Bishop Installs Dioaconate Candidates As Acolytes
Bishop Charles C. Thompson installed eight candidates for the permanent diaconate in the Ministry of Acolyte during the 10 a.m. Mass at St. Boniface Church in Evansville on Jan. 15.
The candidates include Reynaldo Carandang of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Vincennes, Thomas Cervone of Sts. Mary and John Parish in Evansville, Albert Frabutt of St. Mary Parish in Sullivan, Charles Johnson of Holy Family Parish in Jasper, Robert Mattingly of Good Shepherd Parish in Evansville, Chris Sartore of Holy Redeemer Parish in Evansville, Jay VanHoosier of St. John the Baptist Parish in Newburgh and Paul Vonderwell of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Vincennes. They are scheduled to be ordained to the permanent diaconate in August.
“In these readings today, the second Sunday of ordinary time, Jesus is already well into his public ministry,” Bishop Thompson said during his homily. “John the Baptist is back on the scene again with one of his great lines about Jesus … calling him The Lamb of God. It is important to know the context of that title.”
The bishop went on to talk about a researcher who asked people what they thought of when they heard that term – Lamb of God – words that we hear at every Mass. Many people said it called to mind images of something “soft and cuddly.”
“When John the Baptist said it, in that day, people understood that lamb was something to be sacrificed for the good of others,” Bishop Thompson said. “John the Baptist was pointing to that suffering servant who would be sacrificed for us.”
The day’s first reading has the prophet Isaiah talking about the “suffering servant” and “the light of the nations.” “That suffering servant is Jesus,” the bishop said. “…we are who his followers need to carry that light into a world that is darkened by hate and violence … and allow that light of Christ to shine through us to dispel that darkness.”
This bishop noted that in the second reading, St. Paul speaks to the Corinthians about a call to holiness. “The call to sainthood is for every baptized member of the church,” Bishop Thompson said. “We are called to sainthood because we are called to holiness. It is the calling of these eight candidates. We can only be holy through communion with God and Jesus Christ, and we can only be in communion if we are right with God and with each other.
These eight candidates must live lives of sacrificial love and mercy,” he added. “It is not always going to be when it’s comfortable or easy; it means that we do things right even when we have to stand alone for the Gospel.”
