The Diaconate Ordination of Stephen J. Gordon

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; to God who is, who was, and who is to come. On behalf of the clergy and lay faithful, I extend my sincere congratulations to Stephen J. Gordon on his ordination to the permanent diaconate on Saturday, June 27, 2015, at St. Louis Cathedral in service to this local Church and on his assignment by His Excellency, The Most Reverend Gregory Aymond, Archbishop of New Orleans, to serve as a deacon at St. Benilde Catholic Church. What an enormous amount of joy and gratitude that we carry in our hearts!

Deacon Steve’s call to ministry is now sacramentally inspired and sustained. He has responded to the most notable call to lay down his life in the service of God and His Church. His witness is a challenge to all of us to strive everyday to be like Christ, who says to each one of us: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” Through his selfless giving and through his holiness of life, Christ’s own ministry of service in the world will be perpetuated; His servant Church will be more bountiful, more authentic, more compassionate, more loving. The Blessed Trinity will be evermore known and loved.

Today, our world is filled with people (people like Bartimaeus who was not looking for glory but only want to be healed) who call out for healing and who are in need. And so many in our world are much too busy and "important" to attend to their needs. The great ones of this age still seek to make their importance felt while those around them are in need. But Jesus is still calling us as a Church to greater service in the world. Jesus’ words in the Scriptures still echo in our ears today: "...whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant." It is the work of the whole Church to be of service to those in need in our world. Serving is our way of modeling our lives on the life of Jesus. Even though we are all called to service, Jesus calls some of us to a particular level of service through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Deacons are especially charged to be images of Jesus, the servant of all, the one who attends to the weakest and poorest among us. In a very tangible way, a deacon is the sacramental embodiment of the service of the Church. And just as Jesus’ work of healing and service to Bartimaeus led Bartimaeus to following Jesus as a disciple, so too does the service of deacons lead the Church and the world into greater discipleship and a closer following of Jesus.

Permanent deacons are a sign that the Holy Spirit is continuing to work in the Church today. The permanent Diaconate was restored in the Latin Church as a result of the vision of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Paul VI officially restored the role of permanent deacon in 1967, recalling that permanent deacons were an important part of the life of the early Church. The vision of Pope Paul VI and the Fathers of Vatican II is given flesh and form in Deacon Steve’s ministry, and in the ministry of his brothers, as deacons in this local Church. There are over 200 permanent deacons working in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, with many men in formation, each responding to the call of the Church for service in the community. The Holy Spirit is active in our Church, and the permanent deacons are signs of His vivifying and sanctifying action.

Permanent deacons can minister in society in ways that are not possible or appropriate for other members of the clergy. In the Archdiocese of New Orleans, ordained deacons are employed in the business world, the service industry, healthcare, the legal profession, civil service, education, and in so many other fields. While every baptized member of the Church is called to bear witness to Christ in the world, permanent deacons do so in a particular way, by being a sacramental image of Christ the servant of all. Our deacons provide leadership in calling all members of society to serve Christ as they themselves serve the least of His brothers and sisters.

I must also highlight the importance of family life in Deacon Steve’s life as a permanent deacon. Stephen has a double vocation: that of husband and father and grandfather in the married state of life, and that of a sacramental minister called by the Church to fulfill a special form of service. Deacon Steve’s first call is answered in his self-giving and loving service to his wife and children. His family life is so important to all of us that the Church even required the consent of his wife, Susan, before he was ordained. Deacon Steve’s whole family also shares in his ministry as a deacon. They do this by supporting him in his ministry, sharing their own time with him so that he can minister to others, and sometimes even increasing their own service to the Church by following his lead. I wish specifically to thank your wife Susan and his children for their generous sharing in Deacon Steve’s ministry, for the sacrifices they have made to allow Stephen to serve the greater community, and for their own dedicated service to the Church. Just as Deacon Steve’s family is a blessing to him, they are also a blessing to the community of the St. Benilde Parish. In recognizing this, I thank them all.

It must be remembered that deacons do not function as isolated individuals in our archdiocese. Every deacon at the time of his ordination promises respect and obedience to his Bishop and his Bishop’s successors. Just as the first deacons had a special connection to the Apostles by sharing in the Apostles’ ministry of charity to the community, so each deacon today has a special connection to his own Bishop in all the service of charity that he performs. Together with the priests, deacons form with the Bishop a "communion of service," sharing the public sacramental ministry of the Church. Deacon Steve’s ministry as a deacon extends the work of the Apostles and the whole Church, just as the work of the first deacons did, as we see in the Acts of the Apostles.

As a deacon, Steve’s service of charity in the Church—which is extremely important—is made complete by his service to the Word of God and at the Sacred Altar. As a minister of the Word, he will proclaim the Gospel, and by word and deed make known the message of Jesus Christ. Along with proclaiming the Gospel, deacons are called to serve at the altar of the Sacrifice of Christ, at the side of the priest. It is the deacon who stands like the centurion on Calvary, proclaiming by his presence that this truly is the Son of God. As St. Pope John Paul II said in an address to permanent deacons, "...the word of God leads us to the Eucharistic worship of God at the altar; in turn, this worship leads us to a new way of living which expresses itself in acts of charity." This threefold ministry of service—service of the Word, at the altar, and of charity—must inspire a deacon to greater sacrificial generosity in the Church. That is why our parish celebrates with Deacon Steve as he is ordained into the great ministry of the sacramental servanthood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Perhaps we can echo the words of our Blessed Mother Mary as we consider the blessing of all Deacon Steve’s years of formation which has lead to his ordination as a permanent deacon: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." May God continue to look with favor on all his servants in the permanent diaconate as they humbly, resolutely and joyfully fulfill, in the name of Jesus, their ministry of sacramental servanthood. May God continue to bless Deacon Steve this day as he becomes a vital part of our family of faith and our ministerial work on behalf of the people of God.

~ Given on the 27th day of June in the Year of our Lord 2015; the Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church