The Bluegrass State last month appears to have held the first father-son diaconate ordination ever in America.

On May 18 Bishop Joseph E. Kurtz ordained John Riehl, 59, and his son Christopher, 29, to the diaconate in their home church. John Riehl, the father of seven, will serve permanently as a deacon; Christopher Riehl is slated for priestly ordination in 2008.

“What a historic day this is,” the bishop said in his homily. “There are sons and fathers who are both deacons in this world, but I’m going to say in the history of the church, this may well be the first time in which the ordination of two men called by God to serve as deacons coincides at the same place and at the same time.”

What a blessing. And what a gift — to their family, and their Church. Let’s keep them in our prayers.