Importance of deacons’ calling stressed during Mass

‘Nice, rich symbolism’ seen in having two different orders ordained together

Published: June 9, 2016

By Malea Hargett
Editor

Bob Ocken

Matthew Glover and Stephen Hart process out after their diaconate ordination Mass May 25 at Christ the King Church in Little Rock. Glover is chancellor for canonical affairs and Hart is scheduled to become a priest in 2017.

Bob Ocken

Catholics attending the diaconate ordination of Matthew Glover and Stephen Hart at Christ the King Church in Little Rock May 25 got a new insight into who deacons are and what they do.

Glover was ordained to the permanent diaconate while Hart was ordained a transitional deacon who is scheduled to be ordained a priest next year.

The ordination rite for both men was the same, except for one promise. Glover and Hart agreed to the promises of obedience to the bishop and praying the Liturgy of the Hours but when the promise of celibacy was read, the bishop prominently stated, “Stephen only.” Glover smiled and put his arm around his wife Brooke, who was accompanied by their two young children, Elizabeth and James.

Regardless if the diaconate is a permanent or temporary state, all deacons are called to be servants.

In his bilingual homily, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor said, “Love and service come together in the person of Jesus Christ who ‘did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ Stephen and Matt, it is to this life of sacrificial love to which you commit yourselves today.”

The two parishioners were happy to share their special day together.

“It made it more joyful event for the entire parish,” Hart said of sharing his ordination day with Glover. “Diocesan-wise, it really focused the fact that the sacrament is the same whether you are a transitional or a permanent deacon. There was a beautiful symbolism to having a permanent and transitional deacon ordained together … It was a nice, rich symbolism to that. It was really one sacrament that both of us received.”

To emphasize the order of the diaconate that Glover and Hart joined, seminarians who were recently ordained deacons and several permanent deacons offered the two the sign of peace at the end of the ordination rite.

Glover, 36, chancellor for canonical affairs, graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans with a degree in philosophy and religious studies before discerning a calling to the priesthood. He entered the North American College in Rome and was a few months away from being ordained a transitional deacon in 2004. He determined he was not being called to be a priest and eventually went to law school.

“Leaving (the seminary) was the one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make,” he said. “A lot of parts of me wanted to be a priest, but I didn’t feel like God wanted me to be a priest.”

After four years of working for a federal judge and Little Rock law firm in the footsteps of his late father James, Matthew Glover turned to full-time ministry for the Diocese of Little Rock in 2012. In 2015 he earned his canon law degree and was promoted to the diocese’s chancellor for canonical affairs.

After Glover turned 35, he was eligible to enter the diocese’s transitional diaconate program and several people encouraged Glover to apply. After discussing his interest with Bishop Taylor, the bishop determined that Glover wouldn’t need to attend the five-year program since he had completed several years of studies in philosophy and theology.

The “servant” role of a deacon appeals to Glover.

“I felt like I am in the church, serving in the diocese as chancellor and serving in my parish, and I feel called to serve in a way that is very different than the way a priest serves,” Glover said. “I feel called to put to use my training and talents that I have been given through the seminary.”

Choosing May 25 as the ordination date for Glover was a natural choice since the parish was already hosting the diaconate ordination for Hart.

“I am thrilled they were able to make it happen,” Brooke Glover said.

Hart, 27, a graduate of Creighton University in Nebraska, entered St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana in 2011.

“I had a great sense of peace and quiet,” Hart said of the Mass.

Joining his parents Evelyn and Robert Hart were his brother Father Andrew Hart, the first native son from Christ the King to be ordained a priest, and his sister, Rosemary Willis.

“Father Andrew has been a great mentor to me these past five years,” Hart said. “He has enabled me to see things from the perspective of someone who is further along in the process (of discernment).”

Hart will spend his summer as a deacon at St. Edward Church in Little Rock where he plans to work on improving his Spanish skills.

Among the special guests for the Mass was Auxiliary Bishop Robert C. Evans of Providence, Rhode Island, who Glover met while attending the North American College when the bishop was a seminary professor. They rekindled their friendship when Bishop Evans was working for the apostolic nuncio to the United States in Washington.