On September 24, 1994, I, along with 8 other men, were ordained to the permanent diaconate of the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis by Archbishop John Roach at the Cathedral of St Paul. I composed piano music for each one of my classmates as an ordination present (heard on this blog from time to time). For the ordination Mass, I composed the hymn, “Abba, Yeshua, Ruah” (Abba is Aramaic for Father, Yeshua is Aramaic for Jesus, and Ruah, Hebrew for Spirit). The text I wrote for the hymn describes the life of being a servant/disciple of Jesus. As Jesus says many times in the Gospels, discipleship is not easy, but it is to be the destiny of all Christians. The Roman Catholic deacon is to personify Jesus as “Servant of God.”
(front row left to right) By Rudolphi, Tom Coleman, John Mangan, Dominic Ehrmantraut, myself, and Dick Pashby.
When a deacon is ordained, in many ways his whole family is ordained as well. His ordination impacts their lives. This is why before a man is ordained to the diaconate, his family MUST approve his ordination. I have always maintained, that of the two of us, Ruthie would be the better deacon. It is with this lived knowledge that I urge the Pope to restore the ordination of women to the diaconate. The Church would be so very well served in so doing.
Here is the text of the hymn:
Abba, Abba.
May we be dwellings of your Holy Love,
the love which You grace all below, above.
May we be dwellings of your Holy Peace,
the peace for which all souls search and seek.
You loved so much that you sent your Son.
Only in You can we live as one,
Dwell in us Father, so that all may feel,
the touch of your love and your peace-filled will.
Yeshua, Yeshua,
May we be servants of You, Eternal Word,
Servants of You, compassionate Lord.
O may we seek you among the very least,
Inviting all to the Father’s feast.
You loved so much that You gave Your life.
You conquered our death so that we may rise.
O loving Jesus, may our bodies be
Your living Body for all to see.
Ruah, Ruah.
O Holy Spirit, come and make us whole,
enflame our hearts, our minds, our souls.
Inspire our actions, our fears relieved
so we may give to others what we’ve received.
Vessel of hope on our world outpour,
Your healing breath our lives restore.
Infuse our lives now with Your holy gifts
so in You, source of love, we may always live.
Abba, Yeshua, Ruah.
The recording that is presented here is that which we heard at the ordination Mass on September 24, 1994. You can hear the wonderful live acoustics of the Cathedral of St Paul (the acoustics are wonderful for music, horrible for the spoken word). The choir is made up of the choirs of all the churches of the ordinands (those to be ordained), including the church choirs of St Hubert, St Wenceslaus, Immaculate Heart of Mary, St Agnes, Transfiguration, St Bartholomew, St Odilia, St Richard, and Sacred Heart (if I remember them all correctly). The choir was under the very skilled direction of my good friend, Dan Westmoreland. My class was given permission to videotape the ordination Mass (as long as the videographers didn’t impose themselves on the liturgy). It is audio from the videotape that you hear.
After nearly 25 years of diaconal ministry, I watch the video tape of my ordination to the diaconate to recapture my initial enthusiasm. Years of ministry can bring on a bit of cynicism as one encounters the very human part of the institutional Church with all its politics and need for conversion. The video tape is a good reminder, especially when I am feeling particularly jaded about the Church, as to why I was ordained.
Now as I get closer to retiring from full-time ministry, I look back and marvel on how I have grown in ministry and how, in spite of the hardships ministry on myself and my family, I have grown as a deacon, as Servant of Christ.
