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CHARLOTTE — "You are being ordained deacons on a Friday, the day of the week that we especially commemorate the Lord’s sacrifice on Calvary when He made Himself the servant for all out of His love for us and our salvation," Bishop Peter J. Jugis told seminarians Juan Miguel Sanchez and Joseph Wasswa.

"Keep Jesus and His witness of servanthood before your eyes and He will make your service as deacons fruitful for the kingdom."

Sanchez and Wasswa became the Diocese of Charlotte’s newest deacons and took the next step on their journey to the priesthood July 17 during a two-hour Mass at St. Mark Church in Huntersville.

A couple dozen clergy members participated at the Mass and were on hand to congratulate the new deacons, but the Mass was overall a low-key occasion with limited attendance due to COVID-19 public health restrictions. There was no grand procession, no congregational singing, no presentation of the offertory gifts by family and friends, no kiss of peace for the men from their fellow deacons.

Yet the ordination Mass had a determinedly joyful atmosphere, as the Charlotte diocese celebrated Sanchez and Wasswa receiving the sacrament of holy orders as deacons – a visible sign that not even a pandemic can stop the saving mission of the Church.

Father Christopher Gober, diocesan vocations director, attested to the preparedness of the two men, who were called to stand before Bishop Jugis at the steps of the altar during the start of the ordination rite.

“We receive from the Lord with joyful hearts today the gift of two new deacons for the Church," Bishop Jugis said during his homily. "They become ordained sacred ministers through the laying on of hands and the prayer of ordination and enter into the official ministry of the Church – the ministry of salvation that Jesus commissioned His Church to undertake until the end of time."

This ordination is possible because of a divine call the two men began to receive years ago, Bishop Jugis told them.

“The Lord began giving you special graces, thus manifesting His love for you in a special way. What He once said to the Apostles, which we hear in today’s Gospel, is true also for you. 'It is not you who has chosen me, but I who have chosen you.'”

"You have been chosen by the Lord, from many disciples of the Church, to be imprinted with the special character of holy orders, which configures you to Christ, the Servant.

"You have been loved by Christ, loved by God for this special order and, God willing – and only by His choice of you – may you also arrive at ordination to the priesthood."

Bishop Jugis also told them the diaconate ministry is a ministry of service, and he described the functions and responsibilities to which the men are called.

After the homily, Sanchez and Wasswa stood before the bishop and publicly affirmed their intentions to serve him and the Church. Then they prostrated themselves before the altar, as Bishop Jugis knelt in prayer with them and the faithful and while the Litany of Supplication (also known as the Litany of the Saints) was chanted.

Sanchez and Wasswa then arose and, one by one, approached the bishop. He laid hands on each man’s head and prayed the prayer of ordination over them, thus consecrating them as deacons.

The newly-ordained deacons were then vested with a stole, a sign of the deacon’s office of service, and the dalmatic, the outer garment used in the liturgy. Deacon Juan Miguel Sanchez was vested by Father Alfonso Gamez of St. Mark Church in Huntersville and Deacon Joseph Wasswa was vested by Deacon James Mazur of Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury.

The newly-vested deacons then again approached the sanctuary one by one, receiving the Book of the Gospels from Bishop Jugis and an acknowledgement from Bishop Jugis, welcoming them to their new role in the Church.

The two deacons will now be able to proclaim the Gospel at Mass, preach at the invitation of the priest, prepare the altar for the sacrifice of the Eucharist, distribute the Lord’s Body and Blood to the faithful, administer baptisms, officiate at marriages, bring Viaticum to the dying, conduct funeral rites, instruct believers and nonbelievers in Church doctrine, preside over public prayer and perform works of charity.

"You bring with you today your love for Jesus as you are ordained deacons of the Church," Bishop Jugis told the new deacons, "and you should let that love for Jesus continue to grow and be your mainstay as you are consecrated to Him in the sacrament of holy orders."

— SueAnn Howell and Kimberly Bender, Catholic News Herald. Photos by SueAnn Howell.

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Meet the new deacons