“You are called to be salt and light in a very special way,” Bishop Larry Silva said in his homily directed at six men in white albs in the front pew of the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, the evening of Jan. 18, moments before he ordained them deacons. Expounding on the words of the Gospel reading, the bishop gave the deacon candidates their marching orders: to bring the taste and radiance of Jesus to prison inmates, to troubled married couples, to a secularized and sexualized culture. In a jubilant two-hour liturgy, Bishop Silva ordained Glenn (Mike) M. Brown of St. Jude Parish, Kapolei, Ricardo M. Burgos of St. John the Baptist, Kalihi, Raymond L. Lamb of St. John the Baptist, Kalihi, Rafael A. Mendoza of the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, Jonathan R. Ocampo of Immaculate Conception, Ewa, and Gerald E. Streff of St. Jude, Kapolei. The men, all from Oahu, were the first of a 10-member class being ordained this January and February. The other four will be ordained in ceremonies on Kauai, Maui and the Big Island. They make up the diocese’s eighth deacon class. When completed, their ordinations will bring the number of active permanent deacons in Hawaii to 62, a number that includes nine deacons from other dioceses working here.
Congratulations, brothers, and welcome! Ad multos annos!
Photo: Hawaii Catholic Herald, by Darlene Dela Cruz
And today we celebrate...