“None of them would say that they are the same as they were on the day of their ordination.”
With those words, Perth Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton drew together two decades of service as the permanent deacons of the Archdiocese of Perth gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday 28 June – the eve of the anniversary – to give thanks for 20 years of ministry.
Twenty years earlier, on 29 June 2006, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, then Archbishop Barry Hickey ordained 14 men to the Permanent Diaconate at the same Cathedral, restoring to the local Church an order that had survived for centuries only as a step towards priesthood.
Joining Bishop Sproxton for the Mass was Vicar General, the Very Rev Fr Vincent Glynn, Cathedral Dean, the Very Rev Dr Sean Fernandez, Cathedral Assistant Priests Fr Richard Smith and Fr Jason Yeap together with several other Archdiocesan priests, and Deacon Bruce Talbot assisting.
Ten of the 14 Permanent Deacons were present for the special celebration, with Deacons Patrick Seatter and Ivan Sands having since passed away, and Deacons Damian Gorian and Paul Stacy unable to attend because of ill health.
A number of circumstances from the anniversary Mass served as a reminder of the 2006 Ordination Mass, including the attendance of former Office of the Permanent Diaconate Co-ordinator, Fr Peter Bianchini and formator Fr David Barry OSB, Deborah Talbot (wife of Deacon Bruce Talbot) proclaimed the first reading and now Archdiocesan Manager, Communications and The Record Editor Jamie O’Brien (then a journalist for The Record) took the photos.
Preaching on the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Bishop Sproxton said each deacon had listened to the call to be a servant and witness to Jesus and had begun his ministry by walking into the unknown.
They were called to make Christ the centre of their lives, he said, and had learned to stop and take stock when ministry challenged them.
Reflecting on the first reading, from the Second Book of Kings, Bishop Sproxton recalled the prophet Elisha, asked to restore the life of a Shunammite woman’s son.
Elisha first tries to act in his own strength and fails, Bishop Sproxton said, and the boy is raised only when the prophet remembers that he is merely an instrument in the hands of God.
“The experience of Elisha and the woman was of their lives being turned upside down,” he said. The deacons too had been turned upside down by their service at times and had grown in wisdom because of it.
In the Christian life, Bishop Sproxton said, a prophet’s reward takes on a new meaning.
“When we welcome Christ as our honoured guest, when we make Him the centre of our lives, He waits on us. Christ provides for us; He empowers us; He is the source of our strength.”
Bishop Sproxton recalled the beginnings of the program, starting from when Archbishop Hickey had decided to prepare and ordain permanent deacons so that the sacrament of Holy Orders in the Archdiocese would be more fully expressed. He asked then Fr Don Sproxton, who was Parish Priest at Mirrabooka, to help build the formation with Bishop Healy and a small team of priests and lay people.
When Bishop Sproxton was called to the episcopate the following year, Fr Peter Bianchini took over the formation and the selection of candidates, a service for which Bishop Sproxton offered thanks.
As ordained ministers, deacons preach, baptise, witness marriages and lead funerals, assisting the bishop and priests in liturgical and pastoral work.
Over 20 years, the men have served in parishes, schools, prisons and hospitals, and in the special ministries of the Archdiocese.
Some have worked with seafarers and refugees, others as chaplains and spiritual companions.
Each of the married deacons have carried out their ministry with the support of their wives and families, whose sharing of a husband and father, Bishop Sproxton acknowledged.
For some of the men, age and reduced activity have changed the shape of their service.
Their promise to pray for the People of God, Bishop Sproxton explained, has become their contribution to the mission of the Archdiocese, offered through the daily praying of the Divine Office.
Bishop Sproxton described that prayer as a ministry in its own right, one that strengthens the whole Church.
Director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate, Deacon Chris Power, called the ordination a historic moment for the Church in Perth, one whose fruit, he said, “continues to be felt in parishes, prisons, hospitals and communities across the Archdiocese.”
“We honour these men for their dedication and service,” Bishop Sproxton said.
“We thank them for the contribution they have and are giving to the Church.”
The Deacons were each presented with a gift at the conclusion of Mass during an afternoon tea.
