Pastor's Corner: Grace and the face of God

As I am writing this article, my wife, Jan, and I are on retreat with six married couples. The purpose of this retreat is to continue to assist each of the husbands in their continued formation to become ordained Deacons in the Catholic Church. Jan and I are part of the formation team for these couples.

This is the third cohort of men that I have had the opportunity to go through the formation process with and I am finding that there is one question that comes up in the mind of the men and that is; What is my ministry as a deacon going to look like after I am ordained? This is not a question that we can answer in the formation process. The answer becomes known after ordination takes place and the one ordained has received the special grace that God will manifest in that person at that particular time so that he will be able to assist in the building of God's kingdom.

I suppose that it might be a good thing provide a definition of Grace. In the context of Christianity grace might be defined as an undeserved favor granted by God to someone. At the same time, it is also a part of the character of God himself. So practically we can think of grace as God giving himself to us - being in loving intimate relationship with us. I am sure that you can recognize that the reception of grace causes some very real changes in the one who enters into this loving, intimate relationship with God.

I know personally that when I was in formation, I did not have that same question. I was already working for the Church and thought I would continue to do so with a few additional duties I could take on as my ordination enabled me to. I didn't expect any big changes - boy was I wrong. Just saying - when a grace filled relationship is entered into you better put on your seat belt because it is going to be quite a ride!

A couple of years after my ordination as a Permanent Deacon I was at a workshop with a number of Priests and other Deacons and a question was posed to all of us. This is the question;" What do you feel was the greatest grace you received as a result of your ordination?" I raised my hand to answer the question and was called on.

I said "The view." The presenter asked what that meant, and I responded by saying. "All my life until my ordination when I went to church, I was seated as a member of the Congregation and my view as I participated in the service was that of the sanctuary where the Priest celebrating mass. But now my place is in the sanctuary serving at the tables of the Word and the Eucharist facing the people and when I look at the people through the lenses of the Word and Eucharist along with the graces of ordination, I see the face of God."

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Deacon Tim Maroney, St. Jude Thaddeus Church