“Maintain a fixed gaze on Jesus Christ. Pause in contemplation and in adoration of His face. Let Christ be your light.”
This is the mandate given to six newly ordained men by Archbishop Timothy Costelloe at their diaconate ordination in St Mary’s Cathedral last Friday, 7 November.
In the presence of 66 priests, Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton and Archbishop Costelloe, along with a cathedral wall-to-wall with members of the congregation, Deacons Simeon San, Israel Quirit, Garner Vergara Jr, Grant Gorddard, Stephen Gorddard and Jeffey Casabuena, made a number of promises.
Among them, they resolved to “proclaim the mystery of faith in word and deed according to the Gospel and the Church’s tradition”, “to embrace the celibate state… as a sign of [their] dedication to Christ the Lord for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, in the service of God and man”, and “to conform [their] way of life always to the example of Christ, of whose Body and blood [they] are ministers at the altar”.
The men, formed and educated at St Charles’ Seminary in Guildford and the University of Notre Dame, Australia, come from Australia, the Philippines and Myanmar (Burma).
After turning to the saints in Heaven, inviting them to intercede with all those present, the laying on of hands and the prayer of ordination was undertaken by Archbishop Costelloe after which family members and friends vested the six newly ordained deacons with stole and dalmatic, vestments proper to the Order of the Diaconate.
In the final part of the ordination ceremony, each deacon knelt before the Archbishop as he placed the Book of the Gospels into his hand, asking him to “receive the Gospel of Christ. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practise what you teach”.
A great celebration followed the Ordination which was attended by several hundred religious, clergy and worshippers.