Couple connects to two rites of Catholic Church

When Patty Gutch goes to work, she heads for an office at St. John the Evangelist parish in Schenectady, where she handles her duties as family life director for St. John's, St. Mary's and Holy Cross churches.

But when her husband, Deacon Thomas Gutch, leaves for work, he commutes to St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Watervliet.

He was ordained to the diaconate for the Eastern-rite Church in August. Ukrainian Catholics are in full union with the Pope; the Ukrainian parishes located in the Albany (Latin-rite) Diocese are considered part of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, Conn.

Differences

Deacon Gutch speaks a lot about the differences between the "Roman Church" and "Eastern Church."

He grew up with a parent of each rite, attending both Corpus Christi parish in Round Lake (his mother's parish), and Ss. Peter and Paul Ukrainian parish in Cohoes (his father's parish).

Most Catholics "think there's only one 'Catholic Church,'" he remarked. "There's 23 or 24: Ethiopian rite, Russian, Ukrainian, Melkite...."

Vocation

Deacon Gutch originally considered becoming a deacon for the Latin-rite Church and attended the Albany Diocese's Formation for Ministry program (FMP), which trains laity for parish leadership roles.

Along the way, however, he came to realize that he should follow the faith tradition of his father, as canon law dictates for the Eastern Church.

He also discovered that he enjoyed what he termed the "mystagogia" of the Ukrainian Church -- the "experience of God through all your senses."

Eastern-rite liturgies, he explained, use incense, light, icons and music to draw worshippers closer to God. The entire liturgy is sung. Deacon Gutch found those factors to have "an incredible depth of richness. The more you explore it, the more you realize how incredible God is."

Supportive spouse

Mrs. Gutch told The Evangelist that she fully supported her husband's decision.

"Once you really know Tom, there's no question he has a calling from God," she stated.

The couple were married in an Eastern-rite ceremony and are raising their four children "bi-ritual."

Rites

Attending Ukrainian liturgies together before the couple married, she said it was difficult at first to understand what was happening.

"I didn't understand, either!" Deacon Gutch put in, laughing.

Not having grown up fluent in Ukrainian or even knowing the Cyrillic alphabet, he's been taking language lessons as part of his training. "The Roman rite is so much easier," he said.

New roles

While a Roman Catholic deacon might take on duties like preaching at Mass, he said, an Eastern-rite deacon leads "80 to 85 percent" of the liturgy.

As such, Deacon Gutch completed a five-year formation program in Stamford, commuting there to finish his training.

When his coursework was done in 2003, he waited. The deacon said that the Ukrainian Church doesn't work like the Roman Church in terms of ordaining deacons as soon as they complete their education.

Waiting game

He worked as a contractor for three more years until suddenly receiving a call one day from Bishop Paul Chomnycky, OSBM, who said: "Are you still interested in being ordained? How about on the 13th?"

Deacon Gutch had ten days to prepare. He said he would have liked three months, but "that's just the way the Ukrainian Church does things."

Since Deacon Gutch believes that all vocations are a result of Mary's intercession, he found it a sign that, on the day of his ordination, his family hosted a traveling image of Our Lady of Guadalupe at their home.

After his August 13 ordination, he was assigned to St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Watervliet, where Rev. Michael Myshchuk is administrator.

Busy schedule

At St. Nicholas, Deacon Gutch leads an English liturgy on Sunday mornings and runs the parish's baptismal preparation program. He will soon take over the marriage preparation program.

The day after his ordination, he even assisted at his first funeral -- communicating through hand signals with a priest who spoke only Ukrainian.

The deacon spends time each week preparing his homilies and practicing the eight melodies used in Ukrainian liturgies. Both take "a great deal of preparation and prayer," he noted. "I pray all week I'm not a distraction to people with my singing and that I say what God wants me to say."

Who's where?

The Gutches coordinate a family schedule that has become increasingly complex: daily and Saturday Mass at a Roman-rite church, and Sunday at St. Nicholas on top of their workdays and home-schooling.

Every night, the couple consult their calendars to figure out their schedules for the next day.

Deacon Gutch pointed out that among the many people who supported his ordination was Rev. Richard Carlino, pastor of the three Schenectady churches where Mrs. Gutch serves.

"We're blessed that I report to a priest who's incredibly flexible," Mrs. Gutch noted. The couple each affirmed that "God put the right people into our lives."

(The Gutches' children are John, 6; Grace, 4; Joseph, 3; and Basil, 1. There are Ukrainian Catholic parishes within the Albany Diocese's borders in Amsterdam, Cohoes, Hudson, Troy and Watervliet.)

(10/26/06)