Story and photos by Darlene J.M. Dela Cruz
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Bishop Larry Silva lays hands on Resinto’s head, ordaining him a deacon.
LIHUE — On a sunny winter day on Kauai, less than a week before Christmas, seminarian EJ Resinto took his final major step toward the diocesan priesthood.
Bishop Larry Silva ordained Resinto a deacon Dec. 19 at Immaculate Conception Church in Resinto’s hometown of Lihue.
His “transitional” diaconate differs from the “permanent” diaconate, which is a distinct vocation for men who are usually married. As a deacon, Resinto is able to assist at the altar during Mass, proclaim the Gospel and preach while he completes his final months of priestly formation.
Resinto, 28, is a Kauai High alum who entered the seminary in 2008. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 2011 at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon and is now finishing up graduate studies in theology at St. Patrick Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California.
About 400 people gathered at Immaculate Conception Church for Resinto’s ordination. In the congregation were his parents Eddie and Shanlyne, and younger brother Ridge.
Eight diocesan seminarians served as acolytes for the Mass. Kyle Shinseki, a Jesuit seminarian from Kauai, also assisted in the liturgy.
Bishop Silva was the main celebrant. Joining him at the altar were deacons and priests from Maui, Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island. Father Anthony Rapozo, the last Garden Isle man to be ordained a diocesan priest in 2011, was also a concelebrant.
Resinto embraces his mother Shanlyne after the ordination rite.
Eight of Resinto’s classmates from St. Patrick Seminary, all recently ordained transitional deacons, flew in from the Mainland for the ceremony.
At the start of the ordination rite, after the Liturgy of the Word, Resinto was called forward by Deacon Clarence DeCaires, diocesan director of permanent deacons.
Father William Shannon, the diocese’s director of seminarians and former pastor of Immaculate Conception, presented Resinto to Bishop Silva as a candidate for ordination. The bishop accepted Resinto’s candidacy and the congregation assented with a resounding, “Thanks be to God!”
Bishop Silva in his homily shared the story of when he first met Resinto. At the start of his episcopacy in 2005, the bishop encountered the future seminarian at a “welcome Mass” on Kauai. Bishop Silva sensed Resinto’s potential for the priesthood.
“I said to him, ‘Someday, I’m going to ordain you,’” Bishop Silva explained.
He noted that Resinto had prior aspirations to become a chef. Although culinary work seems quite different from a priestly vocation, the bishop said there are “many similarities” in both areas of service.
“God has set a great table for us,” he said. “EJ has been called to this table of the Lord,” to “give substance and flavor to this very hungry world.”
After Bishop Silva’s homily, Resinto was once again called forward to the altar. He pledged his obedience to the bishop, answering, “I do” to several questions about his diaconal responsibilities.
He then prostrated himself in the sanctuary. As Resinto lay face down on a mat woven by the parish’s Tongan community, the congregation chanted the Litany of the Saints.
Resinto then knelt before Bishop Silva, who, in a solemn gesture passed down from the time of the apostles, silently laid his hands on Resinto’s head and ordained him a deacon.
Resinto was then vested with a deacon’s dalmatic over the alb he wore from the start of the ceremony.
He was called back to the altar and presented with the Book of the Gospels. Deacons at the Mass concluded the ordination rite by greeting the freshly ordained Resinto with the “fraternal kiss of peace.”
Deacon Resinto afterward assisted Bishop Silva during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Resinto has less than a year remaining in his studies at St. Patrick Seminary. His priestly ordination is scheduled for July 9 at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace.
The next transitional deacon ordination is for seminarian Alfred Guerrero May 27 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa.
