The prophet Jeremiah said the words of the Lord came to him, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you” (Jeremiah 1:5). One of the great mysteries of life is God’s calling you to know, love and serve Him. My brothers, you have heard God’s call and today you are responding. El Profeta Jeremias comprendió a Dios y su llamado, respondiendo a Dios, ¿sobre qué? El conocerlo, amarlo y servirlo.

El Papa Leo XIV dice, “Cuando conoces a Jesucristo y reconoces que Dios te ha llamado, que Dios te ha creado y que Dios te ha amado para compartir eso con otras personas, es sencillamente un regalo magnífico.” Pope Leo XIV expounds, “When you know Jesus Christ and when you recognize that God has called you, that God has created you, that God has loved you to share that with other people, it is just a magnificent gift.”

Pope St. Gregory the Great asked, ¿Cómo debemos interpretar este llamado? ¿Cómo, sino por amor? Escuchen a Pablo: Toda la ley se resume en amor. “How must we interpret this call? Only by love? The love that stamps the precepts of right-living on the mind and bids us to put them into practice. “This is my commandment, that you love one another.” St. Paul offers, “The whole law is summed up in one word ‘love’. And again: Help one another in their troubles, and you will fulfill the law of Christ. Truly we are keeping this law when, out of love, we go to the help of our brothers or sisters.”

El Evangelio de Juan nos recuerda: “No me eligieron ustedes a mí, sino que yo los elegí a ustedes y los designé para que vayan y den fruto, un fruto que permanezca, para que todo lo que pidan al Padre en mi nombre, el se lo conceda.” “It was not you who choose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that would remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you. This I command you: love one another” (John 15:16,17).

Esta mañana, les doy la bienvenida a la Basílica, María Reina del Universo para el Diaconado de nuestros hermanos y sus esposas, hijos y familiares. Welcome to all. A special thank you to the Diaconate formation team of Deacon Joe Gassman, Deacon David Camous and Deacon Bryan Zornik, coordinator Jennifer Kuhn and the permanent diaconate formation team. I also welcome your pastors, priests and deacons who have helped you on your journey to the diaconate. Efrain and Maribel Macías, Rob and Christina Light, Olman and Christine Hernández, Guido and Fabiola Eugster, Dany and Sarita Vélez- Rubio, Juan and Zoe Carrión, Steven and Christine Lang, John and Enidza Quirk: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!” These last few years have been a sacrifice for you and your family. You were called the orphan class when you began in Covid; you only knew each other virtually. But you persisted and overcame all the trials and tribulations. I know you join me in thanking your wives and family, for their love and support during your formation.

Jesus did not interview His disciples before choosing them. But Jesus did spend 24/7 for three years with His disciples. They were not perfect, but they were faithful and forthright. Over the past 16 years I have interviewed many couples. I have enjoyed the experience. The wives gave me more insight into their husbands: I always praised the wives and picked on the husbands. This year’s permanent diaconate class is smaller but dedicated and committed. You are a diverse group, muti-lingual and multi-talented. Your journey of faith and formation inspired, humbled, and edified me. The diaconate program challenged you as couples to deepen your relationship with God and each other.

Mi oración es que su Ordenación diaconal los fortalezca para que puedan ser buenos esposos, buenos padres y santos diáconos. Agradezco y reconozco su espíritu de servicio, su sacrificio espiritual y su constante dedicación a la Iglesia. My prayer is that your Ordination to the diaconate will strengthen you to become good husbands, good fathers, and good and holy deacons. I acknowledge your servant heart, spiritual sacrifice, and ongoing dedication to the Church.

Pope St. Paul VI said about sharing faith, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41, quote from Pope Paul VI, Address to the Members of the Consilium de Laicis (2 October 1974): AAS 66 (1974), p. 568). You are to be models of Christ as husbands, fathers, and deacons willing to be witnesses to the faith before you can become teachers. In the Ordination Rite we hear, “Believe what you teach and teach what you believe.” “Cree en los que enseñas y enseña lo que crees.”

Uno de los testigos más grandes de Jesús es su madre, María. Mary is one of the greatest witnesses of faith with her response to the angel Gabriel, “Behold I am the hand maid of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to your Word.” Mary’s prayer is one of surrender to God. Hearing the news of her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy, she goes immediately to help her. The deacon is called to live a spiritual and temporal life, praying and caring for the people’s souls and lives. In her Magnificat prayer, our Blessed Mother, Mary, announces, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for He has looked with favor on his lowly servant.” You will pray these words every night. Take these words to heart and make them your own. At the marriage feast of Cana when the wine ran out, Mary petitioned her Son, Jesus, to help the couple so that they would not be embarrassed. She simply said to the wine stewards, “Do whatever Jesus asks you to do.” In your ministry as deacons, you will encounter challenges and difficulties. It is the Lord who will give you the strength and courage to respond and do what He asks you to do. There will be moments like Mary’s at the foot of the Cross, sharing in the pain and suffering of her Son, Jesus. As a deacon you will be called to share in the pain and suffering of the people.

In Scripture, the prophet Jeremiah reminds us; your vocation is to allow God to use you to do His will. God will provide the necessary grace and strength to fulfill His will. St. Francis prayed, “Make me a channel of your peace;” a prayer of petition asking God to be our instrument of His peace and love. St. Ignatius Loyola offered his entire life, memory, understanding, and free will back to God. People’s lives are transformed and fulfilled when they surrender to the will of God. But surrendering to God’s will, will be a daily process and will be challenging but fulfilling. Remember the words of the Lord’s prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians tells us to live our lives worthy of God’s calling by practicing humility, gentleness, and patience (Ephesians 4:1-4). In St. John’s Gospel, he tells us, “It is out of love and not obedience do we serve the Lord.” Pablo, en su Carta a los Efesios, nos dice que vivamos nuestras vidas dignas del llamado de Dios, practicando la humildad, la mansedumbre y la paciencia. El Evangelio de Juan dice: “Por amor, y no por obediencia, servimos al Señor.”

As we listen to and take in the Gospel of St. John, we take note of these words of Jesus, which I mentioned earlier. “I have told you this so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete. This is my commandment: Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves because the slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from My Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. This I command you: love one another.”