Answer Special Call to Serve - King's College

More documents

Recommendations

Info

King’s Grads Accept Call to A Greek translation of the name of St. Stephen, purported to be the first Deacon, is crown. Appropriately, more than a dozen graduates of the College named in honor of Christ the King have answered the call to fill this special role in the Catholic Church. Religious scholars believe the origin of the diaconate is recorded in the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. A dispute arose about the division of goods for the poor. When the argument was brought to the Apostles, they suggested the crowd select seven upstanding men who were “acknowledged to be deeply spiritual and prudent” to arbitrate the matter. The seven candidates were presented to the Apostles who “prayed over them and imposed hands on them.” Stephen, one of the seven, was “filled with grace and power.” The role of a deacon (the word originates from the Greek diakonos, meaning a servant or helper) was mentioned frequently in the New Testament and was sometimes applied to Christ himself. What followed Biblical times was a centuries-long decline in the recognition and utilization of deacons. The permanent diaconate wasn’t officially restored until Vatican Council II and its place in the three-fold hierarchy of Orders (deacons, priests, and bishops) was established. The Council declared that deacons “…receive the imposition of hands not unto the priesthood, but unto a ministry of service. For, strengthened by sacramental grace, they are dedicated to the People of God, in conjunction with the bishop and his body of priests, in the service of the liturgy, of the Gospel and of works of charity.” “This year we celebrate the ‘Year of the Priest’ as proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI. Many King’s alumni have accepted the call to priesthood,” said Father O’Hara recently. “As a Church, we are grateful for that and as the King’s Community we are proud of all of our graduates ordained to the priesthood. In this issue, we also take the opportunity to highlight and celebrate King’s alumni who have been called to ministry within the Church as ordained deacons. We are equally grateful to them for their service and proud of them as King’s graduates.” The permanent diaconate formation period entails a four or five-year training period. Diaconal candidates receive instruction in philosophy, theology, study of the Holy Scriptures, homiletics, sacramental studies, evangelization, ecclesiology, counseling, and pastoral care and ministry. Most candidates also complete a practicum or internship with a community organization. Three alumni deacons, Joe DeVizia ’69, John Ziegler ’72 and Robert Roman ’68, graduated from King’s after spending several years studying for the priesthood. Deacon Joe Graham, second from right, is pictured with Deacon Joe DeVizia, far right, following Graham’s ordination. Deacon Joe Donovan served as Deacon of the Gospel at the ordination. Graham was ordained by Rev. John Dougherty, D.D., V.G., Auxiliary Bishop of the Scranton Diocese. 6 Pride ✦ Fall 2009
Deacon Gene Kovatch is shown with students at St. Jude School, Mountain Top, at a “blessing of the animals” lesson he had with the children in conjunction with the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. DeVizia, who was a member of the Diocese of Scranton’s first graduating diaconate class in 1993, was sent to King’s specifically to prepare for the seminary after graduating from high school. Even after leaving the seminary and returning to King’s for his degree, he never stopped reading Scripture and theology. It was not a hard decision for him to join the first diaconate class. “Bishop Timlin, who instructed me in the seminary, ordained me a Deacon. His light hearted comment to my family was, ‘well, he finally made it.’ ” Devizia, who is Executive Director of Human Services for Luzerne County, is currently assigned to All Saints Parish in Plymouth. One of his ministries is visiting the sick. “My mother died of cancer and my daughter had a serious childhood illness, so I would have been happy to never to see another hospital,” DeVizia said recently. “When sick visits was one of my first assignments, I think it really helped me to define grace.” Seminary studies were sandwiched between Ziegler’s freshman and senior years at King’s. Throughout his subsequent 37-years-and-counting career in public service – currently Executive Director of the Wilkes-Barre Housing Authority – Ziegler retained “a strong desire to serve God and my Church.” “My daughter was still too young when the first diaconate class was forming, so I joined the second class in 1994,” Ziegler said recently. Ziegler was one of six King’s graduates that were ordained in 1999, accounting for almost a third of the entire class. All six will celebrate the 10 th anniversary of their ordination this Thanksgiving weekend. As the only deacon assigned to Holy Family Parish in Luzerne, Ziegler has a full list of responsibilities, including hospital visitations and sacramental preparations. He has even taught in the two subsequent diaconate formations and serves as an advisor to several candidates in the current class. The recipient of a history and education degree, Roman admits that he “always had an interest in serving the Church.” He entered King’s after spending more than three years studying for the priesthood. He completed his diaconate studies while working as a probation officer for the juvenile courts in Luzerne County. “Of the thousands of men in the Scranton Diocese, I felt honored to be one 19 chosen by God to serve Him,” said Ziegler, currently assigned to Our Lady of Grace Church in Hazleton. Two other members of the 1999 diaconate class, Joseph Donovan ’76 and Jim Graham ’01, were veterans of the Pennsylvania State Police. Admittedly, Donovan didn’t know the responsibilities of a deacon when he was approached to replace one who had retired from his parish. He, like all of the deacons interviewed for this story, was very active in his parish before beginning his studies. He had served as a lector, Eucharistic Minister and as a member of several committees, and had recently retired after 25 years as a state trooper. Similar to some others interviewed for this story, Donovan described his ordination as ethereal, “almost as if I was watching the event from the outside.” He also shares the feelings of others with regard to the rewards of the position. “Sometimes I feel like a thief, because what I take from my encounters with others is much more than I feel that I give.” Jim Graham received an associate degree from King’s in 1976 and returned after his ordination to receive a bachelor’s degree. He began his diaconate studies just before his retirement. He was part of the second diaconate class but was not ordained until 2002, on the same day as the celebration of his parish’s newly built church. “Doing this ministry is an affirmation of God’s grace,” Graham said recently. Following several assignments in the Scranton Diocese, Graham continues his ministry at the Charleston, S.C., Diocese after recently relocating. Two other members of the 1999 ordination class spent their careers in the education field. Thaddeus Wadas ’70 taught reading and was later an administrator for the Greater Nanticoke School District and Gene Kovatch ’65 was an English teacher at Meyers High School. For Wadas, his parish activities, which included teaching CCD and being a Eucharistic minister, “prompted me to move in a direction of preparing the way of the Lord.” Although he, like some others, felt a bit of trepidation at his ordination, wondering if he could live up to the commitment, Wadas admits that being a deacon has led to an increase in his Pride ✦ Fall 2009 7
Page 1 and 2: FALL 2009 Deacons- King’s Graduat
Page 3 and 4: Contents Fall 2009 PRESIDENT Rev. T
Page 5 and 6: Kevin Clark Mathematics, football a
Page 7: Dustin Stark, who received a degree
Page 11 and 12: King’s Earns Place on CCAP/Forbes
Page 13 and 14: Faculty Profile Laurie Ayre Reading
Page 15 and 16: Faces of King’s Jacintha Burke Ad
Page 17 and 18: Matt Easterday named Head Swimming
Page 19 and 20: Knoblauch, Venarchick Achieve Rare
Page 21 and 22: Athletic Schedule Winter 2009-2010
Page 23 and 24: King’s Easter Egg Hunt Despite a
Page 25 and 26: R e u n i o n King’s Annual Reuni
Page 27 and 28: Campus Neighbor Celebrates Part of
Page 29 and 30: Alumni Profile Mike Angley ’81 Mi
Page 31 and 32: Joseph Newcomer ’94 was promoted
Page 33 and 34: Alumni Births Congratulations to Jo
Page 35 and 36: Donor Profile Richard A. Alley, M.D

Answer Special Call to Serve - King's College

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?