After being called forward during the election of the candidates and receiving the consent of the people, four men were ordained by Bishop Nelson Perez as permanent deacons for service to the Diocese of Cleveland during a liturgy on May 4 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. The Mass was streamed live on the diocesan website and was viewed by people across the country.
The newly ordained deacons are Christopher DePenti of St. Columbkille Parish, Parma; Giovanni Grazia of Divine Word Parish, Kirtland; Matthew Harley of St. Ambrose Parish, Brunswick; and Thomas Shetina of St. John Vianney Parish, Mentor.
Bishop Perez thanked the ordinandi for their hard work, commitment and sacrifice and thanked their wives for their generosity and sharing their husbands with the Church of Cleveland. He said that on their wedding day, the men walked down the aisle. “Today you will walk down another aisle to serve the Church,” he added.
There will come a time when deacons, priests and bishops will no longer be able to do what they do now. “But that won’t make them any less a deacon, priest or bishop. It’s about service,” the bishop said.
He told the men that their gift of time is the only thing we have. “Everything else comes and goes. But we have time and it’s how you choose to use it.”
There is a dimension of the permanent diaconate that lies at the heart of the Church, Bishop Perez said, explaining that the bishop is a priest but he was also a deacon. “We’re called to a particular kind of ordained ministry,” he said, telling the men that they will be ordained but will continue to live in the world of their families and to support them.
Permanent deacons have a special witness to give, the bishop said, speaking of their unusual position with an entry to the temporal world through their careers and families. But he said others have walked with them and supported them on their faith journey, including Deacon Dave Kushner, who heads the permanent diaconate program for the Diocese of Cleveland, the faculty at the seminary, their pastors and others.
“You had five years of training and formation. I had none as a bishop,” he said. However, Bishop Perez assured the new deacons that “the people will teach you,” based on advice he received from a friend prior to his ordination as a transitional deacon.
The new deacons celebrated Masses of thanksgiving last weekend before beginning their new ministry. Deacon DePenti will minister at St. Augustine Parish in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood; Deacon Grazia will serve at his parish, Divine Word; Deacon Harley will minister at St. John Bosco Parish in Parma Heights; and Deacon Shetina will serve at SS. Robert and William Parish in Euclid.
This is the 51st anniversary of the 1968 approval by St. Pope Paul VI for the bishops of the United States to renew the permanent diaconate as an active, permanent order of ministry.
Deacons have a three-fold ministry of word, altar and charity. Their ministry is one of service and they are charged with performing works of charity.
The newly ordained deacons completed five years of preparation including one year of aspirancy and four years of formation. Their duties include assisting the bishop and priests of the diocese at the Eucharist, distributing Holy Communion, witnessing and blessing marriages, proclaiming the Gospel and preaching, presiding at funerals and engaging in ministries of charity.
For more information on the permanent diaconate program, click HERE.
Click HERE to watch the archived video of the ordination liturgy and HERE to visit our Facebook with a full image gallery from ordination.
