As Auxiliary Bishop Slawomir Szkredka delivered his homily at the transitional diaconate ordination Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Nov. 22, he looked at the three soon-to-be deacons and delivered a warning, of sorts.
“I know you are being ordained as transitional deacons, and your hearts are already set on your presbyteral ordination, but this grace you are receiving today will never be taken away, will never be erased,” Szkredka said. “It is a foundational grace of your priestly ministry.”
In other words, what mattered now was what was happening today, not their scheduled presbyteral ordination in six months.
“This ordination changes and transforms your status,” Szkredka told Jerick Alenton, 28, David Zamora, 26, and Shengda Zhu, 28. “It places upon you duties and responsibilities that are real and serious, and that will mark your daily ministry. And yet, as numerous as your duties, obligations, responsibilities as deacons are, they all flow from the same foundational grace.”
After an ordination class of eight new transitional deacons in 2022, a record 13 in 2023, and another eight in 2024, this year’s class stands out for being smaller. But such fluctuations in class sizes are to be expected, said Father Peter Saucedo, vocations director for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. For example, this past year, 24 young men entered seminary in LA, more than double what they typically get in a year, Saucedo said.
“That’s kind of the trend,” he said. “Sometimes, there are some years that you have really big numbers, and others where you don’t.”
This year’s group was also only the second transitional diaconate class formed under new guidelines issued by the U.S. bishops in 2022. Traditionally, transitional deacons would spend their final year shuttling between seminary studies and duties at a parish. Now, they spend their six months as deacons in parish ministry full-time, getting hands-on pastoral experience.
“It’s good because it allows for the guys to have a generous heart, a servant’s heart, one that wants to serve others in that way,” Saucedo said. “Sometimes as priests, because we’re so caught up with sacraments and the administration of a parish, it’s easy to maybe lose sight of that.”
The Saturday morning ordination liturgy featured elements spoken in Spanish, Mandarin, and Cebuano languages, in a nod to the heritages of the three men.
When the Rite of Ordination began, the men stood from the front pew, walked up to the altar and stood in a line together.
“Relying on the help of the Lord God, and of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we choose these, our brothers, for the order of the diaconate,” Szkredka said.
“Thanks be to God,” the crowd replied and broke out into applause.
The men beamed and slowly turned in circles, bowing to the well-wishers
Later, they knelt one by one in front of Szkredka to answer a promise of obedience to the ordinary before moving to a profound part of every ordination: Lying prostrate around the altar while the kneeling crowd sings during the Litany of Supplication.
The trio then received the laying on of hands from the bishop and a prayer of ordination, officially making them deacons, when they each slipped on their new vestments.
After each receiving the Book of the Gospels — “Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach,” the bishop said as he handed them over — the crowd responded with applause as Skredka announced: “Brothers and sisters, we have three new deacons. Let’s welcome them.”
After the Mass, the new deacons walked out to applause on the cathedral’s outdoor plaza to offer first blessings. Each had their own reaction to what the ordination Mass meant to them.
For Zamora, the ordination was confirmation that he was on the right path.
“It’s almost like a piece fell into place,” he said. “The entire time in formation, I’ve been trying to figure out what is God asking me to do. And I think today, it was just very clear, very certain that this is what God has for me.”
Alenton said he felt a bit discombobulated during the Mass, but ultimately felt God calm him down.
“I was nervous, I was scared,” he said. “I didn't remember all the parts, like where to stand, where to kneel, and everything. But I guess God came into play and helped out. And it was, it was a scary but also happy moment.
“I’m glad that finally I got this great blessing, this grace from God.”
Alenton’s mom, Jeanette, said they had family, friends, even her high school classmates, come from out of state to attend the ordination Mass. She’s already planning for when, God willing, her son becomes a priest.
“I always plan ahead of time,” she said. “That’s why sometimes we just say, ‘Oh, are you ordained or not?’ Too much excitement for the mom and families.”
“When I was looking around, every corner I could see someone I recognized,” Alenton said. “They’ve been there for me this whole nine years. It was really beautiful to see them here now, and see what their prayers have brought, and I couldn't have done it without their prayers. It was a confirmation, basically, of the calling that I received when I was little.”
For the next few months, Zamora will enjoy a unique similarity with his father, Miguel: They will both be deacons together. Miguel is a deacon at Our Lady of Grace Church in Encino.
“I have a good mentor and somebody to look up to, and I think somebody to share this joy with,” Zamora said. “I just hope to learn to be as faithful as he is. Learn to be as committed as he is to this journey.”
Did Miguel have any diaconate advice for his son?
“Just be humble to be a good servant for the Lord,” he said.
Zhu felt a profound responsibility in being ordained, having grown up in China and being a beacon of light for the scarce Chinese Catholics.
“I grew up as a Chinese Catholic, so I sometimes joke about it: We are the unicorn. People talk about, but never really see,” Zhu said. “So for us to have this unique vocation is very rare.”
The 28-year old said he draws inspiration from the legacy of the persecuted Catholics in his homeland.
“The perseverance for their fruit is me,” said Zhu. “And so now I will continue their legacy, and continue to pass this faith and especially to evangelize to the people who may not have encountered Christ, especially people from Chinese culture.”
