Bishop Barry C. Knestout ordained three seminarians to the transitional diaconate May 18 at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond. Andrew Clark, Samuel Hill, and Matthew Kelly faithfully accepted their responsibilities as deacons and promised to carry out their new ministry faithfully.
During the homily, Bishop Knestout told the three men that charity must inspire every aspect of their lives as deacons. “Always see those works of charity as both a source – and the fruit – of the ministry of your holy orders,” the bishop advised them.
The bishop joked at the end of Mass that he had already put the new deacons to work as soon as the rite was complete. Before they were ordained, the new deacons had already written their first homilies – to be delivered that weekend of Pentecost.
Deacon Clark was excited to preach the following day during the noon Mass at St. Jerome, Newport News, where he spent his pastoral year.
Deacon Hill said he was excited, but nervous, about preaching his first homily at the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday at Holy Name of Mary, Bedford, the town where he was born and raised.
Deacon Kelly lined up three homilies his first weekend as a deacon. Just hours after ordination, he will preach at the 5 p.m. Vigil at Our Lady of Lourdes, Richmond. Sunday, he will preach at the 8 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, Crozet, where he had become good friends with the community of Trappist-Cistercian nuns. Later that day, he will preach in Spanish at Our Lady of Lourdes’ 1 p.m. Spanish Mass.
At the end of the ordination Mass, Bishop Knestout announced the new deacons’ summer assignments. Deacon Clark will spend his summer at Church of the Epiphany, Richmond. Deacon Hill will return overseas, where he has been studying in Rome, and immerse himself in his study of the Italian language before serving in a parish in Italy. Deacon Kelly is assigned to St. Mary’s, Blacksburg, for the summer.
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