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Pentecost, June 8, 2025

In addition to the Solemnity of Pentecost, this weekend the Diocese of Jefferson City is also celebrating the ordination of 14 men from our diocese to the diaconate: Ken Arthur from St. Patrick, Rolla; Robert Czarnecki from St. Stanislaus, Wardsville; Louie Delk and Denis Gladbach from the Cathedral of St. Joseph, Jefferson City; Mike Dorrell from St. Bonaventure, Marceline; Chad Freie from St. Clement, Bowling Green; Dwayne Goodwin from St. Joseph, Palmyra; Jacob Hartman from St. Andrew, Holts Summit; Keith Henke from St. Francis Xavier, Taos; Brian Lutz from Ss. Peter & Paul, Boonville; Harvey Million, Jr. from Holy Spirit, Centralia; Charles Ochoa from Sacred Heart, Columbia; Mark Oligschlaeger from Immaculate Conception, Jefferson City; and Jim Rangitsch, Jr. from St. Vincent de Paul, Sedalia.

I have known Jacob Hartman since he first began studying for our Diocese as a seminarian, and it is exciting to see him ordained a transitional deacon as he continues his formation for the priesthood. I have known the other 13 men ordained since the summer of 2022 when I taught the first of the three classes that I ended up teaching them as a part of their formation program for the permanent diaconate, and I am excited for the gifts that they bring to their new ministry.

In his homily at the ordination Mass, Archbishop McKnight explained the role of our newly ordained deacons this way:

You shall receive a unique anointing of the Holy Spirit to assist your diocesan bishop and his brother priests to preserve the Apostolic Communion of the flock here in Mid-Missouri through the ministries of the Word, Liturgy, and Charity. You will become sacramental icons of Christ the Servant, who came not to be served but to serve, even to his death on the Cross.

Though you will not share in the ministerial of priesthood of Jesus Christ, you will belong to an intermediate order between the ministerial priests and the people: as an expression of the needs and desires of the Christian communities; and to animate, facilitate, foster and promote the participation of the lay faithful in the life and mission of the Church. With your natural gifts and the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, you shall assist your bishop and his priests to help meet the pastoral obligations they have to those in this local church. You are to serve as a pastoral bridge between the shepherds and their flocks with a special mission to remove the barriers and walls that might separate pastors from their flock.

While we give thanks for the ordination of our new deacons, I would also encourage you to take an opportunity to thank our very own Dcn. Jim and Dcn. Paul for their ministry here at Our Lady of the Lake, the next time you see them!

Fr. Berhorst