“Let me serve you.” With those four words, newly ordained Deacon Don Mauro Salvador Gomez summed up the ministry he had just accepted before a full St Christopher’s Cathedral in Canberra. Source: Catholic Voice.
After seven years of discernment, Deacon Gomez was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate for the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese on August 19, surrounded by his wife, Cerisse, family, clergy and a strong Filipino community presence.
The ordination formed part of Archdiocesan Assembly Festival Week, centred on prayer, discernment and the Church’s synodal mission.
For Deacon Gomez, that mission finds practical expression in service.
“What led me to the diaconate is actually the willingness to serve,” he said.
During the ordination, Canberra-Goulburn Archbishop Christopher Prowse underscored the responsibility that now comes with that call.
“They are to be servants of all,” Archbishop Prowse said, describing the deacon’s ministry through the Word, altar and works of charity.
Deacon Gomez said his own path to ministry had been shaped by struggle, marriage and family.
“We’ve been through struggles, and those struggles really intensified my faith,” he said.
“The diaconate enriches my family, my marriage and, hopefully, the community I will be ministering with.”
Deacon Gomez credited his wife, Cerisse, with playing a critical role throughout his discernment, particularly by challenging him to examine his reasons for pursuing the diaconate.
He said marriage and fatherhood would directly shape his ministry in the wider Church.
“First and foremost, my domestic Church is my family, and I would try to extend that to the bigger family of God — the Church,” Deacon Gomez said.
Visiting clergy and family members from the Philippines joined Archdiocesan clergy and the local Filipino community for the ordination, with the Filipino choir playing a prominent role and special clergy vestments made for the occasion.
FULL STORY
Archdiocese welcomes Don Gomez as Permanent Deacon (By Jeanine Doyle, Catholic Voice)
