Homily given on Saturday 6 July at Westminster Cathedral.
Today is a day of joy. Joy for you, Paul, James and Eze and for your wives, Maria, Annie and Jackie.
What a joy too that you are surrounded by your families, friends, fellow deacons, clergy and the people of the parishes of Kensington, Holloway and North Harrow, and this Diocese of Westminster. I know that you, and your wives and families, will have faced any number of decisions on the road to this day. I thank you all for your courage, resolution and faith.
Paul, James and Eze; you have answered the call to serve Christ and his Church as deacons. Today, through the laying of hands and the prayer of the Church we will call upon the Holy Spirit as you are ordained for service in the Church.
Today, in many ways, marks a beginning and an end. The end of your formal studies for instance. How good it is to have present those responsible for your academic and pastoral formation. I thank them for the rigour and excellence of your programme of studies.
May I encourage you not to leave aside study as deacons. Read, reflect and be open to scholarship that will nourish you. All the better to read the signs of the times of this moment of history in which we live. Your reflection will complement your prayer, both public and personal. Your prayer will be key in sustaining your personal relationship with Christ Jesus in your life as deacons.
Today also marks the beginning of your formal role as ministers of the Church. You are no longer willing volunteers giving of your free time. Today you receive a mandate from Christ himself. You are now persons who are sent out with a mission to preach, serve and care for others in the Lord’s name.
Each of you have your own story to tell. How you heard the call of Jesus of Nazareth to come follow him. Whether that story began in Hong Kong, in Archbishop's House, or a retreat house run by the Jesuits. Your story is one full of episodes and moments of encounter. People and places; many of them whom are here today. Falling and rising. Insight and acknowledgement of the need of God’s mercy in our lives. Each of you with a story in which you and we can see God’s grace and loving purpose being worked out in your lives.
This congregation today is made up of a kaleidoscope of persons from diverse backgrounds, beliefs and experiences who have been a blessing to you; and you to them. Permanent deacons are often referred to in the Church as a bridge between the world and the Church. And in some sense each one of you are, in so far that you are ‘men of the world’. You have made your way in the world and left your mark as Christians in IT and finance, social care, governance and the law.
Others could be forgiven for thinking that sometimes the way we in the Church talk of the world might suggest that the world, with all its complexity, diversity and need, is not part of God’s design and loving intent. We know that it is not so. It is not the World, but worldliness we need to be wary of. That is to say, the temptation to seek and use power for selfish or self-serving purposes. This worldliness can be understood as a worldview that too often sees value primarily in what you have, can buy or sell, rather than in who you are as a unique child of God.
Dear brothers, you know what it is like to work alongside, manage and find purpose in the world of work and family life. With all its challenges and joys. You have an insight and experience we need.
Eze, James and Paul, do not forget it was in the diversity of the world that you first heard the call to serve.In accepting this commission of Christ, you are not leaving the world – far from it. You are plunging deeper into its woundedness, promise and longing for healing. Living in the world, in a family, permanent deacons have a particular sensitivity to the needs of those persons and families who suffer from poverty of many kinds.
All Christians are called to serve but the deacon serves with a special grace – a unique authority and humble power. In this, you are responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
You will, of course, need to have a proper care for the Church and her internal order, the liturgy and her teaching.
The great Methodist preacher John Wesley famously said ‘I look upon all the world as my parish.’ I pray that will be true of all of you too, with proper regard of course to the authority of your parish priest.
Allow the liberating message of the gospel to blow where it will and take you to places you have not imagined being called. Remember that most especially when you recall your experience in the world for the sake of those who have not yet heard the call or the good news.
Dear brothers, your service as you appreciate is a call to serve as heralds of good news. Preaching the gospel, serving at the Altar of the Lord. Caring for those who are in need in the Church and the wider community.
As deacons, you enjoy a special bond to the Bishop. For you in your person and in the tasks assigned to you will be a tangible expression of the bishop's care for the flock entrusted to him. Be attentive to your bishop’s teaching. Listen carefully to his voice and counsel.
Paul, James, and Eze, thank you for your generous response to the call of Christ to serve.
Today is a day of Joy. May you faithful and joyful heralds of the gospel of life in all you say, do and are – always.
Amen.
+ Jim
Rt Revd James Curry