Given at the Diaconate Ordination Mass for Jakub Joszko and Marco Salvagnini at St Francis de Sales, Tottenham, on 30th January 2021.
Jakub, Marco, my brothers,
Two images shine through your ordination liturgy to the diaconate today, one is that of herald, the other servant.
After your ordination, I will present you with the Book of Gospels and say the words,
‘Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are.
Believe what you read,
teach what you believe,
and practice what you teach.’
These words describe the journey which you have been making in your families, in your communities and which you will continue in a new way of service as deacons in the Diocese of Westminster.
During the years of the pathway of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, you have received the Gospel of Christ into your hearts, scrutinising it, understanding it and allowing it to feed you. You have believed in the Word of God through listening and responding in trust in Jesus and understanding the doctrine of the Church. This faith has shaped your minds, your hearts and your souls.
You have begun to teach this Word of Life through your catechesis and itinerancy. You have begun to practice this Word allowing it to mould and configure your hearts to his, sometimes easily, at other times painfully, for ‘the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart’ (Heb 4:12).
At a point in this journey, you offered yourself as a candidate for the priesthood and from Porto San Giorgio were sent to Westminster. You have had to grow to understand the Church in this diocese, we have had to grow to understand you. Together we have the joyful task of proclaiming Christ Risen from the Dead for all people and being heralds of this good news.
Just as the tribe of Levi was mustered by Moses and put at the disposal of Aaron the priest, so you are to be put at the service of the Bishop as deacons or servants. ‘Muster’ is an interesting word from a military background of assembling troops for inspection or preparation for battle. You are gathered or assembled to serve the Lord and the Church. In English, we can also speak of ‘a muster of peacocks’ – this is opposite of what Jesus wants because each peacock is a rival to the other as ‘number one’. No, you are to be servants for others modelling your lives on the person of Jesus Christ. The Book of Numbers speaks of the Levites given as ‘oblates’ to Aaron and his sons. An ‘oblate’ is a person who offers themselves up to another. You are called as oblates to offer yourselves to God and others as Christ offered himself as a living sacrifice to be transformed in love for others. This is now your raison d’être.
St John Paul II wrote, ‘We need heralds of the Gospel who are experts in humanity, who know the depths of the human heart, who can share the joys, the hopes, the agonies, the distress of people today, but who are, at the same time, contemplatives who have fallen in love with God.’ There is a great depth to ponder in those words as you reflect on preaching the Gospel and helping others to know his love. You are called to be contemplatives who have fallen in love with God and from that source and richness share his Word, his Hope and his Light with others.
A number of saints, who are associated with these dates at the end of January and of course with Marco and Jakub, join in the celebration today. St John Paul II whom we associate with Jakub and the passionate faith of the Polish Church. The Venerable Jan Tyranowski, inspired by the Carmelite tradition and the Salesians introduced the young Karol Wojtyła to the thought of St John of the Cross.
Last week we celebrated St Francis de Sales who studied Law and Theology in Padua, knew the Basilica of St Antony, and inspired St John Bosco. With St Jane de Chantel, he spoke of the God of Love and Merciful Compassion who reaches down into the lives of sinful humanity and offered it redemption through the loving sacrifice of his Son. The goodness of God permeates their spirituality. God’s Will is to be found not only in the promptings and dreams of one’s heart but also in the painful reality of which one lives, not only in the ‘how it should be’ but also ‘the way it is’. In this tangled web of life, we are shaped by the Holy Spirit to serve. These saints call us to be grounded in the reality around you and, like Jesus, have eyes and ears for the poor and the weakest, and the most marginal.
Finally, in the active ministry of herald and service, the words of St Francis de Sales are an important reminder about all you do and who you are. He wrote:
‘Let us belong to God… in the midst of so much busyness.’
(St Francis de Sales, Letter to Mme De Cornillon).