December 6, 2023 at 9:57 a.m.
A TIME OF PRAYER AND PREPARATION
Last month, the Diocese of Albany celebrated the ordination of three men — one to the priesthood and two to the diaconate — at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. As I sat in the sanctuary that morning, I reflected upon my own life as a deacon and as a priest. I had a great sense of gratitude for the many blessings, challenges and opportunities I have had during my 45 years of priestly ministry.
My sense of gratitude is so intimately and humbly tied to the gift that God has given me of celebrating the sacraments with God’s people. It is through our sacramental ministry that priests are uniquely tied to Christ and His people. As priests, we walk with the People of God along our journey to the Kingdom of God and especially through the times of celebration and sorrow. We are the visible face, heart, voice and hands of a loving and compassionate Savior who brings the message of healing, hope and renewal to the world through our ministry and our personal witness by lives of service and prayer.
Priests and deacons serve God’s people during all seasons of life, and we receive many spiritual gifts in return. The season of Advent is about the greatest gift of all, as we enter a time of prayerful preparation to welcome the Incarnate Word of God once again into our world, our families and our own personal lives. As Mary said “yes” to the message of the Angel, we too are called each day and every day to say “yes” to the call of the Gospel to live a life of virtue and to witness to the person and the reality of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Two of our newly ordained deacons have shared their thoughts about Advent and their prayerful preparation for priestly service.
Deacon Paul McDonald writes: “When I reflect upon the Advent season in the light of my ordination, a key parallel emerges immediately. The genesis of the event toward which the expectation of Advent is directed begins with a call and a message. In a similar way, the journey toward ordination involves those very same elements. Although the appearance of the angel Gabriel to our Blessed Mother at the Annunciation provides a more spectacular example, it is the invitation of the same Holy Spirit to which the discerning heart must attend. If the call is perceived and found to be genuine, the discerning heart must then answer to a similar version of the message that was delivered to Our Lady: The Lord provides for you this opportunity to serve Him in a very special way — a way that will bless both you and the world around you with His grace — will you say yes? It was Mary of Nazareth’s fiat that allowed the Light of the World to become incarnate; it is the fiat of the discerning heart that allows that Light to shine more brightly in the world.”
Deacon Tom Fallati reflects: “Ordination to the diaconate is a great joy in itself, but I see in the timing of it a special blessing. I realized it when we were sketching out my initial preaching schedule. Beginning my diaconal ministry with the season of Advent means that I have the privilege of serving and preaching in this season when we wait in ‘joyful hope.’ The waiting of Advent calls to mind the long period of discernment and formation that has brought me to diaconal ordination, now looking forward to ordination to the priesthood. The waiting has been, like Advent itself, a time of preparation. Over that time, I have been strengthened by the faith and prayers of so many who have offered me words of support along the way. I have grown through being able to see Christ in those whom I have encountered in ministry. Now the Lord has given me the gift of ordination, along with the call to share that joy in Advent, the great season of hope.”
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Deacon Joseph Tuan Pham and Deacon Anthony Onu have been deacons for six months and enter this Season of Advent with a new perspective that is quite distinct from all the other Advents of their lives. Not only have they been assisting at the celebration of the Eucharist, baptizing and burying the dead, they have been preaching the Word as ordained ministers of the Word. The role of the deacon is to proclaim the Gospel in deed and in word.
Deacon Joseph shares his thoughts about this Advent and the priesthood: “ ‘We are entering the season of Advent, preparing to celebrate the Incarnate Word of God, who became man that we may become God,’ said Athanasius. Advent gives us hope in Jesus Christ, in knowing, loving and uniting with the Lord more and more. Advent reminds us to find peace in Jesus Christ, the prince of peace, who has promised to bring us to the Lord’s Mountain, a place without conflicts and suffering. Advent gives us the abiding joy of the Divine Word, Who made dwelling among us. The Immanuel is the greatest News, giving the greatest joy. Lastly, Advent celebrates God’s unconditional love for each of us, for ‘He so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life’ (John 3:16). Let us celebrate Christ’s hope, peace, joy and love this Advent season while we prepare for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ and the return of Christ at the end of time.
“Coming to the Advent season, I reflect on my future ministry as a priest. In the second and third Sundays of Advent, we encounter John the Baptist, whose ministry sets a model for priestly ministry. I believe that priesthood is a gift for the service of Christ, and the whole life of a priest is preparing the way for Christ, preaching about Christ, leading people to Christ, and giving himself totally for Christ. A priest must profess what John did, ’I am not the Christ, I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord’ (John 1:23). A priest must humble himself as John did, ‘I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals’ (Luke 3:16). To fulfill the priestly ministry, a priest must decrease and Jesus must increase (John 3:30) A priest must be humble, decrease and empty himself so that Jesus’ grace may increase and work perfectly. Indeed, I am convinced that the entire ministry of a priest is to point to Jesus and say, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29). With that, I entrust my future ministry to the hands of Jesus Christ, who is the hope, peace, joy and love of a priest.”
Deacon Anthony writes: “This season of Advent, as attested to by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, is a time of preparation for the solemnities of Christmas in which the first coming of the Son of God to humanity is remembered. Advent propels our minds and hearts to look forward to Christ’s second coming at the end time. Advent is a period of devout and expectant delight. Whenever I think of the moment of expectation, that of waiting, there is that feeling in me of eagerly anticipating the outcome of my expectation. The goodness of this feeling is that it propels me to prepare for it.
“So, Advent becomes a time of preparation as we wait for the coming of Jesus to us. As a transitional deacon waiting for my priestly ordination next spring, God willing, there is that feeling in me about entering the priestly state. This is natural because I have never been a priest before. The feeling is a call for preparation for the priestly state. I have spent some years in formation preparing for this priestly vocation. Does it mean that I have received all the requirements for it? I do not think as such, but I have received a strong foundation, a fertile openness for the grace of the ordination to work through me. This grace is the love of Christ in the life of priests for the good of God’s people. Thus, Advent becomes for all of us a time of preparation so that when Christ comes to us at Christmas, he transforms us into more loving faithful men and women in service to one another.”
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As I sat in the Cathedral waiting for the ordinations to begin, I was reminded how each priest and deacon offers us a unique blend of gifts, experience and skills. The man, in responding to God’s call, has given all of this to God’s people. In turn, priests and deacons are abundantly blessed by God. This rich life of service and blessing is evident in what our new deacons share about Advent and its gift of our Incarnate Lord. They show us how the Diocese of Albany is blessed with men who have answered the call to ministry that so often can be dismissed or ignored.
I ask that you pray for these deacons and all our seminarians as they prepare for priestly ministry. Please also pray that Our Lord and Our Lady will lead other men to respond to the call God has already stirred in their hearts. Keep in mind the often-forgotten gifts that shower the lives of men in ministry. If you know a man who sometimes wonders about what it would be like to be a priest or deacon, encourage him in the spirit of generosity and prayer to step forward and explore a sacrificial life and sacramental ministry. This invitation can be as pressing for older men as young; a few of our seminarians and deacons have had other careers before accepting the call to ordained ministry. Please invite any man you know, regardless of age, to explore a possible discernment about a new call to a wonderful life serving God’s people. Suggest he simply talk to his pastor, Bishop Ed, or me at the Vocation Office. You may be leading him to the highest happiness in life he could ever find.
My prayers and blessings for all of you as we journey together through the Season of Advent.
Father Thomas Francis Hoar, SSE, is diocesan director of Vocations and Clergy Formation.
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