Dearly beloved brothers and sisters: since this man, our son and your relative and friend, is soon to be advanced to the Order of Deacons, I invite you to reflect with me on the ministerial rank to which he shall be raised.
By a blessed coincidence, this year has also been proclaimed by our Holy Father a Jubilee Year in honor of another deacon, St. Francis of Assisi, whose transitus from death to eternal life took place took place in 1226, 800 years ago. And while you, James, are not being called to remain a deacon as St. Francis was, the call you are receiving today will continue to shape and form you.
In this special year of St. Francis may you look to this beloved saint as a special intercessor. And may the life of St. Francis be a reminder and source of strength in the ways that your diaconal ministry will be marked by service, preaching and commitment. Let us take a moment to reflect on each of those qualities.
The call to serve
We begin with your call as a deacon to follow in the footsteps of those seven men who were once chosen by the Apostles for the ministry of charity.
We begin with the call to service. The story of St. Francis’ abhorrence of lepers is well known. While riding one day, however, near Assisi, he met a leper and instead of fleeing, he was moved to dismount and embrace him. St. Francis, who lacked nothing in courage when it came to going into battle to wage war for his province, had overcome at that moment an even greater fear.
It was a fear not of an external enemy, but something internal that was directing his thoughts and actions. And when he embraced the leper he found, he later said, that that which was bitter became sweet because Christ was there and it was service to the Christ who was disguised in those who were in need that Francis would pursue for the rest of his life. In an age when it is natural to seek advancement, you like Francis, James, are choosing downward mobility.
The world imagines servants as the unfortunate people at the bottom of society. Christianity insists that the servant is at the center of reality itself because Christ Himself became one. You, like Francis, are being ordained to the ministry of towel and basin. May your life as a deacon be a life of service.
The call to preach
Secondly, may you, James, preach as St. Francis preached. St. Bonaventure tells us that three years before his death, St. Francis obtained permission from the pope to prepare in the Italian town of Greccio the first live nativity scene.
To a culture that was rampant with greed and materialism, Francis greatly desired to deepen people’s understanding of the poverty and simplicity with which Christ had entered this world. St. Bonaventure tells us that the night “was made glorious by many brilliant lights and sonorous psalms of praise…[and St. Francis] preached to the people around the nativity of the poor King; and being unable to utter His name for the tenderness of His love, He call Him the Babe of Bethlehem.”
As a deacon, James, you like Francis are sent forth to bring not just the message of the Good News to people, but to help people encounter the Word made Flesh, of Jesus Christ who entered this world as a newborn infant and continues to come to us as the Gospel is proclaimed.
May you, like Francis, allow the Word of God to continually deepen within you and transform you. May St. Francis be a reminder to you that the power of preaching comes not so much from rhetorical brilliance but from how one lives and moves and has one’s being. May your words and your life proclaim the Good News.
The call of dedication and commitment
And lastly, James, may you, like St. Francis, live a life of dedication and commitment. The story is told of an incident in Francis’ life that took place when he was still assisting his father as a cloth merchant. One day, while interacting with a customer, a beggar came to Francis and asked for alms. Francis finished dealing with his customer and then turned his attention to the beggar only to find that he was no longer there.
G.K. Chesterton describes what followed in these words: “Francis leapt from his booth, left all the bales of velvet and embroidery unprotected and went racing across the market place like an arrow from the bow. Still running, he threaded the labyrinth of the narrow and crooked streets of the little town, looking for his beggar, whom he eventually discovered; and loaded that astonished mendicant with money.”
Chesterton then observes: “The sweeping simplicity of his undertaking is extremely characteristic. Never was any man so little afraid of his own promises. His life was one riot of rash vows; of rash vows that turned out right.” In a little while, James, you will make vows. You will promise to be resolved to discharge with humble charity the office of the Diaconate, to hold fast to the mystery of faith, to keep the commitment of celibacy and to guard and increase the spirit of prayer. From a worldly perspective such promises may indeed seem to be rash. They, however, are made out of your love for Christ and will, therefore, give you the freedom to serve Christ in the needs of others.
As you live out these promises, may our Lord continue to use you and may you, like St. Francis, see the world not as the world sees, but as God sees.
The Joy of the Gospel
In closing, on this Jubilee year of St. Francis, may you know the joy that epitomized the life of St. Francis and may you, in the words of Psalm 100, “Serve the Lord with Gladness.”
