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On Saturday 10th June, Archbishop Mark O’Toole, Archbishop of Cardiff and Bishop of Menevia, ordained seven men from five dioceses to the diaconate in Westminster Cathedral: Thomas Blackburn and Robert Smialek from Westminster, Frazer Bellfield from Southwark, Gustavo Campanello and Edward Hopkins (2nd and 3rd from left above) from Arundel & Brighton, Dale Cutlan from Cardiff, and Matúš Meleg from Brentwood.
Many priests from the five dioceses concelebrated the Mass. They were joined by family and friends of the ordinands, who filled the Cathedral with prayers and joy for the men, as they took the next step in their journey towards priesthood.
Archbishop O’Toole gave thanks for all who had accompanied the ordinands as they discerned the ‘movement of God’s Spirit in your own heart over many years’.
Addressing the men directly, he centred his homily on Pope St Paul VI’s description of the deacon ‘as someone called to a Ministry of the Word, a Ministry of the Altar, and a Ministry of Charity,’ explaining each in turn.
Describing the ordination as ‘a significant shift’, he said: ‘You are now called to make a constant movement from being a listener of God’s word to being a preacher.’
He reminded the men that the ‘Word that we preach is not our own. It is the Lord himself whom we proclaim. You offer his word, not yours. This word is manifested in the Scriptures, and in the Tradition, handed down to us in the teaching office of the Church.’
It is, he said, ‘this unity between reading, believing, teaching and practice which will be the mark of your integrity as a preacher exercising the Ministry of the Word within the Catholic Church.’
Archbishop O’Toole then went on to speak of the Ministry at the Altar, which ‘gives witness to Christ who loves to the end’.
‘Through the sacrifice of the Mass each of us is drawn into his offering so that we too can love in this way,’ he added.
He enjoined them to ‘continue to have a very deep love for the altar as the locus of the drama of your own lives too. By your own offering to the Father, you are brought into communion with him and with those whom he calls you to serve.’
As they imitate this self-giving love of the Lord, which ‘is to be the centre of your lives’, ‘the Church asks you on this day to make the commitment to celibacy,’ he said, describing celibacy as ‘the manner through which you will live out the Ministry of Charity, the ministry of love, as a deacon over this next year and then, please God, for the whole of your life as a priest.’
He added that ‘a life of loving service is only possible if you remain close to Jesus,’ encountering the Lord in his Word and in the Blessed Sacrament.
‘Only such regular contact,’ he affirmed, ‘will deepen our intimacy with him, and inflame us to serve his holy people more generously.’
Rev Thomas Blackburn will serve in the parish of St Anthony of Padua, Edgware in the coming year, and Rev Robert Smialek will serve in the parish of Our Lady of Fatima, White City.
Please pray for them and all the men ordained to the diaconate, as they continue their journey towards priesthood.
Many thanks to Westminster Diocese for the article and photographs.