Bill Ferguson: Ordination Day

It's now been a couple of days since I was ordained as a Deacon here at the Josephinum with two of my classmates from other dioceses. It was a great experience - I am grateful to God for his guiding me along to this moment and His continuing providence in helping me to keep faithful to what seems to be His plan for me in his Kingdom. In the couple of days leading up to the ordination, I spent some time praying more about my ordination, including seeing my spiritual director and going to Confession. Several things came to mind: why has God been calling me, out of so many others in His Church, to go ahead with receiving Holy Orders? It makes one wonder about how God comes up with His plan, but also makes one have a certain humility, that God wants to make use of you in a special way, and sense of trust that God knows what He was doing and will provide you with what you need to fulfill his will. Another thought was a temptation to wonder if this indeed was the right thing to do...have I been deluded all this time? Will I be regretting this later on? I suppose Satan often does this to those who are committing themselves to the Lord. I took consolation in realizing that taking the commitments of Ordination would be, for me, a natural consequence of the whole path of my life; I remembered back to my ongoing relationship with Christ over the years from when I was really young, andrealized that I've been wanting to do His will in various ways for a long time; in a sense, this day would not be radically different from that trajectory. I could see how He had been preparing me for this for many years.

The actual ordination day, this past Sunday April 24th, was a great grace. I actually slept pretty well the night before (several people asked me that; actually, I can sleep just about anytime!). The three of us who were to be ordained came to the small chapel (St. Rose of Lima) near the main chapel to sit and pray before we were to be called to join the procession. When Mass began, we processed out to a full chapel with Bishop Blair of Toledo, and then listened to the Liturgy of the Word, which happened to include, on this particular Sunday, the reading from Acts about the laying on of hands of the first deacons by the Apostles. Then, after the Bishop's homily, came the ordination ritual. One of the moments I remembered most vividly was the Litany of Saints, when the three of us were prostrated on the floor, praying for the saints' prayers. I recall thinking back to various spiritual books I had read the last few years of some of the saints who were named, including St. Therese of Liseaux, St. John Chrysostom (who's book "On the Priesthood" is a must-read for those considering vocations), St. Anthony of Egypt (I've had a great devotion to the spirituality of the early Fathers of the Eastern Church), and others. Then came the laying on of hands by the Bishop and the Prayer of Ordination, the actions which actually ordain one to Holy Orders. I had occasional flashbacks to various moments in my life, including a memory of a second-grade religious ed class when the teacher was explaining vocations and that some people have a "calling," and I remember wondering what such a "calling" looked or sounded like, and thinking it must be neat to experience it. Well, ironically, here I was being ordained, apparently having had such a calling, and appreciating how God has taught me much about the Faith and how to listen to Him, all these years since second grade!The ordination ritual finished with myreceiving the vestments of a deacon, the stole and dalmatic, from two great deacons, Dcn. Steve Seever (who will be ordained priest this summer) and Dcn. James Keating, who has been one of my favorite teachers here in the semianry. Then I received the sign of peace from all the other deacons in attendance. During the rest of Mass, the three of us newly-ordained were able to assist the Bishop as Deacons at the altar. It felt strange to be a deacon at the altar now; it will take some getting used to!

After Mass, we had a great lunch downstairs with Fr. Coning, my brother from New York State, Dave Schalk who is a great seminarian who came from Mundelein Seminary, and several friends of mine from Columbus. It was a very happy and blessed day.