Archdiocese's 16 new permanent deacons formed brotherhood, now eager to minister

By ROB HERBST 
The Catholic Week
MOBILE – They are 16 different men, representing different backgrounds, but they have at least one singular trait. 
They listened to God’s call to be permanent deacons of the Archdiocese of Mobile.
Deacons James Brewer, Michael Castanza, Charles Drake, Matthew Jakubowski, Stephen Kingsmore, Michael Kirsch, Gregory Leiker, Todd Martin, Steven Nelson, César Ortega Natal Jr., Andrew Pitts, Mathew Pope, George Ralph, David Ray, Ted Schmidt and Mark Thompson were ordained by Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi on June 11 at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. They marked the first class of permanent deacons ordained in the archdiocese since 2018. 
“What I think is so amazing is it’s 16 very different people,” Deacon Pope said. “We saw that as we did our homilies (during formation) and how we all have these beautiful ways of expressing what we were taught. It’s just amazing to me how God calls us all in different ways and we all serve a little differently, and speak a little differently. There’s a great beauty in that.”
Pope added though that all of us are called to serve, whether ordained deacons or not. 
“99 percent of what I do as a deacon, I can do as a layperson,” he said.
Their formation process which began five years ago helped them form a brotherhood even though many of them didn’t know their fellow brothers when their journey began. 
They all went through the natural ups and downs the formation process brings and also dealt with the added unexpected adversity that COVID-19 brought.
“I would take a bullet for these guys,” Deacon Kingsmore said. 
Not only did the 16 new deacons form a brotherhood, but there were other benefits of what Kingsmore also described as “boot camp.”
“Our marriages are strengthened, our relationship with God is strengthened,” said Deacon Charles Drake. 
Each of the 16 deacons has been assigned to a parish in the archdiocese. They’ll serve at the altar during Mass, where they’ll likely be most visable to the faithful. 
But in his homily, Archbishop Rodi stressed the importance of serving beyond Mass. Each deacon has also been assigned to a specific ministry of charity within the archdiocese.
“The deacon’s primary ministry is not serving at Mass, but serving at tables – the tables where the needs of neighbors are met, wherever those tables may happen to be,” Archbishop Rodi said. “… Now the Lord sends you forth to serve at the tables where our neighbors gather with both spiritual and material needs to which you are to devote yourselves.”
Now that the road to ordination has completed, another one has just begun for the 16 deacons.
“It’s just the beginning,” Kingsmore said. “My hope and my desire is that I can be an instrument of God’s grace, that I can be of benefit to the people of my parish.”