As I was going up to my seminary room in the evening of Saturday, November 5, I was repeating to myself, "I'm a deacon, I'm a deacon...". Some hours earlier, I was ordained a deacon in the seminary chapel. It was still hard for me to believe it all as I packed my bags for my trip to my hometown in New Jersey. Here I was, promised forever to the Lord, ordained a deacon. Just twenty-four hours earlier, I had been with my class in adoration and silence to prepare for the ordination. What could I pray for, besides everything? As nervous as I was, I remembered the words that had motivated my first years in seminary: "Greater love no man has than this, to lay one's life down for one's friends" (John 15:13). That night I prayed for each of my friends and family, especially my friends in the Movement that have been conduits for the humanizing grace of Christ in my life. I wasn't so nervous after that, just peaceful to go forward and be present at the ordination Mass. When I prostrated myself on the chapel floor during the litany of the saints, I asked each saint to pray that I may be able to persevere and fulfill what the Lord asks.


After preaching in my hometown, the seminary, a Community Day, and my new weekend parish in Orange County, New York, it has sunk in a bit more, but I am honestly amazed and grateful for the mercy of God that He has given to me at the end of the Year of Mercy. Still quite aware of my "rookie" status, especially at preaching, I am nonetheless happy and at peace to witness to Christ's love in my life. Now, at my first parish assignment, I am meeting countless new "friends" for whom I have laid down my life. The form of my witness has changed, but the content, Christ, remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.