Rites move five men closer to diaconate

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
April 10, 2008

EARLY - Five men in the Diocese of Sioux City received rites April 5 that take them one step closer on their journey to ordination in the permanent diaconate.

Verne Burke of Madrid received the Rite of Lector and for four men - Bill Black of Algona, Byron (Butch) Stone of Wall Lake, Gary Schon of Glidden and David Brown of Boone - the Rite of Acolyte was administered.

Bishop R. Walker Nickless presided at morning prayer held in Sacred Heart Church, Early, and administered the rites upon the deacon candidates. He was also homilist for the celebration.

In his homily, the bishop spoke of St. Vincent Ferrer, a great preacher of the Good News, whose feast day they celebrated. He told the men that they should imitate the saint's faith, which was very great, like the apostles.

"As we celebrate today the Rite of Lector and Rite of Acolyte, we have such great examples of holy life before us," said Bishop Nickless.

He explained that the lector is instituted to proclaim the Word of God in the assembly of the faithful and assists deacons and priests in their duty to preach and teach, which they exercise in communion with the bishop. This serves the needs of the people and helps to prepare the deacon candidate for ordination.

"Likewise, an acolyte is instituted to serve the Altar of Sacrifice," Bishop Nickless said. "He assists the deacon to prepare the altar and to care for the sacred vessels; and he assists the priest in his sacred duty to offer the sacrifice of the Mass for all people, which he exercises in communion with me as bishop. This again both serves the needs of the people of God, and also prepares the new acolyte to assume the same sacred trust of service at his eventual ordination."

The bishop stressed that these rites remind Catholics of several things that are important to the faith. They show the connection between sacrifice and service, that Christ taught. They also show the hierarchical nature of the church, which is alive in worship and service.

"These rites show, finally, that the work of the church in not complete in this life," he said. "We need to 'fill up what is lacking in the suffering of Christ,' with the sacrifice to him of our whole life. This is a baptismal call, the universal call to holiness."

David Lopez, Ph.D., diocesan director of diaconate formation, pointed out that the Rite of Lector serves as a formal introduction to the ministry of proclaiming and teaching the faith of the Catholic Church.

"As part of the formation process - preparation - to be ready to receive Holy Orders, one has to be formally prepared to be an ordinary minister of the word, not merely an extraordinary minister of the word," he explained.

The same is true for the Rite of Acolyte, the men are formally instituted to serve as an acolyte. Service as an acolyte includes three elements - extraordinary minister of Communion, altar server and sacristan.

"For volunteers, those three roles are separate but if you are going to be a cleric, you have to see the connection between taking care of the vessels that we use at Mass, using them at Mass and using them outside of Mass," explained Lopez. "It becomes the practical experience."

It is the last rite that is received before ordination. The diaconate formation director explained that canon law stipulates that it must be conferred at least six months before ordination, to allow a period of practical training as they serve at the altar.

The Rite of Lector is the second rite that is conferred upon those in formation to become permanent deacons. The first rite is that of the Rite of Candidacy, which is conferred after much discernment and education.

He explained that the discernment and formation process intensifies after the men receive the Rite of Candidacy.

"Part of the racketing up of intensity is to ask them to serve formally as a minister, first as a lector and then as an acolyte," explained Lopez.

He described the rites as "a publically witnessed canonical event. It is not an ordination or sacrament to receive the rite, but it is a sacramental and it does carry its own graces." It calls them to apply their classroom knowledge to the real world experience that they will need later, as ordained ministers.

After they are conferred with these rites, the men further their skills - both in spiritual and practical ways - in relation to the ministries as a lector and/or assistant at the altar.

Stone said the rite was something that was greatly anticipated by himself, his family and his parish. He called it a natural progression.

"What we are seeing and feeling is bringing us closer to the larger goal of being ordained a deacon," he explained.

Like many of the others, Stone was already ministering in his parish as an altar server at daily Mass and had been a lector and Eucharistic minister for about 20 years. He has also served as a sacristan.

"I've been very involved in the church since I joined the church back in the early 80s," he said.

Schon described the April 5 service as very nice and added, "Nobody has rites and services like the Catholic Church. They are always done very well."

He mentioned that prior to being officially instituted as an acolyte, he had been involved in many of the ministries, but had never assisted on the altar at Masses.

The new acolyte said he does see involvement in these ministries as good preparation for what is to come.

"We need to start doing some smaller things, so that after ordination we can be ready for the bigger things," said Schon, who looks forward to proclaiming the Gospel and preaching as a deacon. He has been a lector and Eucharistic minister for about 15 years. Part of his ministry has been taking Communion to the homebound. Recently, he has stepped up that level and now ministers about six hours a week to persons at St. Anthony's Nursing Home in Carroll.

Brown said it was humbling to receive the Rite of Acolyte and move a step closer to the permanent diaconate.

"It is a beautiful reminder about our call to serve others - that's what the Eucharist is all about," he said.

For Brown, he mentioned that he had primarily served as a lector in his parish so now he will begin to participate in additional ministries such as Eucharistic minister and assisting at the altar. These new ministries, he said, will help prepare him for the responsibilities of a deacon.

According to Lopez, the four acolytes are slated to be ordained to the permanent diaconate on Oct. 4, 2008.