On March 20, 2023, the feast of St. Joseph, Spouse of the B.V.M., three Conventual Franciscan friars, and a friar belonging to the Friars Minor, were ordained to the diaconate in Cracow, Poland. The Most Reverend Edward KAWA, OFM Conv., Auxiliary Bishop of Lviv, Ukraine, administered the sacrament.
In his homily, Bishop KAWA exhorted the new deacons to follow the day’s patron, St. Joseph, learning from him faith, humility, trust, having a living relationship with God and giving an authentic witness of Christian life. “Today, the Church needs religious who believe, deacons who believe, priests who believe and bishops who believe….We are called to reveal to the world the importance of trusting in God….We are called to intimacy in our relationship with God, to listen to God, to live with God, to proclaim God, to reveal true love to the world….Today, the world needs authentic testimony, the authentic testimony of Christian life, true Franciscan life and a life full of faith, so that our words may be backed up by concrete actions that bear witness to our being people who are consecrated to God, to our God who loves us.” Finally, he asked the new deacons to accept and carry out their ministry as a great gift from God, Who has placed great trust in them. “It is not you who have chosen Him, but He who has chosen you,” he said.
The Minister Provincial of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow), Friar Marian GOŁĄB, publicly thanked God for having given these four friars their vocation. He thanked the four deacons for responding to that vocation, and he thanked all the people who helped the friars on their journey. At the same time, he encouraged the younger friars to allow themselves to be led by God in the mission He has chosen for them.
Friars Dawid JEZIORSKI, Dawid FURGAŁ and Szymon TUPTOŃSKI are all members of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar. Friar Łukasz KUCIĘBA, OFM, is a member of the Friars Minor Province of Our Lady of the Angels. The friars will be continuing their studies at the Franciscan Study Theological Institute in Cracow.
Friar Jan M. SZEWEK
