Over Thanksgiving break I had much to be thankful for. Most important of all was the fact that on November 17th Archbishop Joseph Naumann ordained me a transitional deacon. It was an amazing day with so many of my family and friends present to join in the celebration. The above picture shows the archbishop, as successor of the apostles, passing on the grace of Holy Orders to me in the way it has always been done, with the laying on of hands. He then prayed the beautiful prayer of ordination that forever made me a deacon. What an amazing grace! I liked it so much that I hope to be ordained again in May…a priest this time!

The day after my ordination I served as a deacon of the Mass and preached my first homily. I’ve been excited for a long time to be able to preach and I look forward to many homilies in the future.

One of the other great highlights of this weekend was that I got to baptize my little nephew, Tanner. I think this might have been the time that I most enjoyed. He’s a great little kid and was pretty well behaved as far as babies go. Parents and family did pretty well too.

Yes, I think I’m going to like being a deacon. But, there is another big date that I’m looking forward to. That means May 24th when I’m ordained a priest! Many thanks to all of my friends and family that came to help celebrate this great day. Pray that God will help me to be a good and faithful servant.