Week
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June 6, 2001
Inside the Register
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Four become transitional deacons on way to priesthood
Archbishop: Deacons called to be models of selfless service for all Christians
By Alwen Bledsoe
June 2 four men on their way to the priesthood joined the Archdiocese of Denver as transitional deacons. Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., celebrated the ordination Mass, continually emphasizing to the candidates and the estimated 300 in attendance that "all of us are called to be servants."
Families
and friends looked on in enthusiastic support as the four were received
into the Church's service, committing to a life of celibacy, obedience
to the bishops and the Church, and to selfless charity.
Msgr. R. Walker Nickless, V.G., vicar for clergy and seminarians, presented Giovanni Capucci, John Paul Leyba, Frank Alvin Lomica Jr., and Krzysztof Leszek Misiura to the archbishop with the words, "I testify that they have been found worthy." Loud applause followed and as the archbishop accepted the candidates for ordination, he commented, "It is obvious by the applause that there is great enthusiasm for the ordination of the four young men."
Commenting on readings from Numbers 11 and Acts 6, the archbishop traced the role of deacons in the Church back to God's provision of 70 elders to help Moses minister. He emphasized the deacons' integral role of providing for needs in the Church that might otherwise go neglected. He called the office of deacon a "sacramental model or symbol" put in place "so all of us can look on the deacons and see in your life, your activity, your energy the vocation that all of us are called to in our lives."
He emphasized that the lives and work of deacons are a living model and reminder of the selfless and loving life to which all Christians are called, saying, "To be a Christian means to enter into the heart and mind of Jesus and to make it our own. That means all of us in the Church are called to die to ourselves in order that we might live to God and live to one another."
Later he added, "My dear sons, my dear brothers, you are for all of us, whether the lay faithful or the bishop, a model of the vocation of all us because of our baptism."
Though these four are transitional deacons, serving only about a year before their ordinations to the priesthood, the archbishop urged them never to consider their service as deacons at a close.
"Once a man is ordained a deacon, he is always a deacon," he said, later adding, "service and self-abnegation are at the heart of what it means to be a minister in the Church — whether a bishop, or a priest, or a deacon."
Archbishop Chaput ended the ceremony thanking the families and four seminaries that had prepared the deacons for service, including Denver's Redemptoris Mater and St. John Vianney, as well as seminaries in Chicago and Orchard Lake, Mich. He also expressed gratitude to Sister Sharon Ford, R.S.M., secretary for religious, and Msgr. Nickless, who, he said, have both been invaluable in their work with seminarians and who are both leaving their current positions for ministry elsewhere.
After the ordination, friends and family expressed admiration and excitement for the men's ordination. Cousins of John Paul Leyba, Pam and Frank Jackson, parishioners at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Littleton, marveled at the sacrifice and work represented by Leyba's choice to join the priesthood, explaining that he had left a career as an engineer late in life to study for the priesthood.
"The last time we saw him was at his farewell party," said Pam. "Sold his house, sold everything and off he went."
"It was a wonderful service," said Frank. "It's great, we've kind of watched him grow into this over the years," he said.
Carlos Rebollar, a friend of Giovanni Capucci and a part of his Neocatechumenal Way community at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, said he especially appreciated the ordination because Capucci is the first seminarian from Redemptoris Mater to be ordained.
"I am very happy because I'm very close to this guy," he said.
Capucci, with a shy laugh, said of his ordination, "I'm very happy. This is a sign of the faithfulness of the Lord in my life. ... I hope I will serve the Church here in Denver in the best way possible knowing my weakness and I know the Lord will help me. I am very grateful to the Lord for this."