St. Vitus Church in Cleveland hosted the Feb. 19 liturgy during which six men studying for the permanent diaconate were instituted into the ministry of acolyte by Bishop Edward Malesic. The men are in the third year of the four-year formation program, according to Deacon Dave Kushner, director of the permanent diaconate program for the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. Deacon Kushner said they are on track for ordination to the diaconate next year.
Concelebrants were Father John Retar. St. Vitus pastor; Father Andrew Hoover, parochial vicar at St. Ambrose Parish in Brunswick, and Father Ryan Mann, administrator of St. Basil the Great Parish in Brecksville. Members of the diaconal community, including ordained permanent deacons and many of those in the formation program also participated in and attended the liturgy.
The newly instituted acolytes and their parishes are Robert Blackburn, St. Basil the Great Parish, Brecksville; Andrew Davis, St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Akron; William Elwer, St. Jude Parish, Elyria; Michael Mucic, St. Mary of the Falls Parish, Olmsted Falls; Robert Stegmaier, Nativity of the Lord Jesus, Akron; and Thomas Ward, SS. Robert and William Parish, Euclid, and the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, Cleveland.
The bishop told the six men that they will have a special role in the Church’s ministry and a more stable service at the altar as they prepare to be ordained ministers of the Church someday, if that is God’s will for them.
“It is your responsibility to assist priests and deacons in carrying out their ministry and as special ministers to give holy Communion to the faithful at the liturgy and to the sick. Because you are specially called to this ministry, you should strive to live more fully by the Lord’s sacrifice and to be molded more perfectly in its likeness,” he said. “You should seek to understand the deep spiritual meaning of what you do, so that you may offer yourselves daily to God as spiritual sacrifices acceptable to him through Jesus Christ.”
Bishop Malesic reminded the men that as they share the one bread with the faithful, they also form one body with them. And he told them that as instituted ministers of the altar, they must learn the power of forgiveness.
Noting that the liturgy was celebrated in a historically Slovenian parish church, Bishop Malesic told the congregation that his paternal grandfather was a founding father of the Slovenian parish in Steelton, Pennsylvania. “I am proud of my Slovenian heritage,” he said.
Referring to the day’s Scripture readings, the bishop said Jesus told us to love our enemies. However, if love were only a feeling, it would be impossible to do that.
“But love is much more than a feeling – it is a decision. Love wants the good of the other. I want my enemies to be blessed, so that they might be converted in the process. We must will that even our enemies change their hearts, repent and be saved by Jesus – the only savior there is for our world,” the bishop said.
“Today, Jesus gives us three directions to explain how to love our enemies. He said that we should do good to those who hate us, we should bless those who curse us and we should pray for those who mistreat us,” he added.
Bishop Malesic said love can change lives, even the lives of those who hate us. Each of our enemies has a soul and each is loved by God. “Every one of them is our brother or our sister – even if they hate us, and that is why the Lord asks us to transform them with love, instead of pushing them deeper into hate with our own loathing. This is summed up in the Golden Rule: Do to others what you would have them do to you, he said, adding, “In effect, Jesus has raised the bar of love to the highest possible level.”
However, to love this way, requires supernatural help, the bishop said. “It requires grace. It requires prayer. Sometimes, when forgiveness is difficult, we need to say, ‘I can’t do it right now, but God, you can. I ask you to forgive the person who I can’t just yet.’ And, also, remember that God doesn’t want us to be harmed,” he said, explaining that we might need to flee, but should not seek vengeance.
We should walk more gently, strive for peace and not be quick to judge. “We are patient and compassionate. In short, we look more like Christ. And Christ does not look like most of this world. Neither can we,” the bishop said, reminding the congregation and the diaconal candidates that they must learn the power of forgiveness.
“From this altar, Jesus has shown us the way to salvation, for just as the Lord has forgiven us, you must learn to bring forgiveness and peace to others. The world needs Jesus and his love. It is your call to bring that love from this altar to the world that thirsts for it,” the bishop said.
After Mass, Father Retar, St. Vitus pastor, invited the group to the parish hall for a reception where they could chat with the bishop and take photos.
For more information on the permanent diaconate, contact Kushner at dkushner@dioceseofcleveland.org or call 440-943-7600.