Five men become deacon candidates; five others installed as acolytes
Bishop Michael Olson with candidates to the permanent diaconate on Oct. 25, 2024, at St. Patrick Cathedral. During the liturgy, five men were admitted as candidates for Holy Orders and five other men were called as candidates for Institution of Acolytes. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)
FORT WORTH — During a Mass for Admission of Candidacy and Installation of Acolytes held at St. Patrick Cathedral on Friday, Oct. 25, Bishop Michael Olson admitted Hoang Do, Jerry Flota, Steve Mleziva, Ricardo Romero, and Raymond Schultz as candidates for Holy Orders. Deacon candidates Alan Franklin, Thang Nguyen, Hoang Trinh, Michael Waldon, and Kendall Coffey also were installed as acolytes during the Mass.
The liturgy marks two of the final rites as the men continue their five-year formation to the permanent diaconate.
“With this group of candidates, especially the seven entering their final year [as two candidates had received installation as an acolyte at an earlier date], you see their willingness to see Christ in the person they're serving,” said Deacon Rodney Asebedo, diocesan director of diaconal formation. “They've worked in shelters and in hospitals, and they are able to see Christ in the infirm or in the homeless.
“They're able to see how they can serve the person of Christ through the person in front of him that is in need,” he continued. “It's a long road to see not just a duty in front of you, not just an action that has to be done, but to see Christ and the person that they're serving in order to fully love and help eradicate their condition or minister to the various needs that they have.”
The Assistant Director of Intellectual Formation, Sister Anne Frances Ai Le, OP, attended the Mass along with the rest of the formation team and found it a privilege and honor “to witness the men’s dedication and willingness to take another step toward their formation to be of service to God’s people. I am proud of their commitment and humbled to be a part of their diaconal formation.”
Recognizing the call
The call to enter the diaconate formation program is unique to each man, the deacon said.
“I would say that everyone is called differently,” he said. “Everyone is called to a vocation; it’s just a matter of discerning what that vocation really is.”
The ten men who underwent rites on Oct. 25 began the formation process by attending an inquiry session, which is often held in August. Upon a year of further discernment and being accepted into the program, the men spend two years as aspirants, furthering their studies in the catechism and Church teaching.
“They start learning how to really look to modify their lives in order to be more like that of a deacon servant,” Dcn. Asebedo explained, adding that the formation program currently has eight men discerning the call as aspirants.
Following a formal request, aspirants move to the last stage in the formation program: candidacy. In those two years, the men will undergo a series of rites, including the Institution as Lector and Installation as Acolyte, before professing their final vows in a Mass of Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate.
“It's good for everyone to listen to the call of the Holy Spirit,” Dcn. Asebedo said. “In the process, candidates will discern whether or not the calling is for them — if God is calling them to holy orders or calling them to more formation.”
A deacon's role
Dcn. Asebedo explained the threefold ministry of a deacon is the ministry of the word — to proclaim the Gospel and deliver homilies; the ministry of the liturgy — to participate in the service of the Mass and various other liturgies like baptisms or funerals; and the ministry of charity — to bring the Church to the community, be they homebound, imprisoned, infirm, hungry, or homeless.
“It takes different men and couples to do that. That’s why the Church listens to all people that inquire because you will find that many people have a charism for helping the poor or someone that’s more comfortable in prison,” Dcn. Asebedo said.
Teaching candidates to really see the image of Christ in every person they encounter is the greatest responsibility for the deacon and his team of formators. The time spent in formation and exposure to the threefold ministry eases a candidate’s ability to “see Christ in the action of ministry, not the duty of the work.”
“We can educate them in the teaching of the faith — they will be good catechists. We can educate them in the liturgy — but it is truly Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, that helps them see the face of Christ in who they're serving,” he said.
Learn more about the diaconate