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Why Catholic? Meet Bishop Edward C. Malesic
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Four diaconal candidates instituted in ministry of lector

News of the Diocese

March 14, 2024

Four diaconal candidates instituted in ministry of lector
Four diaconal candidates instituted in ministry of lector
Four diaconal candidates instituted in ministry of lector
Four diaconal candidates instituted in ministry of lector
Four diaconal candidates instituted in ministry of lector
Four diaconal candidates instituted in ministry of lector
Four diaconal candidates instituted in ministry of lector
Four diaconal candidates instituted in ministry of lector
Four diaconal candidates instituted in ministry of lector

As they move another step closer to their goal of ordination as permanent deacons, Bishop Edward Malesic reminded the four men who were being instituted in the ministry of lector about the importance of their new role. The liturgy during which they were instituted took place March 9 in Holy Family Church, Stow, with Bishop Malesic as the main celebrant.

“As lectors and bearers of God’s word, you will assist in this mission and so take on a special office within the Christian community,” he said. “You will be given a responsibility in the service of the faith which is rooted in the word of God. You will proclaim that word in the liturgical assembly, instruct children and adults in the faith and prepare them to receive the sacraments worthily. You will bring the message of salvation to those who have not yet received it,” he told them.

(See photo album above.)

The men – Zakary Jester, Jerald Joyce, William Prebel and Jon Woost – are in the third year of their diaconal formation. The men will spend five years, including an aspirant year, discerning their vocation.

Jester and his wife Sarah have two children and are members of St. Raphael Parish in Bay Village.

Joyce and his wife Melissa have three children and are members of St. Helen Parish in Newbury.

Prebel and his wife Millie have six children and are parishioners at SS. Cosmas and Damian Parish in Twinsburg.

Woost and his wife Carrie have four children and are members of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Wadsworth.

Ministers of lector are commissioned to read the Scriptures at Mass, teach the faith and prepare others for the sacraments. Their ministry is similar to what lay lectors do at liturgies, but with more recognition, responsibility and training, the bishop explained. This step is required for ordination to the permanent diaconate.

Reflecting on the readings, the bishop said Jesus tells us we must be lifted up like Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert. He recalled the Old Testament story about the Israelites escaping slavery in Egypt and soon after, beginning to complain about God and rebel against him. They wanted to return to their former way of life because their basic needs were met by their captors.

Because of their sin, complaining and lack of trust in God’s providence, God sent snakes that bit them and the Israelites began to die. They realized what was happening, went to Moses, admitting they had sinned by speaking against God and asked for help.

Moses pleaded their case to God and asked him to save his people, saying they were sorry for their sin. God told Moses to put the image of a snake on a pole so that anyone who was bitten and looked at the image would be saved.

The snake’s image reminded the people of the effect of their sins against God, the bishop said, explaining that rebelling against God was the snake’s bite and certain death. But if they have sorrow for their sins, God would give them life.

“Looking at the image of the snake caused people to ask for mercy, and God was more than willing to give it. The snake was both a sign of the consequences of their sin and the remedy for it was their contrition,” he added.

He compared this with Jesus on the cross, his head crowned with thorns, his hands and feed pierced by nails as he struggled to breathe and was forced into humiliation for our sins.

“What is the result of our sinfulness, our rebellion against God? Look at the cross and see the hideous effect of our sins. Then repent and ask God for mercy – and believe that God can and wants to give it,” the bishop said. “The cross heals us, first because Jesus shed his blood for us and second, because it causes us to ask for God’s mercy because we placed him there.”

But this takes faith, Bishop Malesic said – faith that God is rich in mercy and faith that Jesus is the face of God’s love for us.

One of the most beloved sentences in the world was in the day’s Gospel, Jn 3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

“That is the essence of the good news of the Gospel, the essence of Christianity. The cross is the result of our sinfulness, but the same cross gives evidence of God’s love for us,” the bishop explained. “So, look on the cross and find your savior. Stand at the foot of the cross and open the door of your heart to the heart of Christ who stands ready to come to you. Have faith in him and follow him to the eternal life he wants to give to you.”

The bishop said this is the same good news the four newly instituted lectors will share with others as ambassadors of Christ’s good news of salvation.

For more information on the permanent diaconate program, click here or email Deacon George Malec, program director, at gmalec@dioceseofcleveland.org.

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