2:2; 6:3 and in the New Testament e.g. Matthew 20:28; Romans 15:25; Ephesians 3:7; etc. I humbly ask for your continued prayers and support as i continue in service to the Lord Jesus and His Church in preparation for ordination to the priesthood. May God bless you and your loved ones with His abundant mercy and love. |