September 7, 2003

On Saturday, August 30, fourteen young men were ordained as deacons in preparation for their ordination, God willing, to the priesthood next year. This is a larger number than have been ordained in recent years, following long years of preparation. All of them show excellent promise as they dedicate their various gifts to the Lord’s work. It was my privilege to give them their pre-ordination retreat the last week of August and I was edified by their understanding of service. The Holy Order of Deacons was established to serve others, specifically to free the apostles to preach and evangelize by helping with the other burdens that were occupying the apostles’ daily duties.

While a deacon is ordained to serve in many ways, service is incumbent upon all Christians. Christ came among us not to be served but to serve and to be a ransom for many. The Pope is Servus Servorum Dei, Servant of the Servants of God. Next month the Church Universal will give thanks for Pope John Paul’s twenty-five years of service as Sovereign Pontiff. No two people serve the same way because each has different gifts. This is true as well, in an organizational sense, of parish churches. It would be hard to measure the many ways each parish serves the larger Church and individuals in the immediate neighborhood. Our parish is uniquely positioned to help a diverse populace, because of its location, which draws many commuters and tourists.

This summer has not been slow, for there have been a good number of visitors in addition to the parishioners who did not go away for long periods of time. Travel patterns in our days are changing. In the depths of the summer, the blackout hit and made the parish a focus for emergency service. The church doors were open all night and stranded souls were able to spend the night in our pews. I have received expressions of thanks from some of them, from states as distant as New Mexico and also from abroad. The significant contributions we make to the Cardinal’s Appeal and various charitable projects involve the parish in a world much larger than Murray Hill. But it is here in the midst of Manhattan that our outreach begins.

As the summer yields to the heightened pace of autumn, there will be new parish activities. Activity is little more than mere activism without the sacramental life, which is at the heart of the Church. Astute commentators have noted an increasingly shrill tone of anti-Catholicism in many quarters of our society as the Church asserts the eternal Gospel truths over against a confused and decaying social structure. All the more reason then for us to take seriously Our Saviour’s command to serve others by being faithful to Him.

Fr. George W. Rutler