A
GIFT TO OTHERS — Matthew Ramsay lies prostrate
before the altar during the litany of the saints at his June 29 ordination
to the diaconate. “Your ‘yes’ to God is a willingness
to make of your life a gift to others and to the church,” Saskatoon
Bishop Donald Bolen told the newly ordained deacon. “We rejoice
in that offering of self.” (Yaworski photo)
Diaconate
an immersion into the Paschal Mystery: Bolen
By Kiply Lukan Yaworski
SASKATOON — Saskatoon
diocesan seminarian Matthew Ramsay of Humboldt was ordained to the order
of deacons on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29 at Holy Spirit
Parish in Saskatoon.
Bishop Donald Bolen presided
at the celebration, which marks another step on Ramsay’s journey
to ordination as a priest for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon.
Abbot Peter Novecosky of St. Peter’s Abbey and Rev. Benjamin Fiore, SJ, president of Campion College in Regina and Ramsay’s spiritual director, were also in attendance, as were a number of priests, deacons and seminarians from across the diocese, along with Ramsay’s family and friends, and parishioners from both Holy Spirit in Saskatoon and St. Augustine in Humboldt.
This summer, Ramsay is serving at Holy Spirit, where he also recently
completed a pastoral internship year. In the fall, he will enter a final
year of studies at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon.
In presenting Ramsay to the bishop as a candidate for the diaconate,
diocesan vocations director Rev. Gerard Cooper called forward representatives
of the local faith community to provide testimony about the candidate.
Darren Hyshka, principal of St. Bernard school, and Madeline Oliver,
pastoral associate at Holy Spirit Parish, reflected on Ramsay’s
gifts and talents, testifying to the quality of his service during his
internship year.
Hyshka spoke of Ramsay’s integrity, warmth and caring, demonstrated
during time spent at St. Bernard school, which included providing talks
and reflections and facilitating student retreats.
Oliver reflected on Ramsay’s call to imitate Jesus. She described
his contributions to the parish Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
(RCIA) process. “His knowledge of church teaching and his passion
for Scripture was evident,” she said.
During the ordination rite, Ramsay made promises of celibacy and obedience.
The community prayed for Ramsay as he lay prostrate on the floor before
the altar during the litany of the saints. Ordination as deacon was
conferred through the laying on of hands and the prayer of ordination
by the bishop. Ramsay was then dressed in the vestments of a deacon,
before receiving the Gospel from the bishop.
Bolen described the role of the deacon: to bring God’s Word to
the people, to preside over public prayer, to baptize, to assist at
marriages and bless them, to give viaticum to the dying, to lead the
rites of burial, and to perform works of charity and care for the poor
and suffering.
In his homily, the bishop addressed Ramsay. “Your ‘yes’
to God is a willingness to make of your life a gift to others and to
the church. We rejoice in that offering of self,” said Bolen.
“Your willingness to give of yourself is an opening to an endless
source of life and grace in Jesus Christ.”
The bishop reflected on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, dubbing it
a “wonderful day to be ordained,” and noting that at the
same time in Rome former Saskatoon Bishop Albert LeGatt was receiving
his pallium from Pope Benedict XVI, a symbol of his new role in the
Archdiocese of St. Boniface.
Both St. Peter and St. Paul have much to tell us about the meaning of
ministry, Bolen said.
“Peter’s call is particularly instructive to the life of
the church because we get to see it unfold over a period of time,”
Bolen said, reflecting on the Gospel reading from John about the initial
call of Andrew and Simon Peter. “The Lord in fact calls Peter
many times over a long period. That’s the way it is for us, too.”
The Lord calls Peter and the other apostles, speaking words that stir
their hearts and imaginations: words that bring hope, Bolen said. “Peter
goes down the roads of Galilee and Judea; he follows, he learns, he
comes to recognize who Jesus is, although not quite: he cultivates his
faith to walk to Jesus on the water, only to be swamped by doubt.”
The Lord remains with Peter, sending him forth and forming him —
even through the darkest moment of Peter’s denial. “From
this seeming point of no return, from guilt and despair, God speaks
a new word, a word from which all Christian vocation rises,” the
bishop said, reflecting on his own recent visit to the Holy Land where
he celebrated mass at the site of the Holy Sepulchre, the place called
the “holiest place on earth” by Pope John Paul II.
After the resurrection, Jesus the risen Lord seeks out Peter and echoing
the three-fold denial, asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”
Hearing Peter’s words of love, the Lord then asks him three times
to tend his lambs and feed his sheep.
“There is a vast space that opens up for the likes of us to take
shelter in the Lord’s response to Peter. This is not just mercy.
Here perhaps is the textbook example of ‘mercy within mercy within
mercy,” said Bolen, citing his own episcopal motto. “In
all that follows in Peter’s ministry — his ministry of unity,
his ministry of shepherding — he remains bound to the crucified
and risen Christ, bound to his death and resurrection.”
St. Paul was also fashioned for ministry after a dramatic encounter,
in which he was summoned by the risen Lord, shaken up and given a new
identity and a new mission: to proclaim the death and resurrection of
Christ.
“Like all Christian ministry, the diaconate is an immersion into
the Paschal Mystery, in being bound more closely to the crucified and
risen Lord,” the bishop said.
Bolen quoted from Ramsay’s own reflections about the deacon’s
call to be “bound more closely to the altar” — the
place of sacrifice, the centre of the community, and the place of encountering
Christ. He also cited Ramsay’s expressed longing to be like Andrew
in the Gospel reading, coming to know Jesus and then making him known
to others.
“I would end by inviting you to put yourself in the Lord’s
presence now. Hear him asking you as he asked Peter: ‘Matthew
do you love me? Then feed my sheep. . . .’ Put yourself at the
service of his word. Receive the Gospel of Christ. Be his herald,”
Bolen said, concluding with Christ’s promise to be with his followers
through all the ages, until the end of time.
 |
|