Third Sunday of Advent

Dear Parishioner,

This May a new class of deacons will be ordained at St. Mary Cathedral in Peoria. The class has been in five years of formation so this is a big event for the men involved and for their wives who went through the training with them.

Unfortunately, there is no deacon candidate from Sacred Heart in Moline. Through the last thirty years there have been deacons at Sacred Heart. Sometimes there have been several. At present Deacon Pat serves us as a deacon which I am sure we are most grateful for. Deacon Pat is very active, but he cannot go on indefinitely with his ministry. We need to have some men step forward for the next Deacon class if this ministry is to continue in our parish. The class is being recruited this spring.

Who is eligible we might ask? The individual first must be under the age of 60. Because of the long formation and because we want someone who is ordained to serve for a long time this is the requirement. A deacon also needs to be over the age of 35. This means one can start the formation at age 30. A deacon also must be a Catholic in good standing.

What do deacons do? Deacons can marry, bury and baptize the faithful. A deacon assists at Mass and can preach. The main function of a deacon in our Catholic tradition is to assist with charitable works around the parish. All these functions are very important. We celebrate a lot of sacraments at Sacred Heart and we have many elderly, sick and poor that need assistance.

I would like to aggressively search for candidates from our parish to serve in the diaconate. I would also like to use a special way of calling diaconate candidates. We will operate from the premise that a vocational call comes from the Christian Community. When I was considering the priesthood, it was very important for me to hear people say, “I think you would be a good priest.” That affirmed my interest. It also seemed to be a sign from God that I needed to pay attention to.

I ask each parish member to look around you and ask, “Who would I believe is a good deacon candidate.” If you pray over this and discern a worthy candidate, please put the name of that man in an envelope and put that envelope in the collection. Write on the envelope “Deacon candidate-attention Fr. Mark.” I will consider those names and approach the people that seem qualified.

I cannot stress the importance of this too strongly. Let us all pray that we will find men who would be willing to consider this ministry. If you feel called yourself do not hesitate to make an appointment with me so we can discuss your interest.

Blessings

Fr. Mark