By John Rohlf, The Message assistant editor
Four transitional deacons in the Diocese of Evansville on track for priesthood ordination next month made a Profession of Faith and an Oath of Fidelity.
Transitional Deacons Nick Biever, Keith Hart, Aaron Herrenbruck and Clint Johnson each moved one step closer to the priesthood by making the Profession of Faith and the Oath of Fidelity during Solemn Evening Prayer May 13 at Annunciation Parish at Christ the King Church in Evansville.
“With firm faith, I also believe everything contained in God’s word, written and handed down from tradition and proposed by the church, whether by way of solid judgement or through the ordinary and universal magisterium, as divinely revealed in calling for faith,” all four transitional deacons said during the Profession of Faith. “I also firmly accept and hold to each and everything that is proposed definitively by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.”
They continued that they adhere with religious submission, will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate when they exercise their authentic magisterium, even if they proclaim those teachings by an act that is not definitive.
After making the Profession of Faith as a group, each transitional deacon separately walked up to the altar, put their right hand on the Book of Gospels and made an Oath of Fidelity. In part, during the Oath of Fidelity, all four transitional deacons promised to always preserve communion with the Catholic Church both in their words and conduct.
“I shall carry out with the greatest care and fidelity the duties incumbent on me toward both the universal church and the particular church in which, according to the provisions of the law, I have been called to exercise my service,” each transitional deacon said during the Oath of Fidelity. “In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the church, I shall hold fast to the deposit of faith in its entirety. I shall faithfully hand it on and explain it. And I shall avoid any teachings opposed to that faith.”
They also took an oath to follow and foster the common discipline of the whole church and to observe all ecclesiastical laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law. They said in Christian obedience, they united themselves with what is declared by the bishops as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith or established by them as those responsible for the governance of the church.
They also said they will faithfully assist the diocesan bishops, so that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the church, may be carried out in communion with the church.
“So help me God and God’s Holy Gospels on which I place my hand,” they said.
Bishop Joseph M. Siegel delivered the homily during the Solemn Evening Prayer. He said the first reading from the first letter of St. Peter was wonderfully appropriate for the gathering of prayer. In making the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity, Bishop Siegel said the four transitional deacons offered themselves as spiritual sacrifices to the service of Christ the high priest and his church. They committed themselves to putting on the mind of Christ and his mystical body, and to speak and act in ways consistent with the teachings of our Lord and the magisterium of the church, Bishop Siegel said.
Bishop Siegel said by their ordination, which is scheduled for June 14, they will share in the ministerial priesthood of the one high priest, Jesus Christ. Through their services as his priests, they will share in the task of leading, sanctifying and teaching the people entrusted to their care. He said as priests, they will direct their parishioners to imitate Christ the servant by the witness of their life as well as the guidance of their words.
Their efforts will only bear true and lasting fruit if they are united in mind and heart with the universal church, the Holy Father, their bishop and all the bishops, as well as their brother priests, Bishop Siegel said. This is a formal commitment they made on the evening of May 13. While the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity fulfills a canonical requirement, it also and more importantly is an external expression of their interior disposition of their intentions and the purpose of their hearts as they prepare to be ordained, Bishop Siegel said. For this yes for Christ and the church, Bishop Siegel thanked them.
Bishop Siegel invited all in attendance to continue to pray for all four transitional deacons in the weeks ahead, that the Lord will always sustain them and keep them in keeping the commitments and that the Holy Spirit will grant them the grace to be holy, effective priests. All four transitional deacons are indeed living stones, precious in God’s eyes and chosen by the Lord to be his priests, Bishop Siegel said.