Recently in Diocese of Bridgeport Category
Behold the Lord the Ruler is come: and the Kingdom is in His Hand, and power, and dominion. Give to the king Thy judgment, O God: and to the king's Son Thy justice. (Epiphany entrance Antiphon)
Saint John Chrysostom teaches us that, "If the Magi had come in search of an earthly King, they would have been disconcerted at finding that they had taken the trouble to come such a long way for nothing. Consequently they would have neither adored nor offered gifts. But since they sought a heavenly King, though they found in Him no signs of royal pre-eminence, yet, content with the testimony of the star alone, they adored: for they saw a man, and they acknowledged a God."
The Feast of the Epiphany is a terrific day to manifest the Lord's entrance into our history with an ordination. The Diocese of Bridgeport, indeed the entire Church, rejoices today in calling another man to ordained service as a deacon. But what do deacons do in the Catholic Church? According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Deacons are ministers ordained for tasks of service of the Church; they do not receive the ministerial priesthood, but ordination confers on them important functions in the ministry of the word, divine worship, pastoral governance, and the service of charity, tasks which they must carry out under the pastoral authority of their bishop (1596).
Today, Bishop Lori ordained to the Order of Deacon Jaime de Jesus Marin Cardona, 41, at Saint Charles Borromeo Church (Bridgeport, CT). Deacon Marin is a native of Columbia where he did his seminary training. Here in the US, Deacon Jaime did some studies at Saint John Fisher Seminary (Stamford, CT) and Holy Apostles Seminary (Cromwell, CT).
During the Rite of Ordination of a Deacon Bishop Lori prayed:
Almighty God . . . You make the Church, Christ's body, grow to its full stature as a new and greater temple. You enrich it with every kind of grace and perfect it with a diversity of members to serve the whole body in a wonderful pattern of unity. You established a threefold ministry of worship and service, for the glory of your name. As ministers of your tabernacle you chose the sons of Levi 
and gave them your blessing as their everlasting inheritance.
More than a dozen priests and deacons concelebrated Mass with the Bishop--in Spanish--with a packed Church. A fair number of the diocesan seminarians were also in attendance, many of whom acted altar servers for the Liturgy. It was wonderful to see all the gathered faithful. Jaime drew together his family and friends from across the area to celebrate with him. The occasion afforded the Msgr. Patrick McGivney Council, the local council of the Knights of Columbus to observe their 10th anniversary in Saint Charles. The State KofC officers were present as was the 4th degree honor guard.
Since he's finished with studies, Deacon Jaime will serve in a parish for the next six months. In the exercise of his ministry, Deacon Jaime now "strengthened by sacramental grace... [is] dedicated to the People of God, in conjunction with the bishop and his body of priests, in the service (diakonia) of the liturgy, of the Gospel, and of works of charity" (CCC 1588).
We also rejoice at the ordination of another man for the Bridgeport Diocese. On December 12th, Bishop Lori by the laying on of hand and prayer, ordained Jeff Couture to the Order of Deacon at Holy Family Church (Fairfield, CT), a native son of that parish. The ordination took place at the Vigil Mass for Gaudete Sunday with lots of Jeff's family and friends present. Deacon Couture is a student at Mount Saint Mary Seminary (Emmitsburg, MD). He's been serving Holy Family Church for Christmastide and will return to the Mount to finish up prior to ordination.
On June 5, 2010, four men will be ordained to the presbyterate for the Diocese of Bridgeport. In addition to Deacons Jaime and Jeff, the deacons ordained this past May, Deacons Michael Novajoski and Karol Ksiazek will be made priests. In comparison to 2009 when six were made priests of Jesus Christ, 2010 is also a good year for our diocese in terms of ordinations. As of this writing, there will only be one ordained to the priesthood in 2011.
May Saints Stephen, Nicanor, Lawrence, Ephrem, Francis and all holy deacons, pray for us and for these men ordained for service in the Diocese of Bridgeport!
Tonight, in the context of the Sacrifice of the Mass, Bishop Robert A. Brucato, auxiliary of bishop New York, received the Candidacy for Holy Orders of 18 men. This is an official step in declaring one's intention to be ordained with the approval of the bishop or major religious superior. The breakdown of candidates is as follows:
9 for the Archdiocese of New York and 1 for the Diocese of Bridgeport
7 for the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and 1 for the Idente Missionaries of Christ Crucified.
Pray for all of us preparing for priesthood.
If you are interested, the rite follows.
The Rite of Admission to Candidacy follows the homily.
Calling of the Candidates
Examination
My sons, the pastors and teachers in charge of your formation, and others who know you, have given a favorable account of you, and we have full confidence in their testimony.
The bishop asks two questions for the candidates:
In response to the Lord's call are you resolved to complete your preparation so that in due time you will be ready to be ordained for the ministry of the Church? The candidates answer: I am.
The bishop:
Are you resolved to prepare yourselves in mind and spirit to give faithful service to Christ the Lord and his body, the Church? The candidates: I am.
Acceptance of the Candidates
The Church receives your declaration with joy. May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment. All: Amen.
Invitation to Prayer
Brothers and sisters, let us ask our God and Lord to pour out his grace and blessing on these servants of his who desire to give their lives to the ministry of the Church.
Intercessions
Concluding Prayer
Lord, hear our prayers for your sons who wish to dedicate themselves to your service and the service of your people in the sacred ministry.
Bless them + in your fatherly love, that they may persevere in their vocation, and through their loving fidelity to Christ the Priest be worthy to carry out the Church's apostolic mission. We ask this through Christ our Lord. All: Amen.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
The Catholic school system in the US has been in a very desperate shape for years: acute and chronic money problems, lack of good, solidly trained Catholic teachers and administrators, a coherent vision of Catholic education as it interfaces with the charism of the religious order/diocese operating the school, building & grounds in near of repair, low endowments, etc. Then there is the assessment of what is purported to constitute a Catholic school: poor formation in the faith, the arts & humanites and science suffer, good use of current technologies, and engagement with people who do things differently, engagement with the vulnerable and culture of life, etc. Many, many Catholic schools don't offer the Sacrifice of the Mass on a weekly basis for the students; and very few of them that I am familiar with offer reliable guidance and formation of the faculty and parents. In my book, if the bishop rarely shows up and the pastor visits the school only when there is crisis. then the problem is more acute.
Don't get me wrong: I am a product of a lot years Catholic education and wouldn't trade it for anything. I love my time in the Catholic schools I attended but I can see the gaping holes in education and experience. I also believe that the Church needs excellent schools and formation programs.
Five exceptions to this critical view may be the five schools in the Diocese of Bridgeport recently named "Blue Ribbon" by the US Dept of Ed. But for these success stories in Catholic Education there are thousands of others pointing to major problems.
Today, there is an article in Time that speaks to a corrective of what is noted above. The dynamic Mr. Ekicsen is asking the right questions and seeking reasonable solutions. The bishop of Patterson made an excellent choice in hiring Eriksen and I pray his project thrives. It will --the saints are behind him. Read about the Eriksen initiative...
I think of a few things that are contributing to a renewal of Catholic eduation in the US: 1) Luigi Giussani's The Risk of Education; 2) the Ed Conference; 3) UND's ACE program; and 4) Dwight Longenecker's booklet The Risk of Faith; 5) Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. This is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of reality because I know there are plenty of more good programs/schools out there so please forward the names to me.
Word has been received that the Church of Saint John (Stamford, CT) has been given the high honor of being named a minor basilica by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.
Henceforth, the parish will be known as The Basilica of Saint John the Evangelist.
The Catholic community has been present in the Stamford sine the early 18th century but an official ecclesial community was founded in 1847. The current church was completed in 1886.
Saint John's is the second church in the State of Connecticut to receive this distinction. The first is the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Waterbury, CT. There are only 65 minor basilicas in the US.
UPDATE
The announcement from the Diocese of Bridgeport, October 17, 2009
The Stamford Advocate's article of October 17, 2009
