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Second Sunday of Advent
11 December 2006
Dear Fellow Workers in the Vineyard,
On Wednesday of last week Bishop Baker ordained one of our own to the diaconate at the Cathedral in Charleston. During the homily, the Bishop said:
"Dwight, as we anticipate the coming of the spirit anew into your life through your diaconal ordination today, I welcome you and thank you for this venture in faith and service of the LORD and His people. We in the Diocese of Charleston give thanks to God for your years of formation in a loving Christian home, and for your ten years of faithful service in the Church of England. Since you have been received into full communion with the Catholic Church and seek the fulfillment of your ministry and its integration into apostolic succession through the Sacrament of Orders received within the Church, we turn in confidence to the Lord today that He may bring to fruition the hope that you have held in your heart for several years.
The role of deacon is pivotal in preparation for Priesthood, but it is also a major component of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The Greek word diakonos means servant. Diakonia — service — is the call of Christ to every Christian, but in a special way, it is a call to the ordained clergy.
Service is at the core of ministry. A renowned author (you wrote the book!) once wrote ’as Christ’s agents in the world we have real power and responsibility to effect… transformation. This is why Christians are called to get involved in ministering to the sick, the poor, the uneducated, the downtrodden, and others who need the help of Jesus’ followers. The good news is that through faith real change is possible. It only depends on how much we respond to God’s grace in our lives.’ He rightly points out that real change happens through our real ordinary lives. ’More Christianity is glorious, complex, and majestic, but it is also humble, simple and plain. It is the religion of the incarnation where kings and shepherds meet, and where angels sing the praises of the one born in a stable.’
How beautiful those comparisons to the great event we will celebrate shortly on Christmas day, where servanthood is dramatically demonstrated for us in God becoming one with us in the child Jesus born in a stable."
We give thanks to God for this man of our community who will exercise the servanthood of Christ among us. Let us remember him, his wife, Allison, and their family in our prayers as Dwight prepares to become a priest after the Heart of Christ.
Happy Advent!
Father Smith