Ordination Reflection - Deacon Joseph Moynahan

Deacon Joseph Moynahan was recently ordained by Bishop Libasci as a Transitional Deacon, read his reflection below:

The Rite of Ordination was incredible. While I am unable to fully express what my experience of it was, I suppose
I can try to share a couple of things that were causes of great joy and happiness. First, during the Liturgy of the Word, as one about to be ordained, all of the readings had a deeper gravitas. That is to say, it was as if I heard them anew.
The first reading was Jeremiah 1: 4-9. What was striking about that for me as I sat there at the Mass of Ordination was the line: “before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” The notion of being set apart for God's purposes was overwhelming a cause of humility. This underscored for me just how God’s Providence orders all things, universally and personally. I also began to feel the gravity of the task of preaching the Truth. It was wonderful. The second reading was from 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23, and underscored that very task of preaching, as well as the task of becoming the servant of all. If I do not preach the Gospel in word and/or deed I am not being a servant. From Matthew’s Gospel from ch. 9 verse 35-38, there was the sense of how in being ordained, David and I were, in a sense, God's answering to the prayers of the Church who has been asking the Lord for workers to cultivate and gather in His harvest. Not that we of ourselves are anything special, but rather what God is doing and going to do through His ordained ministers, much like an artist or craftsman works through his instruments, is something special: God comes to His beloved people in teaching and Sacrament and Tradition in a unique and particular way which is divinizing. To ponder that He is going to use me in this unique way, to be caught up as an instrument in the Missions of the Son and the Spirit is humbling and a cause of trepidation: woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.'

Lastly, on the day of ordination, and continuing unto this very moment, there is also a greater desire for the priesthood that burns with greater intensity. Looking ahead to the upcoming year as a Deacon I hope to be a conduit of grace to God's people as well as draw nearer to Christ, to have the heart of a shepherd- to have His Heart. So, I guess I am looking forward to preaching, baptizing, praying for people, studying/contemplating theology, helping people find and see Jesus and bring Him to them in Sacrament. Finally, I am looking forward to receiving the sacerdotal character of Holy Orders, which I believe this year performing and living the ministry of Deacon will prepare me for.

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