Parting ways!

Following our quick trip to St. Louis, Sunday evening found Lauren flying back to Philadelphia and Nathan flying to Denver. Nathan headed to Denver for his first week of Summer Training for FOCUS; the rest of training takes place in Illinois. After his week in Denver, he had the opportunity to travel to Hayes, KS to witness the transitional diaconate ordination of his dear friend Brian Lager.  Nathan was able to see his good friend Brian Lager be ordained a Deacon on May 21, 2011.  Brian and Nathan went to college together at Benedictine and then served as FOCUS missionaries together from 2004-2006.  Brian then went to seminary, as Nathan continued to serve with FOCUS.

What is a deacon?  A deacon is a Holy Order of the Catholic Church.  There are two types of deacons: permanent and transitional.  A permanent deacon is usually a married man who is 35 years old or older who after several years of theological training is ordained for service for the Church.  A transitional deacon is not much different than a permanent.  It is only different in two regards.  First, a transitional deacon is one who takes on the discipline of celibacy for the sake of the kingdom and like the name itself is only going to be a deacon for a certain amount of time.  A transitional deacon is in a “transitional” period between being a seminarian and a priest.   Deacon Brian Lager will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Salina in May of 2012.  Please pray for him and all those studying for the priesthood! I was so happy he had the opportunity to go.  Deacon Brian served in our wedding Mass as a seminarian.

Here's a picture of Deacon Brian along with his uncle, Father John. Fr. John was the celebrant of our wedding Mass! We look forward to attending more Masses where they are serving Our Lord!