Wow, so it's been a long time since I posted on here, but you just got ordained a deacon a couple days ago, so I need to redouble my prayer and blog efforts. Only a little over a year until you're a priest!
The fact that you got ordained a deacon during Corpus Christi was incredibly awesome, one because it's an awesome feast and meant that your first homily was on the love of the Eucharist (great first homily, btw!), and two because the responsorial psalm was "You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek." Which is just, wow, because obviously you're not a priest yet, but you will be a priest forever (or a bishop), and from now on, you will always have at least the partial mark of holy orders on your soul. Like, when we're hanging out in heaven ten hundred trillion years from now, you'll still have the mark of holy orders. Nuns and monks take their vows for this life (I think), married couples make vows for this life, but holy orders is eternal.
I wonder what the priesthood will be like in heaven. Will it just be that you have the mark on your soul or will you have like certain powers/responsibilities/etc in heaven? Also, will people be able to see/sense the holy orders mark on your soul, and if so, does that mean we will be able to sense people's souls directly in heaven? I mean, we're going to come to know God directly, and He has no corporeal form (well, Jesus does, so He does but He doesn't. Hopefully that will make more sense in heaven, too), so that makes it seem like souls will be sense-able. Which I guess makes sense as right now there are only souls in heaven, not bodies, and I like to imagine them interacting with each other.
Anyway, I'm getting off track. I am so proud of you for all you have accomplished in your studies and for the amazing strength and perseverance you have shown in seeking and following God's will. The step you took this weekend was really the point of no return. Even if you were never ordained a priest after this, you will still have perpetually pledged your life to the service of the church. And you have done so out of an amazing trusting love in God's will that is evident to anyone that knows you. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. I think you are already an amazing deacon, and I believe you will be an incredible priest.
That little kid after Mass on Sunday told you he wanted to be a priest, and it made me realize the real impact that a joyful priest can have on future vocations. I think you will lead a great many souls closer to Christ. You certainly convinced a lot of us to go on Awakening, and each person that goes on the retreat is part of a ripple effect, so there is no real way to know how many people have come to have a deeper relationship with Christ because of your joy for Him. I know that my life has certainly been made a lot better the past few years by your presence. You were there in my life throughout a lot of ups and downs, and you have continuously encouraged me to pray, shown me how to love Jesus more joyfully, and called me to a higher standard of Christian living. So if you ever get nervous about trying to lead people to Christ, remember that you've already done so, probably many times over, and that He has been working through you to do great things for at least as long as I've known (and I'm guessing much longer).
Congratulations on your ordination! And thank you, for being my friend, for being an example of holiness, and for choosing to dedicate your life to the service of the Church. We need men like you to proclaim the Gospel boldly and joyfully, and I firmly believe that God is going to do amazing things through you.
As always, I'm praying for you!
:)
