Brothers-
This Sunday’s Gospel gives us one of the deepest revelations of our identity in Christ:

“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.”

These are not simply comforting words from Jesus. They reveal the very heart of diaconal ministry. It begins in communion. Christ in the Father. We in Christ. Christ in us.

This week, Archbishop James Golka shared a moving reflection about two brothers who secretly filled each other’s grain bins for years. One believed his brother needed more for retirement because he had no children. The other believed his brother needed more because he had eight children to provide for. Night after night, each emptied himself for the good of the other until finally they met at the property line, embraced, and realized what each had been doing in love.

The Archbishop reflected, “That is where the Incarnation happened… because that is what God is like.”

What a profound image for us.

The world often sees ministry through the lens of efficiency, productivity, and exhaustion. But Christ teaches something entirely different. Ministry is not ultimately “our work.” It is Christ living and serving through us. The Lord fills our wheelbarrow first. Every act of charity, every hospital visit, every homily prepared late at night, every funeral vigil, every hidden sacrifice for our wives, families, and parishioners becomes fruitful only when it flows from communion with Him.

Archbishop Golka spoke beautifully of kenosis; the self-emptying love of Christ described by St. Paul in Philippians. Jesus received everything from the Father and held onto nothing for Himself. He poured Himself out completely in love. That is the mind and heart of Christ the Servant, and it is the pattern of our own vocation.

It is fitting, then, that Archbishop Golka has approved our official Annual Deacon Sunday to coincide with the Feast of Francis of Assisi. Though remembered for simplicity and joyful poverty, St. Francis also served the Church as a Deacon. He understood that all is gift. He knew that the more one empties himself for Christ, the more fully alive one becomes.

Brothers, may we never reduce ministry to mere duty or activity. May we remember always: Christ is in the Father, we are in Him, and He is in us. And because of that communion, every hidden act of sacrificial love becomes ‘golden’ in the Kingdom of God.

We are not simply pushing wheelbarrows.
We are helping Christ build His cathedral.

Peasant Pushing A Wheelbarrow
Jean-François Millet French
1855 ~ Public Domain

In Christ the Servant + Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Receive + Believe + Teach + Practice