By Deacon Kirby Rust
The office of the deacon is an ancient one as it founded in Sacred Scripture in the Acts of the Apostles and throughout the New Testament. In Acts 6, we read that their role was to care for the widows at the daily distribution, which would allow the priests to dedicate themselves more fully to prayer, preaching, and offering the Mass. Today we still see this reality as the deacon is ordained to be of service to the bishop and priests. Oftentimes, we think of ‘service’ as a mere social justice sort of service, but the diaconate is much more. Within the Rite of Ordination itself, one of the first things the deacon does is to prepare the altar for the Holy Sacrifice to be offered by the bishop. From the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the deacon goes forth into the world to preach the Word in and out of season, baptizing, witnessing marriages, and offering the funeral rites. His life is one that is configured to Christ the Servant, who offers Himself in totality to the Church and to her people.
Throughout the Rite of Ordination we are inundated with different images and symbols of a deeper reality. In my own experience, there were two instances that were the most powerful. The first was when I laid prostrate on the floor while the Litany of the Saints was sung. It is truly one of the most powerful moments of the ordination because this gesture represents the complete and total self-gift of self to the service of God and to His Church. I could feel that from this day on, I would be intimately configured to Christ in order to continue His salvific mission on earth, and I would be seen as a different person with a specific task. The second moment was the investiture of the stole and dalmatic, the vestments of the deacon. It has been a tradition that the ordinand chooses two priests or deacons, or a combination, to help him vest I think for two reasons. First is the obvious one: that the ordinand tries to emulate their models of priesthood and holiness. Secondly, it reminds the ordinand that he is not the one that vests himself in this rite, but the Church through other sacred ministers vests him to emphasize that he has been chosen by God and the Church, and not that it was merely his decision. And it was a special honor for me to have two of the finest priests that I have met and that have been very influential in my own formation and education to vest me.
Since ordination day, I have been blessed with offering blessings over individual’s rosaries, crucifixes, etc., to serve and to preach at Holy Mass, and to witness the Paschal Triduum in a very different capacity. The cherry on top of my ordination, was to be able to witness the consent and marriage between a very dear friend of mine from high school and his new bride. The opportunity will always be held very dear to me as I was able to see my paternal role over Christ’s flock and to see the new couple go forth into the world and to make it holy. The blessing of ordination is not one that I am worthy of, but one that I am extremely blessed and happy to have been chosen to receive. I would like to thank all those who have helped me along the way to reach this point in my life, especially my parents, Chuck and Beth Rust. Thank you all and thanks be to God!
Deacon Kirby Rust was ordained to the Transitional Diaconate for the Archdiocese of Louisville on March 24, 2018 at Basilica of Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstwon, KY.
