Homily Ordination of Deacons 2026 – Most Rev. Stephen A. Hero

I know that our two young men who are presenting themselves for ordination to the diaconate tonight are coming before the Lord with humble hearts. I was present at their entrance into formation at Saint Joseph Seminary some years ago and had the privilege of being a part of their first baby steps towards the altar. It is a mystery of God’s providence that I am now in a position on behalf of God and God’s Church to call them to sacred orders tonight as their archbishop. One of the things that I always saw in working with seminarians through the years was that the closer they got to ordination, the more aware they were of themselves and the awesomeness of the vocation. Those two things: the great trust that Lord was placing in them and their own limits and littleness before Lord who is calling them.

Andrew and Daniel have many gifts for ministry, don’t get me wrong. Those are indications of God’s call. But, if you asked them, they would probably tell you first of their sense of unworthiness and their absolute need for the Lord’s help to do what He is asking. The years of their life in their loving families and years of formation in the seminary, maturing, praying, studying, and serving God’s people has been revealing their wounds and scars to them. But those same years of maturing, praying, studying and serving have also testified to the Lord who is loving, helping, healing, supporting, and calling, calling, calling …

So, Daniel and Andrew have also gained this precious experience of the God who has given himself unreservedly to us in His Son Jesus on the Cross and who now is giving them “unreservedly” to the People of God, the Church, in sacred ministry.

God gives them as deacons “unreservedly.” This is what we heard in the first reading from the Book of Numbers. Although this reading is speaking about the Old Covenant, the Liturgy of Ordination tonight sees this historical fact as fulfilled in the New. God gives the Levites, the men of the tribe of Levi, to Aaron the priest in order to assist him in divine worship and the service of God’s people. God says to Moses that these Levite men are “unreservedly given to [Aaron and his descendants] from among the Israelites.” God has confidence in these sons of Levi.

The Liturgy of Ordination that we will carry out tonight will stress Andrew and Daniel’s willingness to follow God’s call to be a deacon. They will promise freely and publicly to carry out the duties and ministries of that vocation.  But it’s important to see how the Liturgy begins by stressing God’s commitment to them and the Church. God is ready to give Daniel and Andrew for sacred ministry “unreservedly” – like He gave the Levites of old. God’s free and generous gift is becoming Daniel and Andrew’s own gift and is making their own response possible every day. All of this says that God can overcome any weakness, any limit, with his own love, faithfulness, and grace.

Mysteriously in God’s plan, that clearer knowledge of self that comes through formation for ministry becomes a kind of solid bedrock to real life. It can become an unshakable confidence in the Lord who gives and provides and who is at work in the sacred ministry of the deacon. Saint Paul’s image of a “treasure in a clay jar” does not seem very solid. I don’t know. When I was in grade two, we made these little clay bowls as gifts for our mothers. When my bowl came out of the kiln, I could only see its faults. I hadn’t put enough glaze on it so it was not really colourful like the other bowls. I didn’t press hard enough with the stylus to etch my name on the bottom so the fact that it was mine was only faintly legible. But my mother who received this rather humble gift made me feel that it was the most beautiful bowl and it sat in a place of honour in our house for years and years. That bowl carried a great treasure, despite its imperfections, and it endures to this day because she took care of it with love. Paul’s image certainly reminds us of the servant’s littleness but also reveals how God prizes and preserves what he appoints to a purpose. It is God’s will and loving purpose that makes our deacons’ call sure. God’s mercy is the bedrock of their life and ministry and which will continue to form them. God will teach them to cherish God’s people as these most delicate vessels and to fill them with the treasure of God’s knowledge and life by their ministry and witness.

So, tonight God gives us Andrew and Daniel “unreservedly” (without hesitation) as deacons to serve the Church. And they give themselves! Luke, in his Gospel, emphasizes the eagerness of the disciple and our readiness to serve. In the Gospel we just heard the Lord Jesus compares his disciples to slaves of a master. In saying this, Jesus is in no way denigrating us. Jesus is just pointing to that profound reality of our creation that is the ground of our being: God is the Creator; we are the creature. We are not masters or rulers. We are deacons, servants. Yet all of God’s revelation, culminating in the sending of His Son Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, tells us that God doesn’t want slaves. God wants us to know Him and to have a real living relationship with Him. God wants us to love Him freely and make a gift of ourselves in Christ. In the parable tonight, the master is looking for disciples who are dressed for action, with lamps lit, ready, waiting for their master, opening the door as soon as He knocks, faithful, prudent managers of God’s gifts, who can be entrusted with greater responsibility.

Through years of formation and service already in our archdiocese, Andrew and Daniel have shown that they are seeking to give themselves unreservedly to God and God’s people. In the Liturgy of Ordination, after the laying on of hands and prayer of ordination, they will literally be “dressed for action” in the vestments of deacons and will assist their archbishop at the altar for the first time. This sacramental action is a grace-filled sign of their ministry out there in their parishes, the larger community, and the world. My dear sons, the Lord is choosing you for service in the diaconate tonight even if He has put you on a path hopefully to priesthood in the future when He may give you an even wider scope of ministry and responsibility in the Church.

The diaconate is not a formality to go through on the way to priesthood. It is an investiture in grace that will configure you more to Jesus Christ who came to serve and not to be served. May this eagerness to serve, this alertness to every need and each knock at the door, be a constant emptying of self and a filling with Christ. Carry the treasure of Christ in your clay jars as deacons and He will continue to form and shape you in His likeness. Jesus’ washing of the feet of his disciples was the preparation for his priestly gift on the Cross. Ordination always begins on solid ground – with the prostration of the candidates before God face down on the earth. This signifies their humble readiness to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit who will raise them up and make all things possible in Christ. Build on this solid ground.

Deacons build up the Church by word, liturgy, and service. Daniel and Andrew, God’s people look forward to your preaching, your generous celebration of baptism, weddings, funerals, and all the ways you will be called to listen, witness, and tend the wounds and needs of those around you. Christ is the Word that the world is waiting for: the One everyone longs to know and embrace. Every human being is a jar of clay shaped by God to receive and hold the treasure of Christ. Be His constant heralds and simple servants. You will see how the Lord can renew and heal hearts through you and the loving Communion of God’s Church.