Four deacon candidates installed as lectors

Deacon candidates (left to right) Raymond John Schultz, Ricardo Manuel Romero, Steven Joseph Mleziva, Hoang Thai Do kneel during Mass at St. Maria Goretti on Dec. 5, 2025. (NTC/Juan Guajardo) 

ARLINGTON — On Dec. 14, Steve Mleziva will approach the ambo at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Pilot Point to read Scripture to the congregation at Mass for the first time.  Before he begins, he’ll pray a simple, three-word prayer: Come, Holy Spirit.

Mleziva, along with fellow deacon candidates Hoang Do, Ricardo Romero, and Raymond Schultz, were installed as lectors by Bishop Michael Olson at a Mass on Dec. 5 at St. Maria Goretti Parish.

This marks a significant step in their formation to become permanent deacons, explained Deacon Rodney Asebedo, diocesan director of diaconal formation. The men have completed two years as aspirants and are halfway through a three-year formation as deacon candidates.

Next year, Dcn. Asebedo continued, the men will be installed as acolytes. Then, God willing, the men will be ordained deacons in 2027, along with Magdeleno Hernandez, who had previously been installed as a lector.

The Diocese of Fort Worth currently has 16 deacon candidates in formation and nine in discernment.

In the liturgy, Bishop Olson prayed that God would bless the new lectors, saying, “Grant that as they meditate constantly on your Word, they may grow in its wisdom and faithfully proclaim it to your people.”

Like the prayer, Bishop Olson’s homily included the responsibilities of lectors to receive and hand on the Word of God.

Mleziva reflected that, because Jesus is the Light of the World, “as lectors we are doing our part to be the light of the world. Our role through the Scripture that we’re reading is to enlighten people to God’s words so they, too, can be the light of the world.”

With a year and a half of formation ahead, Mleziva said it’s a “true blessing and honor to be in this position,” and he appreciates the “endless prayers, countless prayers of people that are supporting us spiritually and that are supporting deacon formation through their financial support as well.

“When I reflect on all the things that we have done — the classes, [community] service, time in the parish — it’s all been so worth it. It’s all so meaningful to our formation, and it’s not done yet,” said Mleziva.