Diaconate Ordinations

The new year began with the joyful celebration of the ordination to the order of deacons of three student brothers of the Irish Dominican province - Brothers Fergus Ryan (Cork), Declan Corish (Wexford) and David Rocks (Newry). The rite of ordination to the diaconate took place at the priory church of Saint Saviour, Dominick Street, Dublin on Saturday 5th January - the eve of the Epiphany. The ordaining prelate was Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin. In his homily, Archbishop Martin said to the three men being ordained, 'your ministry as Deacons will take place in the concrete world, the concrete historical context and culture in which you live. Your different personalities, the experience of your life paths, and your intellectual and spiritual formation have helped to build in each of you a strong faith capable of dialogue with the concrete realities and aspirations of the women and men of your generation.
The path of discipleship of Jesus Christ will always be a path of incarnation and not one of flight from the realities which surround us. But you can never simply totally identify itself with the realities of the culture of any particular time. You must always be otherworldly. You must also distance yourselves from the contemporary world; you must find for yourselves and bring to others discernment about the realities of our time and constantly purify yourselves as you inevitably become entangled in realities which are not fully those of the kingdom'. I hope and pray that our brothers will respond to the challenge presented to them. Please pray for them and their ministry.