40 new deacons of ‘service and charity’ ordained

On Feb. 14 and Feb. 15, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo ordained 40 men, all from different walks of life, to the diaconate. They will serve at parishes and ministries across the Archdiocese. (Photos by James Ramos/Herald)

Forty men from 30 area churches were ordained as permanent deacons, including two medical doctors, a pair of brothers and one who works at NASA.

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo ordained two groups of deacons at separate Masses on the evening of Feb. 14 and the morning of Feb. 15 at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston.

“I beg and ask you to be deacons of service and of charity,” Cardinal DiNardo said in his homily.

PHOTOS: Two Masses see 40 deacons ordained

“‘The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,’” he reminded the congregation, with more than 2,550 attending both of the Masses altogether. He also reflected on how these 40 men comprised the final ordination of his time as the ordinary of the Archdiocese.

He encouraged them to remain close to the Blessed Mother, offering a prayer to the Virgin Mary for deacons that said: “Teacher of that service, which is hidden, who by your everyday and ordinary life filled with love knew how to cooperate with the salvific plan of God in an exemplary fashion, make deacons good and faithful servants by teaching them the joy of serving the Church with an ardent love.”

Among the 40 new deacons, Dr. Jon Nguyen of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, off of 290 in Houston, works as an emergency room surgeon while his wife is a dentist, and they’re raising three children. “Given a choice, I would have been happy staying a choir member, but God had other plans,” Nguyen said.

His older brother, Dr. Minh Nguyen of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish, had his own spiritual journey and was also ordained on Feb. 14. Jon Nguyen said, “We didn’t realize we were in the same program until our first day of class together at St. Mary’s Seminary.”

Minh Nguyen said the experience has brought his family a lot closer, especially his relationship with his wife.

“We talked to each other more, and during the whole process, she audited every single class with me. So everywhere I go, she is a part of it,” he said.

He said the only thing that his wife didn’t share with him was to take the exam, “But she got to pray for me to get past the exam.”

“But we have spent time, and we’re able to share through our reflection between us a lot more,” he said. “The people around me, my grown-up children, see that, and they’re supporting it.”

Dr. Brad Snyder, a medical doctor now a newly ordained deacon, serves at Christ the Redeemer Parish. Despite being a busy bariatric surgeon in the Cypress area, married with six children, Deacon Snyder said a years-long yearning to become a deacon finally came to fruition.

“I had a longing to go deeper in my faith, and this is where it led me,” he said, so both he and his wife began the six years of classes, pastoral training and ministry programs.
Snyder said going through his formation changed the dynamic of his marriage and family.

“My wife Michelle has journeyed this entire six years; she’s been on all the formation with me,” he said. “But also on a deeper level, understanding our marriage better, that original vocation we both had, the gift of our children, just more appreciation, more gratitude for what God has done for us, and just seeing in light of His love.”

When discussing his journey, Steven Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said it was a discernment process each year, each day, and each class.

“(My wife) Sherry and I committed each and every semester to follow God’s will, to listen to the Holy Spirit in our journey,” he said.

Stich said his complex job for NASA — launching crew members into space — would often make him think about how six years of formation and his path to permanent diaconate were all going to work out.

“Every single time, God cleared the way. God made a path for me to continue with formation and to be at a Saturday event or a class on Monday night or something else,” he said. “And so as each one of those things happened time and time again, to me, that was the clear signal that Sherry and I are on the right path.”