Just in time for Lent, the Archdiocese of Atlanta has ordained a new class of deacons, and as usual, the Georgia Bulletin has the scoop:

Christ the King Cathedral welcomed family and friends from all over the country and beyond as a unique and international class of deacons was ordained on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Five countries and a commonwealth were represented in the class of 12 permanent deacons, which even had a special presence in Timothy Gallagher, who was ordained as a transitional deacon, completing the “baker’s dozen,” as Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory put it.

In addition to the United States, the class includes natives of Cuba, El Salvador, Peru, Venezuela and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Ranging from Gallagher, who is 37, to Stuart A. Mead, who is 68, the class includes five men with over 20 years of service in the Army, Navy or Air Force and, by profession, a preponderance of engineers.

The deacons’ wives, children, parents, siblings and friends packed Atlanta’s mother church on the unseasonably warm day and came together to celebrate the culmination of their five years of study and formation.

While the men who were ordained came from different cultures and families, their desire to serve the larger community with compassion is what unifies them in this vocation.

In his homily, Archbishop Gregory referred to the Gospel of the day, a reading from Matthew, which told of Jesus visiting various synagogues, healing many with diseases and sicknesses.

“Seeing the people, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd,” the Gospel read. “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.’”

“The Gospels over and over again reveal that Jesus Christ was an empathetic man. He furthermore was not afraid to display his emotions,” the archbishop said during his homily.

“It is this image of the heart of Christ, moved with pity, that the Gospel places before us on this ordination day, and rightfully so,” he continued. “Christ is a man of such deep compassion for the needs of people that we could not have selected a more appropriate image as we ordained these men for the office of deacon. In view of the fact that a deacon must be a man of deep compassion for the needs of all those who even today yearn to encounter Christ through his Church.”

Archbishop Gregory continued to encourage the candidates, offering them advice on how to be the best they can be.

“Deacons must be men of prayer, for within your life of prayer only will you meet the Lord Jesus. The most perfect encounter with Christ will always be in the Eucharist. As you stand at the altar of the Lord assisting at the celebration of the Eucharist, look to discover Christ in his word and in the cup of salvation so that you will both know the one that you proclaim and understand more profoundly his message of life,” the archbishop said.

The Bulletin has more, including this interesting piece about the one deacon in the group who will go on to become a priest. Check it out. And there’s more, at an earlier post of mine, right here.

Meantime, congratulations and welcome, brothers! Ad multos annos!