By Deacon Steven Reeves
How can I put into words the experience of my ordination as a transitional deacon? It feels impossible to do, but here is my best attempt.
The ordination Mass was beautiful. The liturgy was heavenly, the music was breathtaking, and it was a thrill to see St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown filled with so many family members, friends, and supporters. During the entrance procession, my mind wandered for a minute, and I found myself thinking how strange and surprising it was that I was about to be ordained a deacon of the Catholic Church.
Growing up Baptist, I never thought I would discover the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. As a shy, quiet boy, I never thought I would accept a vocation to proclaim the Gospel to all people. As a young man, I never thought I would be able to embrace the celibate state, accepting Christ’s call to love His people as He does and trusting that His grace is sufficient for me. As someone with a need for order and control, I never thought I would know the peace and freedom that comes from surrendering my will to the will of God. As someone who at times is overwhelmed by the weight of my sins, I never thought I would hold a chalice filled with the Blood that dripped from the cross for my redemption. My life is living proof of the saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”
I think that is why one of the moments of the ordination rite that stands out for me the most came as I knelt in front of Archbishop Kurtz and promised respect and obedience to him and his successors. Immediately after receiving that promise, while still holding my joined hands inside of his, he said to me, “May God who has begun the good work in you, bring it to fulfillment.”
God has been at work in me through my family, through teachers and youth ministers and pastors, through friends and classmates and coworkers, through professors and formators and spiritual directors. He has been at work in me through decisions of where to live, where to work, and where to go to school. He has been at work through the good times and (especially) through the hard times. He has been at work through His Word proclaimed from pulpits and whispered in prayer. He has been at work through the sacraments of his Church, quietly, gradually, invisibly giving me the grace to believe, to hope, and to love just a little bit more.
God’s work in me has not been what I ever would have expected, but that is because his plans for me were greater than I could ever have imagined. Whatever your vocation, God has begun a great work in you, and if you let Him, He will bring it to fulfillment. But I promise it will not be anything like what you expect. It will be something much, much better.
