Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and especially you, our beloved deacons, your wives, and families, and guests, today is a day of grace and gratitude - grace because the Lord continues to bless our Diocese of Birmingham through the faithful ministry of deacons and gratitude because for twenty-five years you have been a living sign of Christ the Servant among us and your brothers.

A Church built on service

St. Paul reminds the Church in Rome and us in the first reading: “We, though many, are one Body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.” That verse could well be the motto of the diaconate! Each of you is part of the fabric of this diocesan family, preaching, baptizing, visiting the sick, assisting at the altar, serving the poor, and accompanying those in need.

From Huntsville to Birmingham, from Tuscaloosa to Pell City, you have been the Church’s helping hands and compassionate heart. You have built bridges between the altar and the streets, between the sanctuary and the suffering.

Rooted in the Acts of the Apostles

Your ministry has ancient roots. In the Acts of the Apostles, when the early Church faced the challenge of caring for widows and the poor, the apostles prayed and chose seven men full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom to serve. They laid hands on them and thus began the diaconate. As a result of the reflection of the Church Fathers in the Second Vatican Council, the ancient ministry was revived. We are the beneficiaries of their reflection.

That moment was not about creating “assistants” for the apostles; rather, it was about creating servants for the whole Church. From that day forward, the deacon’s ministry has been a ministry of the Word, the altar, and the poor. And how beautifully you have lived that here, proclaiming the Gospel, breaking open the Word, distributing the Eucharist to the sick and homebound, and standing beside the poor in countless hidden ways.

The quiet strength of a humble heart

Psalm 131 today gives us a glimpse of the soul of a servant: “O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty … I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child on its mother’s lap.”

What a portrait of the diaconal heart — calm, steady, humble. You do not seek titles or applause. You seek souls. You are there when a couple needs counseling, when a widow needs prayer, when a teenager needs direction, when a parish needs a steady voice. You carry Christ’s compassion into hospitals, prisons, soup kitchens, and schools. Your strength is in your gentleness — your authority is in your love.

The hidden heroes: Wives and families

And today, dear brothers, we cannot honor your ministry without also honoring your wives and families.

To our deacon wives, thank you for your love, your patience, and your faith. You have walked beside your husbands in their formation and ministry — often quietly, sometimes at great personal cost. You have opened your homes to parishioners, shared your husband’s time with the Church, and supported him in prayer when the burdens grew heavy. You are true partners in this vocation, not just “behind the scenes,” but at the heart of it. Your love is a living reflection of the faithfulness of the Church herself — the Bride of Christ.

To your children and families, thank you for sharing your fathers, grandfathers, brothers, uncles, and nephews with all of us. Your generosity makes the Church’s ministry possible.

As we give thanks for twenty-five years of diaconal service, we also celebrate the domestic churches that formed and sustained these deacons.

The example of St. Charles Borromeo

On this feast of St. Charles Borromeo, we recall a bishop who tirelessly reformed the Church and clergy of Milan, Italy, not through criticism, but through holiness. He founded seminaries, renewed parish life, and cared for the poor and the sick. He modeled pastoral zeal — the kind of servant leadership that the diaconate embodies.

St. Charles once said to his clergy: “Be examples to others in all that you do. Let your lives be sermons in themselves.”

That is your call, dear deacons — to preach with your lives, making the Gospel visible not only in your words, but in your marriages, your families, your work, your friendships, and your joy.

The great banquet: An open invitation

In our Gospel today, Jesus tells the parable of a great banquet. Many were invited, but some made excuses. So, the master sent his servants into the streets and alleys to bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.

That’s the diaconal mission — to go out and bring everyone to the feast of the Kingdom. You are the ones who extend the invitation: Ven, todo está preparado — Come, everything is ready!

You stand at the doorway of the Church, welcoming, gathering, inviting. You help people find their seat at the Lord’s table — no one left out, no one forgotten.

Three sspirations for the next 25 years

As we look ahead, let us draw three takeaways for the years to come:

1. Stay close to Christ the Servant.
   Prayer is your anchor. Without it, ministry becomes performance; with it, ministry becomes grace.
2. Stay close to one another.
   Support your brother deacons. Encourage each other. The Lord called you into a community of service, not isolation.
3. Stay close to the poor.
   The road to the altar always passes through the streets. Never forget the faces of those who wait for compassion, for justice, for love.

Conclusion

My dear brothers, and your beloved wives and families, thank you. Thank you for twenty-five years of humble, faithful, and fruitful ministry here in the Diocese of Birmingham.

May St. Stephen, the first deacon, intercede for you. May St. Charles Borromeo inspire you to holiness and pastoral zeal. And may Mary, keep you steadfast in your “yes” to Christ.

Ad multos annos!