By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

ATLANTA—Six men united in faith but diverse in background—coming originally from Burma and Quebec, Canada, as well as the southern United States—shared a common journey that culminated Feb. 24 in their ordination as permanent deacons for the archdiocese.

“I think this class has really done tremendously from the first day they came into the program . . . They were so diverse in backgrounds and geographic locations and yet they came together and really bonded as a unit . . . They prayed for each other, they supported each other morally in every other way,” said Deacon Loris Sinanian, director of formation.

The men, ranging in age from 46 to 63, are Deacon Michael Balfour, Deacon Richard Conti, Deacon Philippe Russell, Deacon Lloyd Sutter, Deacon Peter Swan Sr. and Deacon Kevin Tracy. They will serve in six different parishes.

The rite of ordination was celebrated at the Cathedral of Christ the King by Archbishop John F. Donoghue and was concelebrated by about 30 priests. Fifty permanent deacons attended and representatives of the diaconal class of 2002 served as acolytes.

Like the scent of wafting incense, a sense of anticipation and excitement spread quietly through the church before the celebration. Family members and friends began filling the pews and saving seats early for the morning Mass, while describing the deacons’ unique gifts to salt and season lives.

Deacon Alfred Mitchell, director of deacon personnel, called forth the candidates and Deacon Sinanian presented them to the archbishop who accepted them to the applause of the congregation.

The archbishop opened his homily thanking God for the gift of vocations and the grace for the faithful to accomplish their calling whether in family, single or consecrated life. He also thanked the candidates’ wives and other family members for the “harvesting and gleaning of these vocations.”

“It has not always been easy, for no true prize can be awarded, unless the victor labors and suffers to come to this end—and none of us, in pursuit of our goals, can know greater comfort or greater encouragement, than that which comes from those we most love—our spouses, our children, our families and our friends,” he said. “And last in this litany of thanksgiving, we commend the generosity, the perseverance, and the devoted spirituality of these men themselves, who have heard the call and not turned away, but like Jeremiah of old, placed their trust in the Lord, taking their confidence from His words: ‘ . . . to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak . . .’”

Addressing the six men, the archbishop reminded them to always center their lives on the rock of Christ, as they serve in ministries of the word, the altar and charity. He said as deacons they must have the church’s matured, formed and perfected understanding of the word, in which Christ is always present, and must proclaim the Scriptures “shorn of ego, of self-aggrandizement, and of show.”

“Christ said that He was the fulfillment of all of God’s prophecies—that He was the Way, the Truth and the Life. We are but the messengers of the King, and the King’s glory must shine, if the Light is to be seen and felt and loved by those we are called to serve,” he said.

Christ is always present in the sacraments that lead to the altar and in the Eucharist, Archbishop Donoghue said. But deacons must serve there respecting the church’s tradition regarding liturgy and worship.

“Respect for the rite, respect for the rubrics, respect for the solemnity of what happens when the Eucharist is offered by the priests whom you will assist—these have to be the hallmarks of your actions at the altar,” the archbishop said. In imitation of Christ, deacons are called to serve those most in need and to serve with patience and endurance, the archbishop said.

“Christ is always found among those you serve and so you must serve them with love, with respect, with unending patience, and with the perseverance necessary to see healing brought about, to see problems resolved, to see pain and suffering, even if not eliminated, still shared in equal amounts, between you, and those you will serve. Remember that Christ did not show us His portrait among the great ones—among the rulers, among the accomplished and renowned—Christ said, ‘As you have done for the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you have done for me,’” he said.

Finally, the archbishop noted that priests, deacons and the laity look from different vantage-points at the same Christ, whose presence they find in the church. “Where He is, there shall His servants be found. And where do His servants come to find the source for His presence— for His word, for His Body, and for His love? Here in the church, the place where all hopes begin, and where all beginnings can be found.”

“Let us resolve, each according to his or her own duties, to take from this unending treasury of spiritual power, the strength we will need to live the rest of our lives according to the goodness we find here. And especially let us resolve to pray for those who give their lives to the Church in service.”

The candidates promised “respect and obedience” to the archbishop and his successors and resolved to be faithful to commitments to prayer and service to the church. They then prostrated themselves in the main aisle, while the congregation sang a litany of the saints on their behalf.

Then each candidate knelt before Archbishop Donoghue, who ordained them by the laying on of hands. Afterward, each new deacon was vested in stole and dalmatic by chosen friends, priests, deacons and family members.

Each received the Book of the Gospels from the archbishop with the prayer: “Receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whose herald you are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach.”

The permanent diaconate, open to married or single men, was restored in the Roman rite in 1967 after falling out of use in the Western Church since the fourth or fifth century. In the United States, the permanent diaconate was restored in 1968. The first deacon for the Atlanta Archdiocese was ordained in 1977.

Permanent deacons may perform baptisms, marriages and funeral rites, preach at Mass, assist at the altar during Mass and lead Communion services. They also assist in a variety of special ministries in parishes and in the community.

The Atlanta formation program, which has expanded from four to five years, includes biweekly classes in Scripture, church history, Christology, ecclesiology, canon law, comprehensive study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, studies in fundamental and moral theology and teachings on the magisterium of the church. There is also a preaching practicum. Many teachers are priests who have graduated from the seminary within the past two to five years, Deacon Sinanian said.

Deacon Swan, a native of Burma, said that study of canon law was the rockiest part of his road to formation.

“It was too complex. The exam was too hard. It was one of my low moments . . . All the laws of the church and that exam really tore me up,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that now “it helps me. Right now I’m involved in counseling for couples getting married. There’s a lot of marriage laws I need to know.”

He particularly values the close relationships he developed with classmates, saying that he and his own brother, who lives out of the country, have been estranged for 12 years. He apologized to his brother long ago and now hopes for reconciliation.

“During that time I was really struggling with God, asking him, ‘Why did you take my brother away from me?’ I went into formation and I realized I got five brothers. I realized God took away one brother and gave me five.”

Raised as a Catholic in the predominantly Buddhist country of Burma, Deacon Swan developed a strong appreciation for his faith. In military service, he has lived in Germany and in the states of Hawaii and Kansas, where he developed greater openness to other faiths.

“Burma was a socialist country. They still allowed us to practice our faith. That made it more special to me, especially in the midst of all the Buddhists,” he recalled. “Having had to move around as much as I did to different countries made me more open to different views, different cultures and many different religions . . . I grew up cradle Catholic. Looking at different views made my views much stronger.”

He is particularly open to the Buddhist faith, which is the faith of his wife, Pansy. While they raised their children in the Catholic Church, Mrs. Swan said her husband has always respected her faith and she is joyful over his ordination. He will serve at St. Philip Benizi Church, Jonesboro.

“I’m happy for him. It’s something he wants to do. It’s his calling and I’m very proud. Even not being from the same religion we can pray together . . . There are a lot of similarities. There is only one God.”

“He loves God and he loves people young and old. It doesn’t

matter,” Mrs. Swan said. “I’ve seen a lot of young kids together. They come and open up to him. Some will cry. He loves people in general.”

So does Deacon Conti, but that didn’t stop him from questioning his calling to the diaconate right up until the time of ordination. He first considered the possibility after reading a Georgia Bulletin article on the diaconate.

“I started to investigate and then it just kind of grabbed me and led me. I tried to deny it for a couple of years, but I just couldn’t do it . . . I just felt, ‘Lord, I’ve been involved in church in many different ways, doing many things’ . . . I said, ‘Isn’t that enough?’ ... The Lord said, ‘No, it’s not enough.’”

But his doubts have now dissolved into Christ’s peace. “It’s just the beginning,” he said following ordination. “All of this has been preparation for this day and now the rest of my life is sealed with Christ and the church.”

His son, Anthony, said his father grew spiritually as he served at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Kennesaw and that his eucharistic ministry gave him more direction.

“It gave him a way or an avenue to touch the parishioners spiritually,” he said. “I’m very proud of him and honored because diaconate is like going through four years of college . . . It’s quite a commitment.”

The heart of Deacon Sutter’s service to the church has been through 30 years as a teacher in religious education and 14 years assisting with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, most recently at St. Andrew Church in Roswell.

Rebecca Menetre of St. Andrew Church, who is now undergoing catechist training, went through the RCIA program when Deacon Sutter was teaching in it.

“Lloyd has a profound effect on people. Sometimes I don’t even think he realizes it,” she said. “He inspires people, he edifies people. He enlightens. I’ve learned a lot from him and (from) watching him. He lets the Holy Spirit lay the seed. He’s a modest man and you can tell he appreciates the gifts and talents that God has given him and he doesn’t take credit, but he gives the credit to the Lord. And the number of people’s lives he’s touched has been incredible—the cradle Catholic who has come back through his ministry and those of us who converted.”

“I think he is just a wonderful example of a Catholic Christian who has allowed God to work in him . . . and the culmination is his entering into the diaconate. This is where God’s call is leading him.”

Deacon Sutter, who said that he heard his call to the diaconate while playing golf with his pastor and another priest, noted that “it can come in strange places and strange ways.”

As a young man who first studied in the seminary before moving on to the profession of law and marriage and family life, this is his fourth career and another way to give back to the church after retiring from the law.

“I was a former seminarian . . . At the end of raising a family, I heard the calling to serve the church again in a little different way . . . It’s an opportunity to return some of the blessings I’ve received when I wasn’t working that much in the church . . . the opportunity to extend the sacramental reach of the church and the parish and to assist more fully in the sacrifice of the Mass.”

Deacon Balfour, who serves the Cursillo movement and St. Peter Chanel Church in Roswell, is particularly looking forward to walking with the faithful in their lives.

“The most awesome moment in the liturgy since ordination has been turning to the priest and saying, ‘Father, bless me, that I may worthily proclaim the Gospel,’” he said. “It’s at that moment that I feel closest to God.”

“The real service or ministry of the deacon is going to be getting down to the day-to-day ministry with the people whenever and whereever they need me. It is about assisting at the altar, but what I’m looking forward to most is working with the people.”

The hardest part of his formation occurred in 1999 when Father Richard Kieran, his spiritual director and mentor, and the spiritual director of the Cursillo movement, which sponsored his candidacy, suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. The loss of Father Kieran’s counsel left him floundering for a time. At the ordination Mass, Father Kiernan, seated in a wheelchair, was able to help him vest.

“He’s just been a personal hero of mine . . . He was the person that asked me to go into formation, my personal support, the one who encouraged me to keep going. At the time (of his stroke), I felt it was such a huge loss in my life. That direction was not there to be able to turn to,” Deacon Balfour said. “He dictated a letter to me the week before ordination, thanking me for completing the program and saying he was proud of me and that it’s his hope that we could once again be able to minister together to the people of God. It was probably the most emotional moment for me to have him there and to be vested by him. It was beautiful.”

Deacon Balfour said that choosing to serve at St. Peter Chanel, where Father Frank McNamee is pastor, has helped him to find new direction and a new sense of joy.

“I think God guided Claire and me to St. Peter Chanel . . . The loss was so great when I lost Father Richard that I didn’t think I’d find that kind of support again and I found it in Father McNamee,” he said. “St. Peter Chanel proved to be an incredible parish of warmth and welcoming spirit. Father McNamee has proven to be a wonderfully welcoming priest who has encouraged and supported both me and my wife tremendously. I thank God he sent him into my life. Father Frank and St. Peter Chanel are what we have searched for and prayed for.”

Sister Margaret McAnoy, IHM, co-spiritual director of the Cursillo movement with Father Dan Fleming, encouraged his vocation to the diaconate.

“He just had gifts that I thought could be utilized by the community and his spirit is one of service. I thought he would be a natural. He’s a good listener and has a great sense of humor, which is an asset,” she said. “He has a great reverence about him and a reverence for people, which I think is wonderful, and he and (his wife) Claire make a wonderful couple as models of married life. He knows, and we know, he could not have done it without Claire right beside him.”

Deacon Ed LaHouse, who serves at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Alpharetta, was a source of support for Deacon Tracy, acting as his mentor during the program. The gifts of the new deacon include an excellent speaking and singing voice and amateur theatrical experience, Deacon LaHouse said.

“He’s just a very caring individual, very sensitive to others’ needs and feelings. I think he’ll be very strong as far as liturgy is concerned. He has an excellent singing voice. He’s very articulate. He’s just a fine all-around person. He’s just a wonderful family man, husband, father, tremendous integrity . . . Not a bad golfer either,” he said. “You feel good being around him and he will bring that same quality into his ministry . . . I think he’s going to be a great deacon and I think the archdiocese is blessed to have him.”

“It really was a privilege these past four years to be involved in this spiritual journey he was on and I will continue to do that,” Deacon LaHouse said.

Deacon Tracy recalled that one thing his mentor told him in discernment is that if God is the one calling, “the phone would never stop ringing.”

“That’s how I experienced it. People would come up to me, sometimes people I didn’t even know, and say, ‘When are you going to become a deacon?’” recalled Deacon Tracy, in an interview following ordination.

During formation, he was impacted by his study of the history of the Catholic Church.

“I came away with the understanding there’s no way this is a man-made organization because if it were, it would have failed probably 1,800 years ago. It’s definitely an organization inspired by God. That’s the only way it could have survived all the trials and tribulations it’s experienced . . . It helped me realize that if you’re open to the Holy Spirit, instead of deciding what it is you need to do as a human being, it will allow you to be much more effective.”

The Holy Spirit spoke to Deacon Russell when he was involved in the New Age movement, challenging him to return to study of the Bible and the Catholic faith.

Work in the family business led him to move to Georgia in 1983 from predominantly Catholic Quebec, Canada, and to join St. Mary’s Church in Rome. This led him to greater church involvement, he said, noting that parishes in Georgia are much more welcoming and friendly than in his homeland. “Back home you walk in and nobody says anything. This community is very inviting and I just got sucked in.”

He said the formation program was a tremendous learning experience for him. In addition to learning theology, he expanded his English vocabulary, as his mother tongue is French.

His wife, Ginette, attended nearly all of his classes with him, in order to learn more about her faith.

“When we moved (to Rome) it was about 10 percent that was Catholic. Because of that we had to really search and look for our faith. We had to be involved. There (in Quebec) it was so open we didn’t search as much. Coming here it brought me closer to the church,” she said. “I’m sure if we were in Canada probably we wouldn’t be that involved. They take everything for granted.”

Those who are discerning a call to the diaconate at this time will have an extra year for the process, Deacon Sinanian said. Based on a 1998 document from the Vatican, and a U.S. bishops’ document based upon it, the Atlanta program will now begin with an aspirancy year. After that year, persons who are accepted will go through an initial rite before continuing with four more years of formation.

“It’s a focused year of discernment, prayer and spirituality and also of learning,” Deacon Sinanian said. “It’s going to give them a fifth year of spiritual discernment, prayer life and also a focus on the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

Currently the archdiocese, including the six newly ordained, has 145 deacons and 76 in formation. As the archdiocese has grown quickly, Deacon Sinanian said, “The need is much greater than the supply.” He estimates that the next class will be made up of about 20 people. The archbishop sent out a letter Feb. 16 to pastors asking them to submit recommendations of candidates.