“We gather here today as a community with Easter joy,” Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost told the faithful who attended the April 18 transitional deacon ordination Mass in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.
Three men studying at Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology were ordained by Bishop Woost in the presence of Bishop Edward Malesic. They will serve as deacons at parishes in the diocese for a year as they continue their formation and discernment for potential priestly ordination next spring.
Seminary professors, formators, their pastors, families, friends and other clergy members gathered for the joyful liturgy.
(See photo gallery above.)
“You will become an icon of Christ the Servant,” Bishop Woost told the seminarians. “You will not just receive the sacrament of holy orders, you will become the sacrament … Yet, this is just the beginning of a new phase and new choices in your life’s faith journey.”
The newly ordained, their parents, their home parishes and diaconal assignments are:
- Noah Anthony Furin, son of David and Lynne Furin, St. Ladislas Parish, Westlake, assigned to St. Joan of Arc Parish, Chagrin Falls
- Sean Christopher Homcy, son of Alan Homcy and Elizabeth Homcy, St. James Parish, Lakewood, assigned to St. Martin of Tours Parish, Valley City
- Jeremy Michael Shafer, son of Jeffrey Shafer and Mary Shafer, St. Mary Parish, Berea, assigned to Divine Word Parish, Kirtland.
A fourth seminarian, Arthur John Bodenschatz, son of Gary and Nicole Bodenschatz, St. Paul Parish, North Canton, will be ordained later to the transitional diaconate for the Diocese of Youngstown.
The bishop told the three that they had been chosen and found worthy of their new role. He urged them to “Look with the eyes of faith and listen with the ears of your hearts” as they undertake diaconal ministry. “Bishop Malesic chose to call you. Father (Andrew) Turner (seminary president and rector) chose to present you. Your seminary formators, pastors, priests and deacons chose to know and confirm you. Your families, friends, fellow parishioners and the faithful chose to love, support and affirm you,” the bishop said.
“The Body of Christ, the people of God, the Church, whose face you see and whose voice you hear, has chosen (you). In faith, we believe that because the Body of Christ has chosen, Christ himself has chosen, for the members of the body and the head of the body are one body. Christ has chosen (you),” the bishop added.
Bishop Woost said they should recognize they have received a gift and use it “to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace … Let your service be with the strength that God supplies. Let your ministry reveal the face and voice of Christ the Servant to us. Let you witness show us how ‘not to be served, but to serve.’”