Seminarians receive ministry of acolyte

Two diocesan seminarians, Grant Dvorak and Jake Magnuson, were among 38 men studying at the North American College in Rome to receive the Ministry of Acolyte at Mass on Feb. 23.
 
The Most Reverend J. Augustine DiNoia, OP, Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, conferred the rite during Mass in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
 
In his homily, Archbishop DiNoia reflected upon the two commands heard in the first reading from the book of Leviticus, and the Gospel according to Matthew, “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy,” and “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” These two commands, he observed, seem to be too exalted to be possible. Yet, the Archbishop assured the congregation, that “this lofty aim is not so far beyond us.” Rather, he stated, we have been created for such an end. The Archbishop explained, the perfection to which we are all called is to a perfection in charity, “it is in the acts of exceptional love for our neighbor that we most closely imitate God’s perfect holiness and his love for all,” and it is toward this goal of love and communion that we are all orientated. Therefore, he continued, “Christ is asking us to embrace the destiny that by divine design has been implanted in our very nature;” a destiny that can be realized only with the “profound inner transformation” of grace. The grace that elevates and heals, and “displaces the effects of sin with a redeemed holiness,” which allows us to “feel at home in the holy of holies.”
 
Addressing the newly instituted acolytes, Archbishop DiNoia, exhorted them, in particular, to ponder these commands. He reminded them that this day marked an important milestone along their path to Holy Orders and thus “to a more perfect configuration to Christ in the priesthood that is centered on the Eucharist and the sacramental life of the Church,” to which they are being invited more deeply into by accepting the ministry and responsibility of acolyte. Moreover, the Archbishop, continuing to speak directly to the newly instituted acolytes, stressed that, “since the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is at the very heart of the Ministry of Acolyte, you must hear the divine injunctions today as addressed directly and personally to you.” After quoting the 94 ^th sermon of St. Leo the Great, the archbishop concluded by reiterating that “God sustains us in the lifelong pursuit which he has ordained for us, and now enjoins on us by precept. Far from being beyond us, those lofty aims are within the grasp of every Christian through the Father, the Son and the Holly Spirit.”
 
As part of the rite, the bishop placed the paten, which contains the hosts of the celebration of Mass, in the hands of each candidate. He then said, “take this vessel with bread for the celebration of the Eucharist. Make your life worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and of his Church.”
 
The seminarians, currently in their second year of formation for the priesthood, would have two additional years of theological studies before being ordained to the priesthood in their home diocese.
 
Information provided by the Pontifical North American College.