Kevin Kelly/Key photo Deacon candidates make their official declaration

Fellow deacons, friends, family members, pastors and spiritual directors of the men nearly filled the church, home parish to Ron Strong, one of the eight, as each formally declared his candidacy and was accepted into formation by Bishop Raymond J. Boland.

Bishop Boland, who celebrated Mass with Our Lady of Lourdes pastor Father Brad Offutt, noted the good fortune that the event fell on the feast of the Nativity of Mary, Mother of God.

In many ways, he said, the vocation of deacon parallels the unique and extraordinary vocation given to Mary and her acceptance of it, he said.

"God reached out and selected a young woman, and prepared her in a very special way to be the mother of Jesus Christ," Bishop Boland told the congregation in his homily.

"Mary brought Christ to us and wants us to come to Christ through her," he said. "Today, on her birthday, we are inclined to offer her a gift. There is a gift of eight men who will become ministers in the diaconate of God.

"It is a gift of eight parts," Bishop Boland said. "Each man is offering himself and not only himself. It is a gift supported by all his kin. It is a gift that comes from families."

Bishop Boland said that like Mary, the deacon candidates may be feeling a sense of "holy apprehension" as they accept the call. They may be asking themselves, "Am I worthy? Can I fulfill it?" he said.

"We know that in God's providence, if he calls us to a role in the church, he provides us with the power to overcome that anxiety," he said. But like Mary, they must trust in God as they turn their lives into new directions, he said.

"As 'The Magnificat,' her great prayer, testifies, she trusted in the role God had given to her," Bishop Boland said.

Joseph also was called to a special role. Upon hearing that Mary was "with child and they had not consummated their union," Bishop Boland said, Joseph could have exposed Mary publicly and driven her out of the community.

Instead, "he made a decision based on great kindness, not to expose her publicly but to divorce her privately," Bishop Boland said. "Then, he received a message from an angel."

Like Joseph, deacons must also face difficult pastoral decisions.

"Make them with kindness always in view," he said. "And if you are not sure where to go after that, let God take over."

Bishop Boland urged the candidates to become "dispensers of God."

"Perhaps you too can echo the words of Mary: 'Be it done unto me, according to your word,'" he said. Four of the new deacon candidates are on a track to be ordained in 2002. The other four are scheduled for ordination in 2004.

Scheduled for ordination in 2002 are:

• Darwin Dupree, St. Monica Parish, Kansas City.
  
• Dwayne Katzer, St. Sabina Parish, Belton.
  
• Jim Reynolds, St. Ann Parish, Independence.
  
• Ron Strong, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Harrisonville.

• Rich Akins, Holy Spirit Parish, Lee's Summit.
  
• Ken Albers, St. John Francis Regis Parish, Kansas City.
  
• Steve Carter, Holy Rosary Parish, Clinton.
  
• Mike Peterson, Our Lady of the Presentation Parish, Lee's Summit.

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