Prelate Ordains 35 Deacons

On November 5, in Rome, Bishop Javier Echevarría ordained 35 faithful of Opus Dei as deacons. With list of new deacons (to be ordained priests in May), photos, and words from the homily.

Bishop Echevarría in his homily urged the new deacons to lead an intense life of prayer: "Prayer is more than just reciting vocal prayers, although this can be very good, as long as it is done calmly and attentively.

"Logically, the Christian cannot be satisfied with just this way of turning towards God: we need to carry on a personal conversation with him, one to one; a conversation made up of listening to his voice and speaking in our own words.

"Benedict XVI has been carrying out a catechesis about prayer. Through it, he seeks to encourage Christians to speak to our Lord, to our Lady, to the saints, in a habitual way, not only in times of need.

"Our aspiration has to be to reach the stage when we can become people who know that they are always in God’s presence and who, as a consequence, try to keep up a conversation with him in every circumstance.

"Don’t think that this is something very difficult. To pray is to direct our thoughts towards our Creator in a spirit of adoration, of thanksgiving, of asking for help… Prayer answers to the deepest desires of the human heart, because we have been created to love and serve God on earth, and then to be happy with him for ever."

Citing Benedict XVi, he continued: "Nowadays we are taken up with so many activities and duties; for this reason, today more than ever we need to find specific moments to talk to God, ‘moments for silent recollection, to meditate on what the Lord wants to teach us, on how he is present and active in the world and in our life: to be able to stop for a moment and meditate.' "

"The Holy Father recalls that St. Augustine compared meditation to the assimilation of food, and used a verb that recurs throughout the Christian tradition, 'to ruminate.'

"In order for the Gospel passages and the mysteries of God to end up becoming something familiar to us, being a guide for our lives and nourishing us spiritually, we have to make them resonate within us....

"And let us not forget that having frequent recourse to the sacrament of Confession is another way of praying, because God’s forgiveness helps us to pray with peace.

"If, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we take seriously the times we devote to meditation, we will be amazed at their effect on our lives and the lives of others: we will be more serene and contented, because worries will fade away like mist in the sunshine; we will pay more attention to serving the others; we will do our work better and contribute to carrying out an abundant sowing of peace and joy all over the world."

The new deacons are:

Joaquín Belón González (Spain)

Rafael Francisco Carrascosa Salmoral (Spain)

Alejandro Córdova Suárez (Mexico)

Eduardo Cortina Andrada (Spain)

Augusto César Heluy Dantas (Brazil)

Santiago De Apellániz Sainz-Trápaga (Spain)

Pablo Luis de Lecea Grávalos (Spain)

Pablo Alfonso Fernández Fernández (Spain)

José María García de Castro (Spain)

Alberto García Marcos (Spain)

Guillermo García-Pimentel Ruíz (Mexico)

Gilberto Augusto Garrido Becerra (Colombia)

Janvier Mahougnon Gbenou (Benin)

Kazimierz Franciszek Giner (Poland)

Adelardo González Forastero (Spain)

Manuel Guillén Pascual (Spain)

Enrique Hevia-Campomanes Bailly-Balliere (Spain)

Joaquín Huarte Muniesa (Switzerland)

Kinyanjui Crispus Kinuthia (Kenya)

Fernando López Arias (Spain)

Nicolás de Luján Said (Spain)

Luis Martín Ruiz de Gauna (Spain)

Dean Johnpaul Dumlao Menchávez (Philippines)

Ignacio Mora-Figueroa Monfort (Spain)

Jorge Martín Montoya Camacho (Peru)

Mark Kimani Muhoro (Kenya)

Mario Alberto Pagani (Bolivia)

Rafael Perez Bret (Spain)

Juan Carlos Pinasco (Argentina)

Jordi Taló Valls (Spain)

José Javier Tapia Escudier (Spain)

Eduardo Valentí Nin (Spain)

Álvaro Villalobos Sánchez (Spain)

Mauricio Augusto Soubhia (Brazil)

Giovanni Zaccaria (Italy)