After six years of prayerful study, Vern Behrends recently preached his first homily at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Worthington, beginning with the story about a guy who receives a traffic ticket resulting from a stoplight camera and pays the fine with a photo of some money, only to get a photo of some handcuffs back in the mail. 
An occasional sermon such as that — likely injected with a bit of Vern’s humor — will be among his new duties as a deacon. Vern was ordained Aug. 29 in Winona in the latest class in the Diocese of Winona’s Diaconate Formation Program. 

 The roots of the diaconate can be traced to the early church, at which time care of the poor was a major concern of the early Christian community and deacons were directly responsible for that ministry. According to the diocese Web site, steps were taken during the Second Vatican Council to restore the diaconate as a permanent ministry within the Catholic Church. 

In 2009 there were nearly 35,000 deacons serving in 129 countries, with about 16,000 of these in the United States.
“Deacons share in Christ’s mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (‘character’) which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the ‘deacon’ or servant of all,” quotes the diocese Office of the Diaconate from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

 “This permanent diaconate, which can be conferred on married men, constitutes an important enrichment for the Church’s mission.”
Vern admits he wasn’t the most likely candidate to become a deacon. In fact, he started out life as a Protestant.

 “I met (wife) Joanie in school, and we got married two years out of high school,” Vern recalled. “In talking things over, we decided we were going to be a one-faith family, so I decided to become Catholic.” 

 His parents were faithful Presbyterians, rarely missing church, and his mother voiced her disappointment that he was switching faiths.
“But she told me, ‘If you’re going to be a Catholic, you’d better be a good one,'” he recalled. 

 The Behrends raised four children in the Catholic faith — Tim, Pam, Jay and Brad — and have four grandchildren, the oldest now in college. After his children had grown and left home, Vern began to contemplate his faith more deeply. 

 “My dad passed away on the day before King Turkey Day in 1994, and I happened to be on the Turkey Race Team that year,” Vern continued. “His mother had just passed away at the age of 108 the January before, so it wasn’t expected. It made me feel like life was awful short, and I started asking myself, ‘Am I on the right path?’

You can read more about how he followed “the right path” at the link. Welcome, Vern!