Back during Benedict’s visit to the United States, I wondered about the deacons serving beside the pope. Did anyone know who they were? Now, I have at least one answer, from the Catholic Standard — and his story is really quite wonderful:

In the spring of 1999, Joseph Curtis Jr. reflected to a reporter about studying to be a deacon, and how he liked to take long, quiet walks along a creek on a trail near his Camp Springs home, praying and listening to gospel music on his headphones.

“I (have) looked to the Lord for answers,” he said then.

Fast forward to nine years later, and Deacon Joseph Curtis Jr. walked determinedly forward, his hands folded in prayer, and a few steps behind him walked the spiritual leader of the world’s one billion Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI, processing into Nationals Park in Washington for the pontiff’s first public Mass in the United States. Nearly 50,000 people from throughout the Washington area and across the United States filled the stadium.

“I am a person who loves to be behind the scenes, not up front, and here I am,” the deacon said recently, laughing at the irony of it all.

Friends and strangers alike saw him on national telecasts of the Papal Mass and on the front page of the Washington Post, walking in front of the Holy Father, and afterward some asked the deacon why he looked so serious in all the photos.

“I was in shock!” he explains, and now he can smile about it.

For the past four years, Deacon Curtis has assisted at Masses at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. “I’m used to assisting priests, monsignors and bishops,” he said, calling that part of the deacon’s ministry a privilege, especially to be beside the priest at the altar during the consecration. “Every Mass is special to me,” he said.

About two months earlier, Deacon Curtis had been asked to assist at Pope Benedict’s April 16 evening prayer service with the nation’s Catholic bishops, to be held at the National Shrine. Then he was also asked to assist at the Holy Father’s Mass planned for the following day at Nationals Park. “You’re doubly blessed!” said Father Mark Knestout, the coordinator of the Papal Liturgy.

On April 16, Deacon Curtis arrived early at the National Shrine, but he was too early. While a security sweep was being done there, he drove to a nearby cemetery where his parents, Deacon Joseph Curtis Sr. and Cora Curtis are buried. He prayed at the gravesite of the devout Catholic couple who had raised their three children at the old St. Cyprian’s Parish in Washington. When Cora Curtis, a former government worker, died in 1986, Deacon Joseph Curtis Sr. moved into the home of his son and namesake.

Later, Deacon Joseph Curtis Jr. would refer to that experience of living with his father as “deacon prep.” He drove his dad, a quiet, prayerful man, to the hospital so he could visit the sick there. From his elderly father, the son learned the essence of the ministry of being a deacon: You have to be a man of prayer, and “you’re a servant.”

Deacon Joseph Curtis Sr. had been in the first class of deacons ordained for the Archdiocese of Washington in 1971. Eight years later, his son would drive him to Pope John Paul II’s Mass at the National Mall, where the elder Deacon Curtis was on the altar for that historic Mass.

After Deacon Joseph Curtis Sr. died in 1993, it only took a few years for his son to begin training to be a deacon himself, and Deacon Joseph Curtis Jr. was ordained in 2002.

Now as he puts on a stole before every Mass, Deacon Joseph Curtis Jr. says a prayer for his parents, and kisses the stole. So it was natural for him to visit them at the cemetery just before meeting the pope. That afternoon, he said he almost felt like a proud student, telling his parents, “Guess what’s happening to me!”

Check out the link for the rest. And a cheerful h/t to Washington DC Catholic.

Photo: Deacon Joseph Curtis Jr. (left) and Deacon Juan Esposito walk in the opening procession with Pope Benedict XVI for the April 17 Papal Mass at Nationals Park. Deacon Curtis serves as a permanent deacon at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Father Juan Esposito was ordained as a new priest for the Archdiocese of Washington in June. Photo by Paul Fetters.