“We rely on the help of the Lord God and Our Saviour Jesus Christ and we choose this man Victor, our brother, for the Order of Deacons.”
A packed church, at St Gerard Majella Parish, Mirrabooka erupted in aplause at the words of Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB as Victor Lujano was put forward and accepted as fit for ordination to the diaconate on Friday, July 27.
The night was momentous, Archbishop Costelloe said, not only for the change ordination would make in Victor’s own life, but in the life of the Church.
“We all know Victor to be a good and generous man,” Archbishop Costelloe said, “(but) tonight he becomes a living sign of the presence of Jesus among us in a whole new way.”
The essence of ministry as a deacon, the Archbishop said, was summed up in the questions he would ask Victor later that evening, and in the prayer he would pray over him:
“We’ll hear about respect and obedience; we’ll hear about sincere love, concern for the poor, unassuming authority, self-discipline and holiness,” the Archbishop said.
“At the end of the prayer of consecration we will hear all of that summed up in these words: “God, Our Father, may Victor imitate your son who came, not to be served, but to serve.”
A native of Berinas, Venuzuela, Deacon Lujano, 38, has been a seminarian at the Neo-Catechumenal Way-administered seminary of Redemptoris Mater for the better part of eight years.
The call to be another Christ in the world was not one restricted to deacons and priests, Archbishop Costelloe said, but one that applied to all the faithful:
“All of us are called to (different) vocations, precisely so that everyone, and not just married people, can see and know that fidelity is asked of all of us; that everyone, and not just parents, are called to put the needs of others first;
“That everyone, and not just Religious, are called to live lives of simplicity, of openess to God’s will and of profound respect for one another’s dignity;
“And that all of us, not just priests, are called to be good shepherds to each other.”
Archbishop Costelloe was joined by Redemptoris Mater Seminary Rector, Fr Michael Moore and St Charles Seminary Rector, Mgr Kevin Long in welcoming Victor Lujano to the diaconate.
Like other deacons throughout Perth, Deacon Lujano is now able to conduct Baptisms, preside at weddings and funerals and preach at the Eucharistic Liturgy.
Members of Neo-Catechumenal communities from around Perth joined the newly-ordained deacon for the celebration, lending their distinctive, Spanish-styled music and singing to the occasion.