And the ranks continue to grow.

The diocesan paper, The Tidings, has the scoop on the “deacon couples”:

Last Sunday, the feast of Corpus Christi, marked the beginning of a new life for Deacon Gustavo Catipon and his wife Elena.

During Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Deacon Gus — ordained to the permanent diaconate the day before in the same sanctuary of his home parish — held the Lectionary high as he proceeded to the ambo to proclaim the Gospel and preach his first homily. He told those assembled about what it means to follow the example of Jesus the servant. “What brings us together and keeps us together,” he said, “is the sharing of the one bread and one cup.”

On June 13, the Catipons processed arm in arm down the main aisle of the Cathedral along with eight other deacon couples. After five years of prayer, study and service, plus great sacrifice on their part and by their families, the deacon couples came to the Cathedral to offer their lives in service to God and to God’s people.

In their ordination rite, the candidates made promises of obedience before Cardinal Roger Mahony. They lay prostrate around the altar during the litany of the saints, received the laying on of hands and the book of readings to be used at Mass, which they brought back to their wives, who then assisted in their vesting.

In addition to the Catipons, the Mother Teresa Permanent Deaconate Class of 2009 includes: Leonard Paul and Elisapeta Fido, Our Lady of Victory, Compton; Alan and Holly Holderness, St. Louise de Marillac, Covina; Romeo and Priscilla (Baby) Ligot, St. Pancratius, Lakewood; Paul and Michelle Pesqueira, St. Mariana de Paredes, Pico Rivera; Dale and Kim Sheckler, St. Lawrence Martyr, Redondo Beach; Ronald and Barbara Sanchez, Immaculate Conception, Monrovia; Victor and Fe Maria Dolores Tiambeng, St. Martha, Valinda; and Francis and Clara Tchoi, The 103 Saints Korean Catholic Center, Torrance/St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Lomita.

Prior to the liturgy of ordination the couples spoke of their great joy, at times with wordless emotion. They spoke of the deepening of their spiritual lives individually and together as a couple, of the tremendous growth that has taken place in their marriages and family lives, of their great desire to reach out and be of service to God’s people.

“It’s another chapter of my life, myself and for Barbara,” said Ronald Sanchez. “We feel that we have to continue on with the idea of imago Dei, the Image of God, in our service to the community. So we feel that we are especially blessed.”

Visit the Tidings website for more details and some great pictures. Ad multos annos!