‘YOU WOULD BE A GOOD DEACON!’

Nudges by the faithful led Eric Ramirez to find his calling with the permanent diaconate

Eric Ramirez, shown with his wife, Penelope Ortega, at Corpus Christi Church in Round Lake, their home parish, said he could not have made the journey to the permanent diaconate without his wife: ‘Penelope has always been part of the formation. I have been very well supported by her, and it has been something that we have done together. … it has been for the two of us.’ (Mike Matvey photo)

When Eric Ramirez moved to the United States in 2006, it was the start of a reawakening of his faith.

Ramirez, who was born in California and was raised and studied in Northern Mexico, was more of a social Catholic when he was younger.

“We’d go to Mass on Sundays and then we would be there for weddings and baptisms, but we were not very involved,” said Ramirez, who along with his wife, Penelope Ortega, came to the Northeast for a job along with their three children. “We didn’t really know our faith but culturally you are Catholic over there. When we came to the States, it was work that brought us but we found God and got more into our own faith and learned more about it and became involved with the communities where we were.”

From first living in Connecticut and then moving to New York state and residing in Brewster, Newburgh and Clifton Park, and now Rotterdam, Ramirez enjoyed being a lector and becoming more involved in the Mass. The faithful at the different parishes, be it Sunday Mass-goers or deacons, saw something in Ramirez.

“People would approach me and say ‘Hey, have you considered becoming a deacon?’ People you know, people you don’t know, they start approaching you and asking you and, since you are involved and up there at the ambo, more people know you than you know them,” Ramirez said. “I pondered it. We were meeting these deacons and their wives and shown what kind of work they were doing and it started to stir up that idea, that desire, actually. The external comes from people that you come across with, they will just tell me: ‘You would be a good deacon!’ And you start to think (and say) ‘I am not so sure about that!’ ”

Ramirez might not have been sure then but he is now as he prepares to be ordained to the permanent diaconate on May 18 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany. He remembers his formation time fondly, going deeper into the Catholic faith and learning about its origins. He felt the love, prayers and support of the faithful, as well as the deacons and their wives that he met on pastoral assignments. But he knows that it was a journey he could not have made without his wife.

“Penelope has always been part of the formation. I have been very well supported by her, and it has been something that we have done together. … it has been for the two of us.” Ramirez said. “We were talking the other day about how we fit in this. I know my primary vocation is to be a husband and a father and then, when we got married in the sacrament, we actually became one. I am going to be ordained in the flesh, but in the spirit, we are both being ordained in that way. 

“We started getting involved with the different parishes through­out our journey and she has also always been involved. It is not that she is going to the church and doing her stuff and I am doing my stuff, we always try to work as a pair, as a couple in the different ministries we have had throughout the years.”

While Ramirez has learned more about his faith, the diaconate journey has changed him as well and has filled him with excitement and happiness as ordination nears. 

“I used to worry about things that I didn’t really have control over, and throughout these years, I have been getting less anxious about what is coming,” he said. “We have family coming. My mother is coming all the way from Mexico, family and friends from all over: from California, Texas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and different parts of New York. We are very excited and happy, and I am not worried about anything right now.”

And finally, what advice would he give to a man thinking about joining the diaconate?

“I can talk from my experience that people are going to notice something before you do. They are going to start putting the thought on you; and then I would say just keep praying about it.” Ramirez said. “Bring it to God (in prayer) and put it in His hands. It will come. If that is the call, it is going to become clearer as you continue to stay close to God and close to the sacraments. … I think that’s why I am not worried about what’s coming … I keep telling God: ‘OK this was your idea. I will do what I have to do. I will do what I need to do but it is for you to take care of it.’ ”