“You are the hands, arms, feet, eyes and ears of Christ,” Bishop Edward Malesic told the deacons gathered for Mass on May 9 in St. Basil the Great Church in Brecksville.
The annual liturgy celebrated significant years of service – 45, 40, 35, 30. 25 and 20 – by permanent deacons in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. Among the concelebrants for the Mass were Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost; Father Don Oleksiak, vicar general and moderator of the curia; Father Dan Schlegel, vicar for clergy and religious; and Father Ryan Mann, St. Basil pastor.
(See photo gallery above.)
More than 200 people attended the event, including the deacons celebrating the significant anniversaries of their ordination, their wives, guests, fellow deacons and priests.
One of the jubilarians, Deacon Paul Pecot, who was ordained in 1998 and retired in 2009 after serving at St. Basil the Great, was the homilist.
Each deacon has his own vocation story, he said, and everyone who believes in Christ knows that he has a plan for their lives.
“We have a gift and must use it to build up the Body of Christ,” he added.
Deacon Pecot said his story began in Louisiana, where he was raised by parents who weren’t very religious. By his teenage years, his parents no longer attended Mass yet he would walk alone traveling several blocks to the church. He was the only one of the eight children in his family who regularly attended Mass.
At age 17, he met his future wife and rode the bus to her house. They would attend Mass together. “I got to spend time with her,” he said.
He also recalled attending CCD classes and learning the Baltimore Catechism on Saturday mornings in the Louisiana heat.
At his wedding, the deacon recalled the Scripture passage about how a husband should love his wife like Christ loves his Church. “I didn’t understand it at the time,” he admitted, “but I think it was the beginning of my journey,” he said, referring to his vocation. “Something began to take root.”
Just a few months after the marriage, he and his wife moved to North Carolina. “We joined a parish that worshipped. They believed in what they worshiped and I wanted what they had,” he said, so he got involved in a variety of parish activities. “I was a doer, but my faith said something more needed to be done. I wondered if I was living and doing what God wanted me to do,” he said, noting it took a decade for him to get to the point where he knew “I needed to follow my God.” People surrounding him were the impetus, he said.
Eventually, someone suggested he would make a good deacon. He began discernment, but “it wasn’t time yet.”
More time and discernment followed before, in 1995, “God said ‘now,’” Deacon Pecot said.
He credited the many mentors who guided him and the other deacons to and through their ministries, including the Holy Spirit.
“We’re a diverse group with diverse gifts,” he said as he scanned the rows of deacons vested in albs and stoles. “We need to exercise the gifts God has given us so we can discover the joys of living the life God has called us to and the feeling of fulfilment it brings.”
After Mass, Bishop Malesic thanked all who planned the liturgy and celebration. He also acknowledged them men who are in diaconate training and discerning for the vocation, the six men who were ordained to the permanent diaconate on May 6 and the deacons’ wives.
“The first table you served at was the table of the Lord. Serve the Church by bringing the message of Christ to so many. Christ is alive in our Church,” he added.
Each reunion class had photos taken with the bishops and then all enjoyed a reception in the Parish Life Center.
Forty-three permanent deacons were honored at the event. This year’s jubilarians are:
45 years: June 18, 1978 ordination: *Deacon David L. Kinzel; Deacon Daniel J. Matusicky; Deacon William C. Payne.
40 years: June 4, 1983 ordination: *Deacon John M. Buda; *Deacon Ross C. DeJohn Sr.; Deacon William T. Elwood; Deacon Frank A. Humphrey III; *Deacon Edmund J. Karecki; *Deacon Edward J. McCarthy Jr.; *Deacon Louis G. Pecek; Deacon George J. Reiland Jr.; *Deacon Joseph J. Savage; Deacon John A. Talerico; *Deacon Edward A. Telepak; *Deacon Thomas J. Waken; Deacon Louis M. Woyton.
35 years: May 21, 1988 ordination: *Deacon Geza Balint; Deacon Robert Dybo; *Deacon Joseph W. Johnson; *Deacon Leonard A. Sloan.
30 years: May 22, 1993 ordination: Deacon Raymond L. Daull; *Deacon John A, Koch; *Deacon John M. Miklosovic; *Deacon Dennis L. Smith; Deacon Peter M. Travalik; *Deacon Robert P. Ulman.
25 years: May 23, 1998 ordination: Deacon Richard C. Butz; *Deacon Charles B. Doerpers; Deacon Paul J. Hlabse Sr.; Deacon Joseph R. Kovitch; Deacon Daniel E. Norris; Deacon David E. Pecot; Deacon John K. Slatcoff; Deacon Carl M. Toomey.
20 years: May 10, 2003 ordination: *Deacon Douglas P. Bewley; Deacon Thaddeus C. Bizon Jr.; *Deacon James K. Debrason; Deacon Kenneth A. Golonka; Deacon Donald M. Jankowski; Deacon Donald M. Jankowski; Deacon Paul C. Kutolowski; Deacon Hardin M. Martin; *Deacon William R. Starkey; *Deacon Robert K. Walling.
* Indicates a deceased member of the class.
For more information on the permanent diaconate formation program, contact Deacon George Malec, director.