One of the joys of running a little blog like this is hearing from other people around the country, or even around the world. The other day I got this wise and supportive e-mail from a man who’s been a deacon for 20 years. I asked him if I could share part of it. These are words not just for me, but for every deacon, and every man who is thinking of becoming a deacon.

Never forget that one of the reasons people are attracted to your preaching is that they can relate to you. You are there with them…you are making house payments, you are working with and in the midst of people who have no faith, you are applying your faith in everyday life and you are not (in their minds) a priest removed from everyday worldy life. You should always strive to apply the Scriptures to the everyday life of the single mom sitting in the pews trying to raise her children; to the husband and wife sitting in the pews smiling but in intense pain from a broken marriage that only they and God know about; to the elderly person who has lost their spouse after so many years of marriage; and on, and on, and on. The role of deacon is an awesome, profound, holy role that maybe only a few of us truly grasp.

Someone asked me recently: “How do you deal with all the “stuff” you encounter each day?” I said, and, Greg, never forget this: “God gives us special graces in the sacrament of Holy Orders.” Those wonderful experiences of baptisms and Theologies on Tap, and preaching with a really cool retired Bishop present, and weddings when they come forth…those are God’s way of giving us a high-five in return for those experiences that will come (when your honeymoon is over) when you deal with a family who has lost a child, or a marriage that is breaking up, or who knows what. As we must remain in relationship with the Jesus who kept the party going at Cana, we must also remain in relationship with the Jesus praying and suffering in the Garden with His friends who couldn’t even stay awake with Him.

So, what I want to share with you is God’s amazing Grace, poured out for you in the Sacrament you received. Never lose sight of that moment when your Bishop, in silence, laid hands on your head and conveyed 2,000 years of the power of the Holy Spirit.

I rejoice each day that God has called me to this and allowed me to be doing what I want to do more than anything in the world. I am so blessed to see that you feel…I think…the same way. You are an inspiration to me as you take me back to the “early days”…the honeymoon. Relish it…grow in your love for Him who called you, and thank God for your wife who heard the call as well. She must be…as my wife is…an unbelievable holy woman of God.

To which I can only add: yes, she is.

Amen, brother, and thank you. Let’s continue to pray for one another, and all those who are walking on this journey.