Deacon's training includes experience with parish life

Becoming a permanent deacon for the Albany Diocese is a lengthy process: two years in the Formation for Ministry program, a year of "aspirancy," and another two years of training or "candidacy" before ordination.

For Brian Levine, the process has been even longer.

The new addition to the staff at Our Lady of Grace parish in Ballston Lake is now a second-year candidate for the diaconate, but his journey started decades ago in Long Island.

Stirrings of faith

A native of that area, Mr. Levine terms his upbringing "culturally Jewish." Although he attended six years of Hebrew school, a traditional practice for Jewish boys, the Levines were not particularly religious.

In college at SUNY-Geneseo, he met his future wife, Linda, a Catholic. He went with her to Mass.

"The service, at first, was boring to me, though I liked the readings," he recalled. Since the first reading comes from the Old Testament, he joked, "I was all good with that."

Conversion

Then Mr. Levine started to notice that the liturgies were having an effect on him.

"Anything you experience again and again, you start to pay attention to," he explained. Instead of just noticing the first reading, "I found the other readings challenged me."

Mr. Levine said he "staggered through the Bible" outside of Mass and discovered many instances where Jesus' actions in the New Testament seemed to fulfill Old Testament prophecies. He compared the process to creating a road map in one's head, "matching up the roads" when learning how different towns connect.

In 1992, he became a Catholic.

Family secret

"I didn't tell my parents at first," Mr. Levine said. "I thought my father might have felt guilty [and] said he should have raised me more religious."

When Mr. Levine heard his own sons -- Nathan, now 18; Jordan, 15; and Matthew, 8 -- discussing keeping the secret of his conversion from their grandparents, he finally told them.

Their reaction was positive; he noted that they even bring him statues of saints and Mary from vacation spots.

Continuing faith

In retrospect, said Mr. Levine, the transition from Judaism to Catholicism "was very easy. I tell my parents I'm more Jewish now than when I was growing up," since he believes "we're talking about one faith -- not two faiths, but the continuation of one."

Still, it took a while for him to become active in his home parish, Immaculate Conception in Glenville.

"Things tend to occur gradually," he explained. "If I were to just jump in, I'd be all interested and excited -- and then gradually fall away."

Call to diaconate

Instead, the avid reader devoured all the books he could find on Catholicism, particularly the lives of the saints. He also began to see a spiritual director to better understand the path his faith was taking -- and was surprised to find himself being tugged in a certain direction.

At first, Mr. Levine didn't know what he was being led toward, just that God seemed to be calling him to service. He became a lector and got involved in Residents Encounter Christ, a prison ministry.

All the while, people were saying to him, "You ought to think of being a deacon."

Mr. Levine protested that God would have to ask him to do that, since he'd never presume to take such a step on his own. Hearing that, his spiritual director laughed and remarked: "How many times does God have to ask you? This person asked you, and that person asked you...."

Faith and family

Mr. Levine eventually decided to enter the diaconate program, but he cautioned that even now, about a year from ordination, "I'm still discerning. The feedback I'm getting leads me to believe this is the right call. One thing I pray about is, 'If this isn't the right call, get me booted out of here!'"

He believes he can bring an important gift to his ministry: the experience of marriage.

"If you think about it, the diaconate is unique in the [Latin-rite] Church: It's the only ordained ministry where you can be married," he remarked. "The two things I would bring to the table are my faith and my family."

On-the-job training

Mr. Levine recently began a "liturgical practicum" at Our Lady of Grace parish, practicing his new skills by serving and preaching at Masses.

He will also help with pastoral planning and sacramental preparation, and attend pastoral council meetings.

Mr. Levine considers himself fortunate to be assigned to the Saratoga County parish, which he characterized as "very warm and welcoming. The people are very accepting, and Deacon Neil Hook is the parish life director. I'm lucky that he is my mentor; I ask him so many questions."

God's path

As he learns his new role, the future deacon isn't sure he'll ever truly understand how his life's journey brought him here.

"You never really see clearly the path that God has you on, except in the rear-view mirror," he stated.

One thing, however, is sure: Whenever Mr. Levine gets an attack of nerves while serving at Mass, he reminds himself, "Why am I nervous? This isn't about me."

(Mr. Levine, who has a master's degree from Clarkson University in Potsdam, is a mechanical engineer at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna.)

(2/8/07) [[In-content Ad]]