My dear friend Ron Perez has been preparing to become a priest for over 2 years now. This May, he will be ordained as a priest, the only Filipino priest to be ordained out of 6 for New York this year.
I have gotten used to him focusing on his studies at St. Joseph's Seminary and College called Dunwoodie, the major seminary of the Archdiocese of New York; our silence only to be broken by the occasional emails, telephone calls and visits during the Christmas holidays. But we have always kept in touch and when we do reach out to each other, it was effortless to pick up from where we left off.
Mark and I really felt happy for him for his ordination and his first Mass in May 10 & 11, 2008. And now with the Papal Visit that will take place on April 18, 19, and 20, 2008 (http://www.archny.org/papalvisit/), we are all the more proud that he will be the Deacon of the Word during the Pope's Mass in Yankee Stadium.
What is the Deacon of the Word? The most common custom is that one deacon usually reads the Gospel, the intentions of the Prayer of the Faithful, the invitation to make the sign of peace, and other interventions such as "The Mass is ended ..." (ref: http://www.ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/zlitur98.htm)
Ron asked me to ask everyone to pray for him as he takes on this responsibility this coming weekend. Go Ron, go!
Mark and I really feel blessed and honored that we have a friend like Ron. It is one thing to have a priest for a friend. It’s another thing to have a friend for a priest.
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