Bishop Larry Silva ordained seminarian Nick Brown a deacon June 7 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa bringing him one step closer to the diocesan priesthood.
Brown, 48, is a Honolulu native and a co-cathedral parishioner, the youngest of seven children of Jack and Nati Alfaro. He is an alumnus of St. Theresa School and Damien Memorial High School.
After working for Hawaiian Airlines for almost two decades, Brown decided in 2009 to pursue the diocesan priesthood. He has since been studying at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wis., an institution for older vocations. He received the ministry of acolyte, an earlier step in priesthood formation, last October at the school.
Brown’s diaconate is called “transitional” because it is the last major step before his priestly ordination, which is expected to take place soon after he graduates from Sacred Heart in May 2015. The adjective “transitional” distinguishes it from the “permanent” diaconate, a distinct ministry for men, usually married.
A congregation of about 200 people — including Brown’s colleagues, family, friends and fellow seminarians — was present to witness the ordination.
Bishop Silva celebrated the Mass with about 15 priests. Eight permanent deacons participated. Msgr. Ross Shecterle, rector of Sacred Heart School of Theology, flew in from Wisconsin to concelebrate. Also at the altar was visiting Bishop Alfred Agyenta of the Diocese of Navrongo–Bolgatanga, Ghana.
The rite of ordination began after the Liturgy of the Word. Brown was summoned to the altar by diocesan vocations director Father Pascual Abaya and presented to the congregation and the bishop as a candidate for diaconal ordination. The bishop accepted Brown’s candidacy; congregants assented with a resounding, “Thanks be to God!”
Bishop Silva in his homily referenced the liturgy’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, which includes the words of Jesus that are often evoked when referring to religious vocations: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Bishop Larry Silva prays over diocesan seminarian Nick Brown, ordaining him a “transitional” deacon during a Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, June 7. The ordination brings Brown, in his deacon’s dalmatic and stole above, one step closer to the diocesan priesthood.
The bishop said Brown, as a deacon, is entrusted with the call to “gather up the lost” and lead them toward a relationship with Jesus.
“Jesus is not just interested in a disciple who gets the work done,” Bishop Silva said. “He wants to nurture a desire in the disciple that makes him or her just as attentive to the harvest as the Lord is.”
“This diaconate ordination should not be seen simply as a stepping stone,” the bishop added. “Your ultimate destiny is the priesthood, but you will always be a deacon,” a word derived from the Greek term for “servant.”
Humble service, Bishop Silva noted, “is the foundation on which the priesthood is built.”
After the homily, Brown pledged his obedience to the bishop, answering, “I do,” to questions about his responsibilities as a deacon. He then prostrated himself in front of the altar as the congregation chanted the Litany of the Saints, invoking the prayerful intercession of the heavenly communion.
He then knelt in front of Bishop Silva who silently laid his hands on his head, an ancient gesture passed down from the time of the apostles, ordaining him a deacon.
Brown, who had been wearing an alb during the liturgy, was vested in the deacon’s dalmatic and stole with the help of deacons Andy Calunod and Roy Matsuo.
Brown was called back to the altar to be presented with the Book of the Gospels. He was then greeted with the “fraternal kiss of peace” by the deacons in attendance.
After the ordination rite, Hawaii’s newest deacon assisted the bishop in the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Brown will do pastoral ministry at St. Michael Parish in Kona during the summer before returning to Wisconsin in the fall to complete his final year of studies.
Hawaii has 10 seminarians, including Brown, studying for the diocesan priesthood.
