Deacon Ordination

I went to the Diocese of Rochester’s Deacon Ordination ceremony today (before going to pick up Daughter 2 from her friend’s house near Syracuse).

One transitional deacon (Deacon Edison Tayag, to the right of Bishop Clark), and six transitional deacons (from left, Deacons Emmanuel Asis, Robert Emerton, Walter Toot, Daniel Williams, Dennis Lohouse, and Robert Corsaro, and their respective spouses).

The ceremony was pretty simple. It was wonderful to see so many priests and deacons, and the cathedral full of well-wishers.

The joy was real, and pervasive.

I prayed for the men and their wives. What an awe-inspiring commitment.

Reading about them beforehand and witnessing the ceremony made me think of my own unworthiness. I don’t say that out of a false sense of humility. Even as I sat there, old Scratch kept sending me reminders of my own weaknesses.

My only comfort in this is that God uses us and our weaknesses in His service. After all, think of Peter and the Apostles! If this is what He wills for me, He will use even my faults.