After receiving his final vows, last night December 6th at Holy Name of Mary Church in San Dimas, Juan Carlos was ordained a transitional deacon by Bishop Brian Nunes, regional bishop of the San Gabriel region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Sat. Dec. 7th.
Present were his parents, Carmelo and Julia Martinez, his siblings and other family members, his religious brothers, members to the SS.CC. Secular Branch, numerous parishioners, some members of the local Tongan community, and many others.
Good friend and former co-worker Lani Galvan proclaimed the first reading.
Bishop Brian started his homily by saying that he found the opening exchange between bishop and superior regarding worthiness very moving: “the candidate is found worthy/ el candidato es digno”. Bishop Brian said none of is worthy, and yet Christ calls us. Bishop echoes the words from the gospel reading: You are no longer slaves. I call you friends. Jesus gives us no specific criteria for his friendship. It is all about what Jesus wants.
Bishop would agilely shift from English to Spanish: Jesus quiere ser su amigo/ Jesus wants to be your friend.
Deacons are instructed to “Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach”.
Bishop Brian explained word deacon comes from the Greek word δι?κονος/
diakoneo which means service. He exhorted Juan Carlos to be exemplary in his works of charity and service to the poor, reaching out to the aislados (isolated) and the dolientes (the suffering). He is to help others to know the love of God that he has experienced.
The Holy Spirit was very much at work as the message Bishop gave was very congruent with our Sacred Hearts’ charism of help others to experience the love of God, loving others as we have been loved.
Correction from the Perpetual Vows piece Dec. 6, 2024
(Now Dcn.) Juan Carlos gave his final vows to Fr. Rich Danyluk, ss.cc.
Carmelo and Julia Martinez, parents of Dcn. Juan Carlos, help him with his vesting of his dalmatic.
It was very moving to see Juan Carlos’ parents’ expressions of love and surrendering their son to God’s will.
Rita Austin and Dcn. Juan Carlos
Soon after Dcn. Juan Carlos’ vestiture, the deacons of the parish and their wives warmly embraced their friend and brother in Christ.
Bishop Brian’s joy of celebrating the ordination was very evident.
Dcn. Juan Carlos gave words of thanks to family, friends, and parishioners, including young adults he ministered to when they were teens. He was already asked to celebrate a baptism.
In Dcn. Charlie’s communion line communicants received blessings. His words mirrored bishop’s homily- blessings to manifest the love that Jesus gives us.
