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The unique role of deacons in our faith life · Beyond The Beacon

0:07
SPEAKER_03: Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin Sweeney, a podcast of the Diocese of Patterson, New Jersey.
0:13
SPEAKER_03: Join us for weekly conversations about our Catholic faith, and together let's strive to live a life of faith, hope, and love.
0:19
SPEAKER_03: I'm Jay Agnish.
0:21
SPEAKER_03: With me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney.
0:22
SPEAKER_03: Bishop Kevin, how are you doing?
0:24
SPEAKER_00: I am doing well, Jay.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: How are you?
0:26
SPEAKER_03: Doing well, thanks.
0:27
SPEAKER_03: What what is going on?
0:32
SPEAKER_03: How are your how are you all your teams doing?
0:33
SPEAKER_03: How are the Yankees doing?
0:34
SPEAKER_00: The Yankees are doing great as always.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: In some rough spots there, but they seem to be heating up just the right time.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: They're on the West Coast, which is always a struggle because I can't stay up for the whole game.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't start till 9 30.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: They've gotten off to a good start the last two nights, so it's nice to wake up.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: Well, today, last night they just won two to one in the tenth inning.
0:54
SPEAKER_03: But um so they playoff bound or they are.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: They clinched the playoff spot last night, but now they need to win the division.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: So nice.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: That should happen in the coming days.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: All going well.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: And the Jets are playing tonight.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: We're um uh one and one now?
1:09
SPEAKER_03: Did they win last week in the year?
1:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but not very impressively.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: But they won, so uh now everybody was predicting the Patriots would not be so good this year, and they're one and one and um uh cautiously optimistic, but a little concerned that we'll see how it goes tonight.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: Let's hope they get a win.
1:28
SPEAKER_03: My giant's not doing too good, but uh unfortunately no kind of the way it's been going lately.
1:33
SPEAKER_03: Um sh can we open up in prayer?
1:36
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh we have some intentions to pray for.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Actually, uh priest of our diocese just passed away, Father Willie Norton.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: So we um pray for his cause of his soul and for the consolation of his family.
1:49
SPEAKER_00: Also, um we're still somewhat in the beginning of the school year, um, and I've had the chance to visit some of our high schools, the Academy of St.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: Elizabeth, Morris Catholic.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: Uh tomorrow I'll be going to uh Villa Walsh Academy.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: And so uh we pray for all of our um students and and teachers and parents um in our Catholic schools and in all schools uh so we keep them in our prayers.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: And uh a week from today we'll be in Trenton, God willing, for the mass march and rally for life.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: So um we pray for that intention that um and we continue to pray for our country too in these days.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh so we have a lot to pray for.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: We'll place ourselves in God's presence in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: Giving thanks to God for the gifts and blessings of every day and praying for the intentions we've mentioned, the intentions that are in our hearts, remembering those who have asked for our prayers, those we promised to pray for.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: We join all our prayers together as one, as we pray in the words that Jesus Himself has taught us.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
3:01
SPEAKER_01: Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: Our Lady Seed of Wisdom, pray for us.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: Saint Joseph, pray for us, St.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: Januarius, pray for us, Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: Pray for us.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: All holy men and women, pray for us.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
3:28
SPEAKER_03: Thanks, Bishop.
3:29
SPEAKER_03: So when we talk about deacons, which is our our topic today, are there any deacons in your life that come to mind?
3:34
SPEAKER_03: Either someone maybe you worked with or grew up with attending Mass?
3:38
SPEAKER_00: Deacon Harry, Deacon Harry's fable in uh my home parish in St.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: Luke's.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: I was an altar server and a sacristan, and uh Deacon Harry and his wife Betty.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'd say he was one of the first deacons um uh in the last year or so.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: We had some 50th anniversaries of some of our first deacons, and uh um Deacon Harry would have been very early on.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: He's passed the last few years, but um he was an important part of the parish and always very encouraging to me, especially when I was in the seminary.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: And uh so yeah, and then my first parish, um, Deacon Lionel, um uh Deacon Lionel was a great um presence um in the parish.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: And uh um yeah, it's been a blessing.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: Um when I served in in Brooklyn, um Bishop DiMarzio, when he arrived in 2004, um made the deaconate program and deaconate formation and a priority.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: And um he also um he has there's a deacon still, I think, who's the uh head of the clergy personnel office in the diocese of Brooklyn and Bishop DiMarzios not pre-secretary, he's the Marzio's uh driver and MC uh and secretary was a deacon.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: Um so um so uh it's they've been a gift to our church and coming here to Patterson.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: Uh I've seen that, and uh I'm glad that we have uh our guests with us today who can share a little bit more about that here in our diocese.
5:00
SPEAKER_03: Well, thanks for that, Bishop.
5:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, deac deacons are the best.
5:02
SPEAKER_03: Uh, there's a few in my life that come to mind.
5:05
SPEAKER_03: Um I think of deacons as kind of everyday churchgoers who one day decided to level up and give back to their parish communities, maybe not exactly how others might think about them, but um, you might hear them proclaiming the gospel or think, who is this person preaching on Sunday who's not the priest?
5:22
SPEAKER_03: On today's episode, we will dig deeper into the deaconate with two of our deacons and learn what it takes to heed that call.
5:30
SPEAKER_03: We'll also learn more about the role of a deacon in parish life regarding the liturgy and certain sacraments.
5:37
SPEAKER_03: So, our guest, Deacon Bill Rouane, is the new director of the permanent deaconate for the Diocese of Patterson, and Deacon Peter Sistero, right?
5:47
SPEAKER_03: He's a recently retired from that position after serving there for nearly 10 years.
5:53
SPEAKER_03: Deacon Peter likes to say he was repurposed 15 years ago when he retired from the corporate workforce and was ordained to the sacred order of deacon.
6:01
SPEAKER_03: He's a family man with four children and nine grandchildren.
6:05
SPEAKER_03: Deacon Peter and his wife Mary Ann celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this year and have an inspiring marriage story.
6:12
SPEAKER_03: Deacon Bill is retired, but now unretired.
6:17
SPEAKER_03: He was among those in Bishop Kevin's first deaconate ordination class of 2020, where he August 22nd.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: That's right, August 22nd.
6:24
SPEAKER_03: Queenship of America, yeah.
6:26
SPEAKER_03: And where where he assisted for the first time.
6:28
SPEAKER_03: And Deacon Bill attributes his faith to his upbringing, particularly to his mother.
6:32
SPEAKER_03: And now he's working with uh one class of men and soon to welcome in another in this, the 50th year of the deaconate in the diocese of Patterson.
6:42
SPEAKER_03: Bishop Kevin, I'm gonna hand it over to you.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jay, and thanks, deacons, for being with us.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh and uh we've been uh talking about having this conversation.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: Uh I think it's important to I think depending on the parish, um, some people are very aware of deacons uh and their roles in the church.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: Still, maybe in some parishes that have that maybe haven't had a permanent deacon, especially, or a transitional deacon.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: Um they um uh some Catholics may not be so familiar, but uh um as I said at the beginning, um the you guys are a great blessing for the church, as it was my experience in Brooklyn and here in Patterson.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: And uh um so um maybe uh we can start Deacon Peter to just tell us a little bit about um your own life and um living the faith as husband and father in the professional world, and then uh I guess as part of a parish um uh discerning uh a call to um enter into uh formation and um uh time of preparation and ultimately to be ordained as a deacon and how what year were you ordained again as a deacon?
7:50
SPEAKER_00: I was ordained in 2009.
7:51
SPEAKER_00: 2009, so uh fifteen years, huh?
7:54
SPEAKER_04: Fifteen years, as soon as so maybe just tell us a little bit of your Yeah, I was actually asked uh uh a couple of times before I said yes, uh and uh I I just didn't think it was the right time at that at that particular time.
8:07
SPEAKER_04: In um your parish?
8:09
SPEAKER_04: In my parish, yeah.
8:11
SPEAKER_04: With St.
8:11
SPEAKER_04: Peter the Apostle, and uh Monsignor Herb Tillier was our pastor at the time and sort of my mentor, if I can use that term.
8:19
SPEAKER_04: Um and um uh I think How long have you been in um St.
8:23
SPEAKER_04: Peter's?
8:23
SPEAKER_04: Oh we we we moved there in uh 1974.
8:26
SPEAKER_04: So we've been there for a long time.
8:28
SPEAKER_04: Fifty years.
8:28
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, right.
8:29
SPEAKER_04: We've been there for a long time, yeah, fifty years.
8:30
SPEAKER_04: Right.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: Deaconate wasn't on the radar in 74, I guess right.
8:34
SPEAKER_04: No, no.
8:35
SPEAKER_04: In fact, we did have uh two deacons in our parish uh um a little after 74, uh George Dimmler.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: Um And that would have been something brand new, right?
8:44
SPEAKER_00: Because really the deaconate came back into the um day-to-day life of the church, let's say, uh after the Second Vatican Council.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: Um it was always a quote unquote step to the priesthood.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: A guy would be ordained a deacon, and still is before becoming a priest, but um as we call it the permanent diaconate, married man, uh sometimes not married, but uh um uh not uh intending to um uh uh respond to a call to priesthood, but receiving the call to serve and uh and so that went out of practice um for centuries, I'd say, and then Second Vatican Council brought it back.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: And then so um maybe you can say uh w what it was like having those new deacons, uh brand new, right?
9:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh in in the 70s uh in St.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: Peter's.
9:30
SPEAKER_04: I I think it was it was interesting to see uh somebody other than a priest, uh number one uh in in vestiture.
9:36
SPEAKER_04: Right.
9:37
SPEAKER_04: And and secondly, you know.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: Well that's a really big although right there.
9:42
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, well, unfortunately.
9:44
SPEAKER_04: That's a reaction today, too.
9:46
SPEAKER_04: We're working on it.
9:48
SPEAKER_04: We're working on it, but we're working on it.
9:50
SPEAKER_04: But uh, you know, to hear that the deacon proclaim the gospel, to uh periodically hear them preach.
9:56
SPEAKER_04: And um you know, in all due respect, I mean priests give wonderful homilies, but deacons I think give a little different twist.
10:04
SPEAKER_04: They bring a little bit of their own life uh into the in into the uh the homily.
10:09
SPEAKER_04: Uh so it was nice.
10:10
SPEAKER_04: It was good to see that.
10:11
SPEAKER_04: And and they were both very uh my my recollection, both of them were very involved in the parish and uh very respectful.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: Uh and uh I don't think it would have been Monsignor's Tillier at that time, right?
11:01
SPEAKER_04: No, no, no, no, that would have been uh probably uh Monsignor Flanagan.
11:05
SPEAKER_04: Okay, was the pastor at the time.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh and said something about the for those pastors, I mean, priests and and Catholics at that time were going through this all these changes, right?
11:15
SPEAKER_00: And uh for uh on the human level, uh a pastor could have said, uh, I'm gonna wait and see before but some were open and and had the self-confidence and uh trust to say if this is what the church is asking, then let's see what we can what what the Holy Spirit can do, right?
11:31
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
11:33
SPEAKER_04: Uh I I I I can recall in my own formation class, uh Monsignor uh Diachek was the head of the diaconate uh program at the time, and and he always used to talk about this this line of demarcation, if you will, between the priest and the deacon.
11:48
SPEAKER_04: And he said, you know, sometimes there's a gray area where that line is, and sometimes uh uh it looks like you're trying to cross over, and then you might get a look, and then you've got to go back.
12:00
SPEAKER_04: I always remember that.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: But you know, and when it when things are going well, um the priest and the deacon with others in the parish can be working together and and the and the lines aren't so important because we all know who we are, we're called to do, and and ultimately we're here to serve the Lord and preach the gospel, right?
12:15
SPEAKER_04: So Yeah, and there's certain questions when parishioners come and ask, you certainly want to answer them yourselves.
12:21
SPEAKER_04: But then there's every once in a while who say, why don't you see the pastor?
12:24
SPEAKER_04: Right, right.
12:25
SPEAKER_03: Well, for those who might not know, what exactly does a deacon do?
12:28
SPEAKER_03: Maybe just to highlight the the bigger kind of tasks or sacraments.
12:31
SPEAKER_04: Well, I mean the deacon is uh is ordained, uh, it's uh it's part of holy orders.
12:35
SPEAKER_04: It's the the third step of holy formation.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: Five years.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: Five years of preparation.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: Don't let that uh discourage you, but it's worth it, right?
12:44
SPEAKER_04: It is, absolutely, absolutely.
12:45
SPEAKER_04: But uh after ordination, uh deacons can baptize uh children, uh, we can witness weddings, uh, we can uh uh uh uh actually uh preside at funerals outside of the Mass.
12:58
SPEAKER_04: Um we do wake services, we visit uh nursing homes, uh we do communion services there, uh we can expose uh the Blessed Sacrament and do benediction services.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: Um have a leadership role in the parish, right?
13:12
SPEAKER_00: I mean working with groups, activities, planning.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: Right.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
13:15
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
13:16
SPEAKER_04: And uh, you know, we h we all have different things.
13:18
SPEAKER_04: Uh baptismal preparation, for example, is a is one.
13:21
SPEAKER_04: Uh adult faith formation is another.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: I want to get to Deacon Bill, but just to go back um maybe the quick version or um so you're i in the parish, um when was your first child born?
13:33
SPEAKER_04: 1974.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: Okay, great.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: So and then how many after that?
13:37
SPEAKER_00: All how many children?
13:38
SPEAKER_04: Well, it it's a it's a it's an interesting story if I could just take a two minutes.
13:43
SPEAKER_04: Uh my wife and I came to Parsippine in 1974.
13:46
SPEAKER_04: We had two children.
13:47
SPEAKER_04: Uh unfortunately, in uh 1998, my wife passed away.
13:51
SPEAKER_04: Uh huh.
13:52
SPEAKER_04: And uh um before that, uh, my current wife, Mary Ann, w her family and our family were very close to each other.
13:59
SPEAKER_04: In fact, I coached uh her son uh in uh in soccer.
14:03
SPEAKER_04: That's how we got to know each other.
14:05
SPEAKER_04: We actually went on vacation together as families one year.
14:08
SPEAKER_04: So uh Mary Ann's husband had passed away about five years before my wife passed away, and we always supported her, and we tried to, you know, stay close with her.
14:17
SPEAKER_04: Uh and then uh when my wife passed away, uh, you know, she was sort of supportive to me as well, and one thing led to another, and God works in mysterious way.
14:26
SPEAKER_04: And we and we and we were we were married in 19, you know, and and this is our 25th anniversary.
14:31
SPEAKER_04: Fortunately, we have four wonderful children, uh all of whom uh call each other brother and sister.
14:36
SPEAKER_04: I mean, no there's no step.
14:38
SPEAKER_04: Right.
14:38
SPEAKER_04: That word never came into uh uh being.
14:42
SPEAKER_04: Uh nine grandchildren, one of whom is in heaven, uh that we lost uh nine years ago.
14:47
SPEAKER_04: Um but um you know we have w wonderful family.
14:51
SPEAKER_04: And uh I I think Jay asked me uh one question about well what what what's your hobby?
14:55
SPEAKER_04: I don't really have a hobby.
14:57
SPEAKER_04: Your family's your hobby.
14:58
SPEAKER_04: My my family and the diaconate.
15:00
SPEAKER_04: Oh yeah, sure, right, right.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: So that's that's um so uh um you go through that uh terrible loss of of your wife, and um you um the the Lord leads uh you and Marianne together and um and uh twenty-five years ago, so in 99, Marry, and then uh had you already been asked a couple of times, or were the c uh uh the the you were asked a couple of times, and then when did you say, all right, this is uh Well, yeah, yeah, actually uh it was in uh uh well I was ordained in 09, so it would have been five years before that.
15:34
SPEAKER_04: So 2004 we started.
15:36
SPEAKER_04: Uh I actually was in my sunset years of my work at uh at uh in my in my corporate job.
15:44
SPEAKER_04: Uh and when I retired, I had already started two years in the program, and then I did the last three after my retirement.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: Well that's I think a good uh segue uh to Deacon Bill because uh Deacon Bill, maybe you talked about your parents in terms of your own personal faith, but maybe a little of your journey um living the faith and uh in marriage and then um uh um discerning the the call to diakonate.
16:06
SPEAKER_02: Well I had a great upbringing uh in in Bayonne, son of Hudson County.
16:10
SPEAKER_02: Um uh and uh my mom was a big part of my of my faith preparation.
16:15
SPEAKER_02: My dad died when I was 10.
16:17
SPEAKER_02: Um but and then and I had a sister who passed away at the age of 18, so I mean uh 25, but uh um I was 18 uh at that point, so it was eight years later.
16:27
SPEAKER_02: But my mom uh was a daily mass goer, she would she would sit uh at the kitchen table.
16:32
SPEAKER_02: Uh sometime you would know not to approach her if she was saying her prayers, and if so everyone sort of gave her space.
16:38
SPEAKER_02: And and it was just a great example.
16:40
SPEAKER_02: And the funny thing is, I think as you get older you come to appreciate that even more.
16:44
SPEAKER_02: Um I went to high school with the Jesuits at St.
16:47
SPEAKER_02: Peter's in Jersey City, um, and uh and at that time uh uh dallied, I suppose, with the idea of priesthood, of of entering the uh the Jesuits and didn't pursue that uh as one of my good high school classmates did, um, and went off in a different direction.
17:05
SPEAKER_02: Life took me to college and then to law school.
17:08
SPEAKER_02: Um and but my faith was always important to me during those years.
17:12
SPEAKER_02: I was, admittedly, what we sometimes call a Roman Catholic.
17:16
SPEAKER_02: I was not affiliated with a parish.
17:18
SPEAKER_02: I would I would faithfully be at Mass Sundays, holy days, um, but had never joined a parish.
17:24
SPEAKER_02: And then ultimately we moved to Randolph because the company that I was with.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: My wife and I, I had met my wife because she and I worked for the same law firm, she in DC and I in New York, and uh where we got to know each other.
17:37
SPEAKER_02: Um so we got married, and then I was in-house at a company that moved to Morris County, and I didn't want to be spending my days on the road.
17:44
SPEAKER_02: So we moved here.
17:45
SPEAKER_02: Um and after a few years looking around, finding, I found St.
17:49
SPEAKER_02: Matthews.
17:49
SPEAKER_02: Um actually, when we first moved, St.
17:51
SPEAKER_02: Matthews wasn't visible because the parish was saying mass in the local school.
17:55
SPEAKER_02: Well, so if you didn't know that the community was there, you you didn't know.
17:59
SPEAKER_02: Um and got uh joined St.
18:01
SPEAKER_02: Matthews and uh but still didn't get involved uh very much um in the in the life of the parish.
18:08
SPEAKER_02: And that sort of developed over time.
18:10
SPEAKER_02: It took time to develop.
18:12
SPEAKER_02: When I uh had the opportunity to retire early because the company I was with got taken over, it gave me more time to do things in the parish.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: Just before you go on, I think it's um something uh uh uh uh important to mention.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: Um do you remember um was there something, an invitation or um uh that led you to take a step from attending mass even being part of a parish, but not and and something or someone said, would you do this or do that?
18:41
SPEAKER_00: And and do you remember what it was the first step that got you to be involved?
18:45
SPEAKER_02: Well uh to be well to be involved, uh to to join a parish, I have to admit that it was after my mom passed away.
18:53
SPEAKER_02: And and the words that she always said, if you're not part of a parish and putting an envelope in every week, there won't be any place to bury you from.
18:59
SPEAKER_02: And uh and so with those words ringing in my ear, um we joined.
19:03
SPEAKER_02: But actually, Father Dave McDonnell, who was the pastor of St.
19:06
SPEAKER_02: Matthews at that point, had visited my mom um in a rehabilitation center she was in nearby.
19:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, and um that sort of sparked our interest in in St.
19:16
SPEAKER_02: Matthew's.
19:17
SPEAKER_02: Then when I was there, I I had a little bit more time.
19:19
SPEAKER_02: I got involved with the men's cornerstone retreat program, and that led to one thing and another.
19:24
SPEAKER_02: I was involved in the liturgy committee and I was a trustee.
19:28
SPEAKER_02: And I think I was actually the one who approached our then pastor, was Father Dan Murphy, uh, and raised it to him.
19:34
SPEAKER_02: My uh my brother used to say to me, or you when he knew I was being active in the church, you're gonna become a deacon.
19:40
SPEAKER_02: And I I often credit him um with sort of planting that seed, and I said no.
19:45
SPEAKER_02: But did St.
19:46
SPEAKER_02: Matthews have a deacon at the time?
19:48
SPEAKER_02: We did.
19:48
SPEAKER_02: We actually St.
19:49
SPEAKER_02: Matthews has always had a good number of deacons.
19:51
SPEAKER_02: I think at that time we had four.
19:53
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
19:54
SPEAKER_02: Um I think there may have been one point where we had five, but we've always had uh, you know, uh uh several deacons.
20:01
SPEAKER_02: And I was exposed to them, I saw what they did.
20:04
SPEAKER_02: I thought I had something I could contribute.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: But I I think you have to have you have to have that spark, and in my case it was my brother.
20:12
SPEAKER_02: And then I think if it's a vocation, it's something that once planted doesn't leave.
20:17
SPEAKER_02: Um and obviously you have to spend time praying on it and considering it.
20:21
SPEAKER_02: And then ultimately I went to Father Dan and he said, Well, there's not a class yet.
20:25
SPEAKER_02: Actually, it was when we switched our formation from the old model to the working with the seminary at Seton Hall.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: So there was a five-year gap before the next class would start.
20:35
SPEAKER_02: So um then I then I uh applied and uh met Deacon Peter, and uh the rest is history, as they say.
20:42
SPEAKER_03: And um So yeah, can maybe talk about that process a little bit, which now you're involved with on the other side as the new director of the permanent the academic.
20:51
SPEAKER_02: Yes, and go ahead.
20:53
SPEAKER_02: Well, I I I will just say um short of my marriage, it is it is the it was the most wonderful experience of my life.
21:00
SPEAKER_02: And and one of the things that's really beautiful about our diocese uh is the diversity.
21:05
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the men that I was ordained with, there were 14 in our ordination class, really spanned the diocese geographically, culturally, um uh the first language that people spoke, Polish, Spanish, English, different professions, uh, different levels of education, and yet we bonded so tightly together.
21:25
SPEAKER_02: So, I mean it's not only a it's not only a wonderful spiritual formation experience, um, but that human and part of it.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: I think that's something that maybe not everyone is aware of that okay, there's an application process um and you get accepted and you enter into a formation program, but then you get connected with this group, right, that you call classmates, uh, and that you go through the what what was that like getting to know that group and and coming kind of getting an uh an identity as a group over over the years?
21:54
SPEAKER_02: It yeah, it it it it I would say I was gonna say it takes a while, but it really doesn't.
21:59
SPEAKER_02: It happens very quickly.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we've we went so the classes are at St.
22:02
SPEAKER_02: Paul inside the walls up in room six.
22:05
SPEAKER_02: Um we sat in the same seats every night, twice a week for for for four years.
22:10
SPEAKER_02: I had I had Ronnie Gonzalez on my right, Brian Gashora on my left, and to this day, if I want to think about the men in the class, if I have to write an email, I will go around in my mind's eye as to where every everyone sat.
22:23
SPEAKER_02: But um we spent time together.
22:25
SPEAKER_02: Uh we obviously spent time uh in spiritual direction with at that time Father Lem Camacho, who was our spiritual director for the class.
22:33
SPEAKER_02: We spent time at retreats, um, and then we tried to make time to get together outside the program.
22:38
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and it really began.
22:40
SPEAKER_02: A brotherhood.
22:41
SPEAKER_02: It was a wonderful experience.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: And wives part of the group as well, right?
22:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's really important.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: Wives are permitted to come to certain of the classes.
22:49
SPEAKER_02: Right.
22:49
SPEAKER_02: And we encourage it.
22:50
SPEAKER_02: And we also meet, first of all, when you start, when you're accepted into the program, you have a period of nine to twelve months of what we call aspirancy, where you're really still discerning your vocation, and frankly, the diocese is still discerning whether you are a good candidate or you will be a good candidate.
23:07
SPEAKER_02: In those sessions, we meet once a month on a Saturday, and wives are encouraged to join us.
23:12
SPEAKER_02: But then during candidacy, you become technically a candidate after that period is over, that's your four years of academic formation.
23:21
SPEAKER_02: And yet, even during that, there is a Saturday a month, and wives are encouraged to come.
23:25
SPEAKER_02: So we got to know the wives very well.
23:27
SPEAKER_02: And actually, uh just before ordination, in the in the Christmas break before our last semester, um, eleven of the 14 of us and um and and I think ten of those 11 wives uh came with us on a trip to the Holy Land, which was a really formative.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: We talk about uh generosity and sacrifice um service.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: Um for the wives and for the deacons who have children, um uh the families really need to be kind of on board or supportive uh because they they sacrifice time with their husband or dad that he's at the church.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Um maybe you want to say a word about that.
24:03
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
24:03
SPEAKER_04: Uh what we what we do is when we uh are re ready to start a program, uh Bishop, you send a letter out to all the pastors inviting uh them to send anybody that they feel worthy uh of the diaconate.
24:17
SPEAKER_04: And uh we have two sessions uh where we invite the men and their wives.
24:21
SPEAKER_04: And uh, you know, just looking around the room, you can see the eyes open up of some of the wives.
24:26
SPEAKER_04: Like, oh well you know, like, is he gonna be able to do this?
24:30
SPEAKER_04: Am I gonna be able to do this?
24:31
SPEAKER_04: And uh of course the wives have to sign, you know, they have to actually give a signature on the application form, number one, and then right before ordination, number two, the wife has to uh, you know, give consent for the man to be ordained.
24:45
SPEAKER_04: No, it's it's an official family decision.
24:47
SPEAKER_04: Very official.
24:48
SPEAKER_02: Well it is particularly for for the families with young children, and we had we had one one one of my classmates had very young children.
24:56
SPEAKER_02: But um uh if your wife predeceases if once you're ordained, if your wife predeceases you, um you can't remarry.
25:03
SPEAKER_02: Um you take that vow of celibacy um uh as part of the ordination process.
25:08
SPEAKER_02: And so that's something that obviously a family needs to consider very carefully.
25:12
SPEAKER_03: Then do you see in those situations have there been any situations where a deacon's wife has died and that deacon has become a priest in our that you know or is that something?
25:21
SPEAKER_04: We did have one uh diaconate candidate uh who uh was ordained in 2015, who then ultimately uh uh was never married.
25:30
SPEAKER_04: And we did go into the priesthood.
25:32
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
25:32
SPEAKER_04: Uh but that would be very, very rare and it would require certainly the bishop's approval for something like that.
25:37
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
25:38
SPEAKER_04: It's a different tract of study, I guess.
25:40
SPEAKER_04: Right.
25:40
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
25:41
SPEAKER_02: As rigorous as the academic formation for the deacons are, um uh it's still far short of the years that seminarians spent.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: During that five years, you're you're you're certainly giving a lot of time, two nights a week, Saturdays, retreats, other um, but a guy in the seminary is uh leaves everything behind in a sense and lives you know in the seminary in his full time.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: Uh I think um Deacon Bill, you mentioned uh uh that it was kind of a learning experience or um something new for you in a sense of maybe you've seen it before, but not so closely, the diversity, right, of um of who we are as a church and who we are as a diocese.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: And uh um I think uh it's part of the beauty of the church, and again, not everyone in every parish can can get to see that.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh Deacon Peter, maybe you can um talk about okay, husband, father, uh parishioner, active.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: Um you get invited um uh and into diaconate, you say yes, you get ordained, then you start serving, um, and you're getting to know the wider church of the diocese and even the the the the universal church in a sense.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: But then you take on the responsibility of director of the program.
26:49
SPEAKER_04: Um maybe talk about some of the things you've learned about uh who we are as a church and a diocese and that you maybe wouldn't have known if if you hadn't been um well the the first thing is obviously the uh uh connection with with the deacons, all the deacons in the in the various parishes, but even with the uh the pastors.
27:06
SPEAKER_04: Uh because oftentimes uh in fact Deacon Bill and I were talking about this before, uh, when we have a new class that starts, uh we'd like to invite the pastors in to give them an overview of what the program is all about, to give them a little bit of the their responsibility as pastors to sort of make sure they're in contact and communication with the candidates.
27:28
SPEAKER_04: So I I I've uh I've got to meet and and work with uh so so so so many pastors.
27:33
SPEAKER_03: This is good for ironing out that gray area.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: And as we thank the uh the wives and the children um families, we should thank the pastors as well.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: It's a very good point because there so often the the mentor and uh and when a deacon I think flourishes, um so often you can look back to his pastor and um and the pastor also helps in another way uh financially.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh the pastor and parish.
27:59
SPEAKER_04: The parish is really paying a third of the uh the cost of the academic portion of the of the uh of the program.
28:06
SPEAKER_04: Got it, yeah.
28:07
SPEAKER_04: And the the diocese pays a third and the individual pays a third.
28:11
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
28:11
SPEAKER_00: Good to know.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: Deacon Bill, were you gonna say a word about the support of pastors?
28:15
SPEAKER_02: Uh no.
28:15
SPEAKER_02: Well, I've I've been blessed with very supportive pastors, both uh uh uh well in terms of my journey to the diaconate, Father um uh Father Dan and now Father Brian uh Brian Quinn.
28:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, and I I think um you mentioned Father Lem, Spiritual Director, um Father Paul Manning, um, and uh the seminary um uh and under Bishop Saratelli, I think very importantly to mention that you you re referenced it, Deacon Bill, um uh Bishop Saratelli, I think, and I think there was similar experience in Brooklyn under Bishop Di Marzio.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: Um they're going through all of this class time, they should be able to get a degree, and also let's make sure they're getting the best in terms of theology and and formation.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: Um so um uh both Father Manning and all the team at um at uh at St.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: Paul's Inside the Walls and Father Lamb and others that are um spiritual directors and formators, um, but also then um getting to know the seminary and and the faculty, what's that?
29:12
SPEAKER_04: The relationship with the seminary has been outstanding, I have to say that.
29:16
SPEAKER_04: Um there's a um Center for Diaconal Formation, which was led by Deacon Andy Saunders, but uh, you know, uh mm Father Joe Riley when and when uh when he was the director.
29:27
SPEAKER_04: Now the president of Seton Hall University.
29:28
SPEAKER_04: Now the president of Seton Hall University, uh you know, Father Jerry, uh uh who's uh now the new rector.
29:36
SPEAKER_04: They have all been so supportive.
29:38
SPEAKER_04: And uh all of the faculty that come, they come from Seton Hall to us, which I I think is a very interesting uh setup that we have, a fortunate setup that uh, you know, the men don't have to necessarily travel that far, number one.
29:53
SPEAKER_04: Secondly, they're within the diocese uh studying, and they're in a great place, a beautiful place of St.
29:58
SPEAKER_04: Paul inside the wall.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: So And Deacon Bill mentioned again, going back to the diversity and that um classmates had their first language in Polish and Spanish.
30:06
SPEAKER_00: But now it in the past there had been um some formation in Spanish.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: Um uh when I think the transition to Seton Hall um the uh the it wasn't possible at at that time to but now uh Father Dubernay, our vicar for Hispanic Affairs and Father Johanader um and some others, um, with this new class coming in, um there's gonna be more availability for guys to have some of their formation and classes in Spanish as well, is that right?
30:31
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
30:31
SPEAKER_02: We're the new class that we're forming, which God willing will be men ordained in 2029, um, will have for its academic tracks.
30:39
SPEAKER_02: We they will be one class and they will meet together and that will be in English for the Saturday sessions.
30:45
SPEAKER_02: But for the academic work, um the seminary will actually send out professors to teach the Spanish uh uh candidates or the candidates who's for whom Spanish is their first language in Spanish while uh another professor is teaching in English.
31:00
SPEAKER_02: They may not get the same course in the same semester, but over the course of the four years they'll have the same curriculum.
31:05
SPEAKER_02: And and I know just talking to my classmates for whom Spanish is their first language, that ability to study in your native language without having to translate on the fly, um I I myself don't speak Spanish, and I can just imagine how difficult that is.
31:20
SPEAKER_02: So we're very excited about that, and that's something that's new this year.
31:23
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that that's that's great.
31:25
SPEAKER_03: Um something that you had talked about, Deacon Bill, in our uh pre-interview was uh so during the formation process for for Deacons, you um uh have the opportunity to to do some like field work, I guess, or what do you call it, like service time, and it's usually done with Catholic charities, and I know for you that that resonated with you and tell us a little bit about that.
31:48
SPEAKER_02: Sure, absolutely.
31:49
SPEAKER_02: Uh between um between your second and third year of the academic formation, um you spend the summer working with Catholic charities.
31:59
SPEAKER_02: You spend at least 40 hours.
32:00
SPEAKER_02: Generally, people wind up spending more than 40 hours.
32:03
SPEAKER_02: Um and it can be with any one of the facets of Catholic charities.
32:07
SPEAKER_02: Uh it it tends to be mostly either the division of persons with disabilities or the food pantry, the family services effort.
32:15
SPEAKER_02: Uh and in fact, the men who, again, are in our class, which God willing will be ordained in 2026, have just finished that this summer.
32:24
SPEAKER_02: And and they've just been submitting their reflections on what the summer meant to them, in addition to, of course, a log of their hours.
32:31
SPEAKER_02: Um and uh just to read those, you see, and it reminded me of the impact that it had on me.
32:37
SPEAKER_02: I did uh work with Carlos Roldan out at the Father English Food Pantry, uh, and um and that was great.
32:43
SPEAKER_02: That got me more involved in the food pantry efforts that we have at St.
32:47
SPEAKER_02: Matthews.
32:48
SPEAKER_02: Um and and uh we try to support Hope House and the Father English Center.
32:52
SPEAKER_02: Hope House is in Dover, is closer to us in Randolph, where I am.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: So that's a terrific experience.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: And then in the year before their last academic year, they spend a similar period of time, at least 40 hours, um, working in hospitals with a healthcare practicum.
33:08
SPEAKER_02: Going around, not as a chaplain, because chaplaincy requires a great deal of training, but just as an adjunct to the chaplaincy effort in the hospitals of visiting patients, talking to them, seeing how they are, and that just getting to know people in those difficult moments of their lives, uh praying with them if they want to pray, but obviously not forcing that on them.
33:29
SPEAKER_02: So those are two great experiences that men have in formation.
33:33
SPEAKER_02: It's really part of the human and pastoral formation that we have, which is so important beyond just the spiritual and the academic and and uh this year, uh actually uh actually this next weekend, um we start uh a preaching practicum.
33:48
SPEAKER_04: So uh uh the Saturday that they meet normally during the month, uh we will have them at their own parish.
33:56
SPEAKER_04: They'll rotate the parishes.
33:58
SPEAKER_04: So we have two groups, there's four and four.
34:01
SPEAKER_04: So uh whoever is parish number one, uh that candidate will invite parishioners to come in on a Saturday morning uh to hear them preach.
34:11
SPEAKER_04: And they'll hear four homilies.
34:13
SPEAKER_04: Um and each of them are different.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: Everybody wants to hear more homilies, right?
34:17
SPEAKER_00: But for those parishioners, I bet it'll be a wonderful experience.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh, no question.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: I've been there.
34:22
SPEAKER_03: Is there a time limit on this?
34:24
SPEAKER_04: This is the third time that we've done it, and I've you know, I've I've participated in the past, and uh it's amazing uh the amount of uh you know feedback that you get from parishioners, and then there's a you know back and forth.
34:36
SPEAKER_04: Uh they can ask questions.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: But it's a little different from the norm, right?
34:39
SPEAKER_00: It can be a good idea.
34:40
SPEAKER_04: Well, first of all, normally they're they're speaking to themselves in class, but now they have a live audience.
34:46
unknown: Right.
34:46
SPEAKER_04: So, you know, it's a And they're getting feedback.
34:48
SPEAKER_04: And they're getting feedback.
34:49
SPEAKER_02: Not just in the moment, but the people are uh who are there listening are asked to fill out a form with with comments.
34:56
SPEAKER_02: I still have the forms uh from from when we did it in in our class.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: I remember it was a seminary in my pastoral year parish having to do that and uh getting some of that feedback and uh uh how helpful it was really.
35:07
SPEAKER_02: Very yeah, very helpful.
35:08
SPEAKER_02: So it's a it's just a tremendously rounded process of formation for the deaconate.
35:14
SPEAKER_02: And I think a lot of people in the parishes, and I still say this, I some have someone asked me a few months ago, well, how long does it take?
35:20
SPEAKER_02: And I said, well, five years, and I described the program.
35:23
SPEAKER_02: Uh oh, wow, their eyes sort of widened.
35:25
SPEAKER_00: You know, uh mentioning preaching and a little bit earlier, um uh a deacon when he's preaching um can speak from the experience of marriage if he's married, from raising children if um he's a father.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: Um but uh also um the the diversity is not only uh ethnically or language, um, but um w work experience and life experience.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: Uh so um uh I know that um yourselves uh both in the corporate world and uh uh and maybe you could say a word about some of the diversity of some of the um different backgrounds and and professions that um I I know there's one I think in the program it was recently ordained that's um uh um I think an addiction counselor and uh um so um yes but also um uh Deacon Peter um with uh Deacon Bill Divisio, right?
36:19
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh you guys have been working on a program to bring some of that uh business and uh uh and corporate experience into uh helping our pastors who uh are often asked to do a lot of administration but don't get as much training in the seminary.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: And so maybe you can say a word about that.
36:36
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Deacon Bill Divisio, who uh is a uh uh a dentist by training, but a former executive at Colgay Pomile.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
36:45
SPEAKER_04: Open wine, open wine.
36:48
SPEAKER_04: But uh he and I have been uh for several years now have been uh putting together programs on leadership.
36:55
SPEAKER_04: And uh we've given programs to newly ordained priests uh that come out and uh new pastors.
37:02
SPEAKER_04: Actually, we have one at the end of this month for four new pastors that were uh just named.
37:07
SPEAKER_04: Um and then we've also done some for parish staffs, and uh there's currently a a grant program to the seminary uh to look into leadership.
37:18
SPEAKER_04: And uh uh in my repurposed life, uh I've been asked to coordinate some of that.
37:22
SPEAKER_04: So I'm gonna be working with the seminary to try to see whether or not we can even expand it beyond that.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: You've seen some of your whether it be your own uh corporate legal experience, um, and maybe some classmates or other deacons that you st that uh you've gotten to know who bring that into their ministry?
37:39
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
37:40
SPEAKER_02: Uh we have one in uh in our class who is uh who is a counselor, and we've had plumbers and and uh pharmacology experts and I'm just thinking in um St.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: Joseph's parish in West Milford.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: Um I was there recently for a mass, and they had the he's serving as a medic um uh in Ukraine, I think, which we talked about.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: Oh, good, that guy.
38:00
SPEAKER_02: He is back, he was in for a meeting with me two days ago.
38:03
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
38:03
SPEAKER_02: Uh uh we're talking about Deacon Steve Mackenzie, who is uh in the reserves, he is a colonel uh in the reserves.
38:09
SPEAKER_02: Actually, during our formation, he spent six months being deployed in the Middle East.
38:13
SPEAKER_02: He took his he took his exams remotely and he was able to continue, which was great.
38:18
SPEAKER_02: Talk about the fun lines like that.
38:20
SPEAKER_02: During COVID, he built the makeshift hospital in the Meadowlands for COVID.
38:24
SPEAKER_02: It was written up in the beacon.
38:26
SPEAKER_02: Um and then he's just back after six months in Syria.
38:31
SPEAKER_02: He left right after the convocation that we had for the 50th anniversary, and he is back literally, I think, last week.
38:36
SPEAKER_02: And and Steve, who was a physician's assistant with a cardiovascular or a cardiology specialty in in his is his uh work life.
38:45
SPEAKER_02: Um so he's got his work life, he's got his army service, he's got his diaconal service.
38:50
SPEAKER_02: He's a great man.
38:51
SPEAKER_04: He could and he jumped right in because I I met somebody from his parish uh uh this week, and he said to me, Deacon Steve is back.
38:58
SPEAKER_04: I said, Yeah, I understand.
38:59
SPEAKER_04: He says, and he preached last week.
39:01
SPEAKER_04: Wow.
39:03
SPEAKER_00: Uh he could bring some stories to his homilies, I'm sure.
39:07
SPEAKER_03: Um maybe before we let you go, can each of you tell us uh maybe what's your favorite thing about being a deacon or something that really um stands out for you, a highlight of being a being a deacon serving in that capacity in our parishes?
39:19
SPEAKER_04: I mean, uh a couple of things.
39:21
SPEAKER_04: Uh first of all, uh just being in the presence of the Lord uh in the sanctuary, you know, so close to the Eucharist, so close to the uh the celebration of the liturgy um i is is just awe-inspiring for me personally.
39:35
SPEAKER_04: Secondly, I I think just uh uh communicating and and dealing with uh with the with the personers.
39:42
SPEAKER_04: Um I do some adult faith formation in my parish.
39:45
SPEAKER_04: I I I like to do that uh after morning mass and have a particular topic and usually go for four or five weeks uh uh and and I like that.
39:54
SPEAKER_04: So no, I I I think uh I I love being a deacon.
39:59
SPEAKER_02: Well, I echo everything that that deacon Peter has said.
40:02
SPEAKER_02: Um I do often say at baptisms that baptisms are the best part of the ministry because the because they're they're just wonderful and and um uh I've really grown to love that uh as well.
40:13
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, everything about uh about being a deacon and serving the people of God.
40:18
SPEAKER_02: Um a deacon, the word diaconia, where our title comes from, is about service.
40:23
SPEAKER_02: And I think quite often um the people who are very active in the parish see what deacons do.
40:29
SPEAKER_02: Many others who come to Mass on Sunday just see us perhaps uh uh you know serving at the altar, and they don't really have that sense of service.
40:37
SPEAKER_02: And my experience of all the men that I've met that were in my class, the men that I now know in the broader deaconate having succeeded Deacon Peter, um, I see all the service that they're doing to the people of God, and that's tremendously rewarding.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: And maybe just to finish, uh if there's somebody out there that uh maybe is listening and saying, Well, maybe that's something for me, uh, or maybe even a wife who says, maybe that's something for my husband or childhood, uh, brothers.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: You said your brother said, aren't you gonna be deacon?
41:04
SPEAKER_00: Um I know we're uh just in the process of um having received candidates, so um it'll probably be a little while before we're taking applications again.
41:12
SPEAKER_00: But um I would think there'd be information on the St.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: Paul's website or other other advice that you would give to someone who thinks, because um even if um it's a couple of years before the next class is coming in, now is not uh that now is a good time to start, right?
41:27
SPEAKER_00: In terms of having those conversations.
41:28
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
41:29
SPEAKER_02: There is uh if you if one goes to the diocesan website on the on the vocations tab and looks down, there's a page for the permanent diaconate.
41:37
SPEAKER_02: There is a pamphlet there about the permanent diaconate that explains uh what the process is of formation, uh, and that gives one, I think, a a great idea.
41:46
SPEAKER_02: But beyond that, I would say uh talk to your pastor because you need the pastor's recommendation to even apply in the first place.
41:54
SPEAKER_02: Um and then just be as active as you can pray a lot and be as active as you can be uh in your parish because when we look at the applications as they come in, if it's someone who's been very active and uh you know, and whose pastor says they have a great prayer life, um, then then they're outstanding candidates.
42:12
SPEAKER_04: And I've met with people, uh men who were interested either through their pastor or just them calling uh to another deacon, maybe, or the office, and they've come in and you know, uh off-season, so to speak.
42:24
SPEAKER_04: Right.
42:25
SPEAKER_04: And uh we've talked to them and given them.
42:27
SPEAKER_04: Begin the conversations right, right, right.
42:28
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
42:29
SPEAKER_00: Uh maybe they could have a spiritual director, right?
42:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:31
SPEAKER_04: In fact, a couple of them that I've talked to are now in this new class that we're thinking about.
42:36
SPEAKER_03: I mean, just a point of housekeeping, how many cohorts are there at any given time?
42:40
SPEAKER_03: Like it's a staggered by how many years?
42:42
SPEAKER_02: Or we generally, I mean, we had that period when the when we were switching to the seminary formation where we lagged.
42:48
SPEAKER_02: So we had an ordination in 2009 and then 15 and then 20.
42:52
SPEAKER_02: Since then, it's been every three years.
42:54
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
42:55
SPEAKER_02: So uh we have a class, and so that means in their academics, the the the classrooms at St.
43:00
SPEAKER_02: Paul are very busy uh in the year, which is the first academic year of one group and the fourth of the other.
43:06
SPEAKER_02: Um so we always have that rotating, and that's actually quite good because the men will come together to pray evening prayer together.
43:12
SPEAKER_02: So you have men who are in their fourth year of study, can sort of mentor the men who are coming along in their first year of study.
43:18
SPEAKER_02: So that's the process.
43:20
SPEAKER_03: Well, great.
43:21
SPEAKER_03: This is such a wonderful conversation.
43:23
SPEAKER_03: Thank you both for for being on.
43:25
SPEAKER_03: Uh, well, Deacon Peter.
43:27
SPEAKER_03: And for all you do for our diocese, thank you.
43:29
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for inviting us.
43:29
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
43:30
SPEAKER_02: Can I get a plug-in for Deacon Sunday?
43:32
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yes, yes, please, yes.
43:33
SPEAKER_02: Uh Rhonda Grinwal, the woman who has has created the Vocation Ministry website, which is a great website, um, and has spoken in the diocese several times to support vocations to the priesthood, has gotten many parishes involved in that.
43:46
SPEAKER_02: Her organization also has begun uh promoting uh a Deacon Sunday, the second Sunday in October.
43:52
SPEAKER_02: I think it's the 13th of October this year, just for parishes, for people she says to show appreciation, and and we're not looking to get appreciation, but we are looking for people to understand the life of a deacon and to encourage vocations to the diaconate.
44:07
SPEAKER_02: So October 13th, Deacon Sunday.
44:09
SPEAKER_00: Highlighting the good news, sharing the good news, that's what that's what we're all about, right?
44:12
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, yes.
44:13
SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
44:14
SPEAKER_03: All right, well, thank you both.
44:15
SPEAKER_03: And Deacon, uh before we close out, uh sorry, Bishop, before we close out, uh two questions for you.
44:22
SPEAKER_03: Can you offer us uh maybe a challenge or a word of encouragement uh to the audience based on the conversation today having to do with with deacons?
44:31
SPEAKER_00: Um it came up a couple of times.
44:33
SPEAKER_00: Deacon Bill was saying it uh in terms of what's the advice to give prayer.
44:37
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is so important, right, for all of us, and uh um there's many different ways to pray.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: Um before you know it will be October in the month of the Holy Rosary.
44:46
SPEAKER_00: Um this year we'll have more information.
44:48
SPEAKER_00: But October 7th, the Feast of the Holy Rosary, uh, the Lady of Victory is gonna be World Rosary Day um uh in preparation for the Great Jubilee coming up in 2025.
44:58
SPEAKER_00: So um we should never um forget prayer, and if we we can always rededicate ourselves.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: And uh, as we hear from our brothers, uh discerning and responding to the call to the diaconate, uh prayer is so much a part of that, right?
45:11
SPEAKER_00: And then day by day living out that ministry.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: So whatever our particular vocation might be, single life, marriage, family life, or discerning a vocation, priest, bishop, uh communications director, uh Cecile is here and working on the internet, blessing us with her uh gifts.
45:26
SPEAKER_00: And so uh, you know, we all have um uh um uh a call from the Lord to live our baptismal call to holiness and uh and prayer needs to be an important part of that uh thanks, Bishop, for that.
45:40
SPEAKER_03: And the final question for you.
45:42
SPEAKER_03: What are you reading?
45:43
SPEAKER_03: What are you what are you listening to?
45:44
SPEAKER_03: Any recommendations for the audience?
45:46
SPEAKER_00: Uh um listening to um I love audio books as I've shared.
45:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, The Anxious Generation.
45:51
SPEAKER_00: Have you heard of this?
45:52
SPEAKER_00: Um while the rewiring of um uh from a a play-based childhood to a phone-based childhood, this author um who wrote an article I found out um advocating and more and more it seems like schools self-cell phone-free schools um uh taking away the distractions.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: And uh so um uh the anxious generation, um interesting and challenging and sad in some ways, um uh how um the prevalence of smartphones and uh and some of the social media um the impact that it's having on our younger generations, uh something we should be concerned about.
46:28
SPEAKER_00: So uh check that out.
46:30
SPEAKER_03: Check that out.
46:30
SPEAKER_03: All right, thanks, Bishop, and thanks again to both of you.
46:33
SPEAKER_03: And thank you all for joining us.
46:35
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46:38
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46:43
SPEAKER_03: Email questions and podcast topic ideas for the bishop to beyond at patterstondioces.org.
46:49
SPEAKER_03: Discover our other podcasts, Coffee with Cupkey and the Paul Street Journal.
46:54
SPEAKER_03: See you next time.
46:55
SPEAKER_00: Thanks everybody.
46:55
SPEAKER_00: God bless.
46:56
SPEAKER_00: See you in Trenton on next Thursday for the Watch for Life.
47:00
SPEAKER_03: And Deacons get the last word, right?
47:03
SPEAKER_04: Go in peace.
47:06
SPEAKER_00: Great, praise the Lord.
47:08
SPEAKER_04: The podcast is in.