DIAKONIA
Carrying Our Cross
By Rev. Bernard Ezaki
Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” --Luke 9:23--

If I am not mistaken, Philip Yancey declares in his book, "The Jesus I Never Knew", that this saying of Our Lord is the one most often repeated in the Gospels. What does it mean when Jesus tells us to take up our cross and to carry it? Well, I suppose one way to answer that question is to examine the three things I tend to do when I don’t carry my cross.  Read more
UPCOMING EVENTS

The VIA DOLOROSA
Slide Show Presentation
Deacon Michael Russo, Presenter
Sunday, March 5, 2023
St. Benedict Parish, Johnstown
3:00 PM
Free Admission for All

The Shroud of Turin
"Shroud Talks"
Bill Wingard
Sunday, March 12, 2023
3:00 PM
St. Benedict Parish, Johnstown
Free Admission for All

Free Movie Night
"The Passion of the Christ"
Sunday, March 19, 2023
3:00 PM
St. Benedict Parish, Johnstown
Free Admission for All

Ordination to the Order of Deacon
Richard Messina, Nelson Lowes and Chuck WIlliams
Saturday, June 3, 2023
10:00 AM
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament

Annual Diaconate Retreat
"Serving Others Through Conversion"
Fr. Frank DeSiano, CSP, Retreat Director
June 11-15, 2023
Antiochian Village Retreat Center

Rite of Candidacy
Saturday, September 16, 2023
5:00 PM
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament

Annual Marian Celebration
Sunday, October 1, 2023
3:00 PM
St. Benedict Parish, Johnstown

5 Catholic Lent devotionals for families with children
Published by Theresa Civantos Barber
Looking for a great way to deepen your family’s faith journey this Lent?

Look no further! We’ve got you covered with these wonderful Lenten devotionals for families with children. Read more

Article taken from Aleteia
Annual Diaconate Retreat
June 11-15, 2023
SERVING OTHERS THROUGH CONVERSION
Directed by Fr. Frank DeSiano, CSP
This retreat will emphasize some of the language and
ideals of evangelization-conversion as they
have been developed by Pope Francis and the Directory for Catechesis.
 
  •    A SPIRITUALITY OF PASCHAL MYSTERY
  •    A CULTURE OF ENCOUNTER
  •    A PASTORAL STRATEGY OF ACCOMPANIMENT
  •    THE EVANGELIZING HOMILY
  •    A GOSPEL OF MERCY
  •    DISCIPLESHIP FOR THE FUTURE
FATHER FRANK DeSiano, CSP was ordained a Paulist priest in 1972. 
He has served twice as pastor, in downtown New York and downtown Chicago. He earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Boston University in 1990. He was elected as President of the Paulist Fathers in 1994 and served until 2002. Read more
A Married Deacon and the Domestic Church
Principles to help deacons find balance
By Father Robert Hater
In the early 1970s, when directing the Archdiocese of Cincinnati religious education office, I worked with the newly formed diocesan diaconal program. Since then, I’ve been involved with permanent deacons and their wives as teacher, mentor, adviser and friend.

Over the years, questions surfaced as to a deacon’s role in ministerial service. These included: Who is a deacon from a theological and pastoral perspective? And, which vocational responsibilities take precedence when a deacon’s ministry conflicts with fulfilling his marital obligations? Today, after decades of diaconal experience and directions provided by the U.S. bishops, the role of a deacon has been clarified.

This article addresses one aspect of a married deacon’s life — namely, his place in the domestic church, or the church of the home. Read more

The Deacon
If Ratzinger detested anything, it was nonsense
By Jesús Colina 
What was his secret? What made him so great?

What’s the secret of Benedict XVI? How did he become the Mozart of 20th century theology and the Successor of the Apostle Peter at a time when the boat of the Church was buffeted by the winds of distress?

This was precisely the question we posed almost 30 years ago to the then personal secretary of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Monsignor Josef Clemens, when the cardinal was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A German like his superior, Mons. Clemens would later be consecrated archbishop and hold important positions in the Holy See. His answer clears up many doubts.

The influence of a giant

“At the age of 23, Joseph Ratzinger dedicated two years of his life to study one of the greatest thinkers in history, St. Augustine, on whom he wrote his doctoral thesis,” the then Monsignor Clemens told us at the time. “When you spend so much time immersed in the thought of such a brilliant mind, your mind changes, deepens, becomes much more sensitive and acute.”

In this way we can understand much better what Joseph Ratzinger later told us as a theologian and as Pope: Christianity is fire. And therefore it’s not “boring”; rather it requires of us the passion of faith to renew the world – without forgetting who it is that moves the world.
If Ratzinger detested anything, it was improvisation or nonsense: Things have a reason, they are not there “just because.” Christianity is “salt,” not “sugar,” he used to repeat. Read more

Article taken from Aleteia
Pile of books and spring flowers of a lilac and apricot in a basket on a wooden surface. Vintage still life.
The Lent Book Shelf
Office of the Permanent Diaconate
609 Park Avenue
Johnstown, PA 15902
(814) 361-2000
Deacon Michael L. Russo, Director