Catholic Outlook August 2016

NATIONAL VOCATIONS AWARENESS WEEK: 7-14 AUGUST
Called to serve those on the edge
n ministry of pastoral care
In 2012, Fr Andrew was appointed Diocesan
Master of Ceremonies by Bishop Anthony after
holding the position of Assistant Diocesan
Master of Ceremonies since 2008.
"I consider the liturgy to be the core of the
practice of the Catholic faith. It is not only the
source and summit of our faith but it is the most
perfect means by which we can offer worship
to almighty God because the liturgy is not
est, as for any priest,
something created by man but given to us by God
in which man participates," he said.
"It should be the anchor of our lives with which
we steady ourselves against the torments and
gain the strength to persevere in faith and good
works."
In 2014, Bishop Anthony asked him to take
up studies in Sacred Liturgy at the Pontifical
University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
"Living in Rome, living in the mind and heart
of the Church, reminded me of the universality
The
PERMANENT
DIACONATE
A God-given calling to
ordained ministry, open to
married and single men.
In the service of the Liturgy,
the Word and Charity
of the Church and the faith. To be able to walk
by the Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica every day,
and to have it become commonplace, was an
astounding experience.”
On his return from Rome last year, Fr Andrew
was appointed Administrator and then Parish
Priest of Holy Trinity Parish, Granville, and Holy
Family Parish, East Granville.
"The role of the Parish Priest is first and
foremost the pastoral care of the parish entrusted
to him," he said.
"As the Catechism says, Holy Orders is the
Sacrament by which the mission entrusted by
Christ to His apostles is exercised throughout
the Church until the end of time. The Priest is
ordained to offer the sacrifice of the Mass and
to stand in the person of Christ to minister the
grace of the Sacraments. In this way he makes
known to his parishioners what has been made
known to him and seeks to build up the kingdom
of God in that particular place, to make saints of
his people."
Fr Andrew's advice to men contemplating
priesthood is to love the Mass. “Believe that the
sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments are the
foundation for your vocation. In the Mass you
will find the meaning and purpose of who you
are.”
By Elizabeth McFarlane
THE LIFE of a deacon is a life serving on
the edge. Christian charitable service, for
which the diaconate principally exists,
extends well beyond the walls of the church to
the marginalised and vulnerable.
Deacon George Bryan, who was ordained to
the permanent diaconate on 8 May and who is
deacon assisting at Mary, Queen of the Family
Parish in Blacktown, said serving those on
the edge is uncomfortable, “but you need to
embrace the uncomfortable and learn how to be
effective in it”.
“It’s about dancing in the gap. You can’t just
live with it, you have to be in it and you have to
learn to dance in it,” he explained.
“In a hospital ministry, I’ve done some things
that I would never have thought possible, but it’s
always because I’m embracing ‘dancing in the
gap’.
“Holding the hand of a woman in the cancer
ward while a big cannula is inserted because
nobody else is there isn’t comfortable. Listening
to someone’s story who has just been told they’re
going to die isn’t comfortable. They’re not
comfortable places, but they’re life changing.”
Deacons are intermediaries, the go-between
as it were, constantly challenging themselves
to dance in the gap. Deacons like George can
preach, celebrate baptisms and marriages,
conduct Communion services and other
liturgical celebrations such as funeral services.
They do not celebrate Mass, anoint the sick or
give absolution.
Over time, the ordination of deacons had
become a step towards ordination as a priest,
but one of the major decisions of the Second
Vatican Council was to reinstate the permanent
diaconate, an ordained ministry open to both
married and single men.
George met his wife, Kaye, more than 40 years
ago when he asked her to dance at a Catholic
Club in Hurstville in 1973.
The couple married in St Therese’s Church
in Mascot in 1974, were blessed with two
children and are now the grandparents of three
grandchildren.
Members of St Finbar’s Parish, Glenbrook,
George was raised in a devout Catholic family.
Despite not aligning herself with a particular
religion, Kaye has been instrumental in keeping
George grounded in his faith and vocation, and
has been by his side throughout this eight-year
journey towards the permanent diaconate.
“I was very fortunate to have a wife who
acknowledged my religion as being part of me,”
George said.
“One of the really important things in our
marriage is summed up by what Kaye said at our
30th wedding anniversary. We had everybody
Deacon George Bryan and wife Kaye.
PHOTO: ELIZABETH MCFARLANE.
around and she said, ‘It’s been 30 years of
tolerance and compromise and I wouldn’t swap
a minute of it.’
“You have to be able to handle each part of
the complete package. Somebody asked me
when I was in formation, ‘What would you
do if someone said you could not be ordained
because your wife is not Catholic?’ And I said,
‘That’s kind of like saying you can’t be ordained
because you’re too tall.’ It’s so integrated.”
George attributes his early retirement and
his call to the diaconate to a tension that was
building in his work and faith life.
“My work was extremely demanding and I
was working quite long hours. I had picked up
on Benedictine spirituality through a talk at
our parish and I decided to visit St Benedict’s
Monastery in Arcadia,” George said.
“I went to a series of retreats and there was a
tension between my intense work life and this
place of real serenity.
“I visited the monastery whenever I could fit
it in and I made some really significant decisions
there, one of them being retirement.”
For George, it was about recognising the Spirit
working in his own life and vocational call.
“I’m not saying that I’d be game enough to let
go of the steering wheel completely but I have
become much more attuned to a direction that I
have not planned,” George said.
“Benedictine spirituality places great weight
on Christ in the other and on the idea of
hospitality. Hospitality doesn’t just mean a tea
and a biscuit. That’s nice, but it’s not really what
hospitality is about. Hospitality is being with
people – living with people.”
The permanent diaconate is a living sign of the
servanthood of Christ’s Church.
DIOCESE of PARRAMATTA
parracatholic.org
Inquiries to Rev Dr Arthur Bridge AM, Director of Vocations to the Permanent Diaconate
Tel 0411 289 954 | arthur.bridge@parracatholic.org | PO Box 23, Toongabbie, NSW, 2146
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CatholicOutlook | AUGUST 2016 19