Renata Steffens
Archbishop Dermot Farrell celebrated the ordination to the diaconate of Patrick Corkery SJ in the Gonzaga College Chapel, on March 2.
During his homily, the archbishop said, “It is a joy for me to be with you today to ordain Patrick Corkery to the Diaconate. This is a day of hope. Any day when we make a profound commitment is a day born of hope, a day rooted in hope.”
It can be any type of commitment, the archbishop said. “A solemn profession, or a marriage, or an ordination: it is a day of witness to hope, a day when we put flesh on hope.”
Deacon Corkery’s ordination marks an important moment in his journey to priesthood. The archbishop said that priesthood has many dimensions, and “if you seek to lead, this is what you must attend to. It is not that diaconate and priesthood do not have ministerial dimensions, but there are other dimensions which, when priesthood is seen exclusively in a ministerial key, risk remaining hidden.”
Archbishop Farrell said that before one can lead others, they need to look at themselves, and what is in their own hearts with honesty. “Overcoming pride and self-sufficiency and self-justification demands a particular humility and openness,” he said.
Bishops and priests are no exception to the effects of their own weakness and fragility, the archbishop said.
“Recently, the [Jesuit] Society made a courageous decision publicly to name some deceased members of the Society against whom credible accusations of abuse had been made. It is right that these crimes be brought to light—that the plank in our own eye be seen, that the pain, injustice, and trauma caused be accepted, and that the long journey of healing be undertaken and supported.
“To bring this to light, is not only a work of justice and truth, it is also a witness to authentic Christian hope… Authentic Christian hope is an engagement with the world in its brokenness and blindness. It is a commitment born of the power that is given to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the power to risk living in another way.”
Deacon Corkery vowed to that ‘authentic Christian hope’. “Our shared hope is the gift of the God who creates us out of nothing,” the archbishop said. Addressing the new deacon, Archbishop Farrell said: “You formally put flesh on that hope today… May He who is calling you to priesthood keep you close to Himself, may He keep you, and your Jesuit confrères, close to the poor.”