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Knights of Columbus donates coats to K.M. Smith School

Class Reunion Notices

After Saturday, Frank Hine will be in an unusual position for a Roman Catholic &#8212; when his daughter weds, he can both give the bride away and pronounce the couple man and wife.&#8220;It would be a little different than what people are normally accustomed to,&#8221; the Wilkes-Barre resident chuckled.Hine is one of 17 men who will be ordained as permanent deacons by Diocese of Scranton Bishop Joseph Bambera Saturday, adding to a growing and much-needed cadre of support for a church coping with a priest shortage that keeps getting worse.&#8220;That&#8217;s where the church is going,&#8221; Hine said. &#8220;Things are changing.&#8221;A deacon can perform some services once considered the domain of priests, including proclaiming the Gospel and preaching the homily during Mass, presiding at wakes, funerals, baptisms and &#8212; with a pastor&#8217;s permission &#8212;weddings.Unlike a priest, deacons can be married, and Hine, 63, has been for 33 years, creating the opportunity to not only watch his daughter marry in the future, but conduct the service.&#8220;We receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders,&#8221; Hine said of his looming ordination, &#8220;but not the fullness of the sacrament.&#8221;The Roman Catholic Church has one Sacrament of Holy Orders, but three degrees, or levels: Bishops receive the fullness of the sacrament and thus can ordain priests and preside over confirmations; priests conduct most rites and sacraments for other people, including celebrating mass and forgiving sins and deacons assist priests and fill in where they are allowed, as needed.In the past, being ordained a deacon was a step toward priesthood, but that changed with the Second Vatican Council, an assembly of religious leaders called by Pope John XXIII that ran from 1962 through most of 1965, with Pope Paul VI presiding after succeeding John in 1963.While retaining the &#8220;transitional deacon&#8221; ordination typically bestowed on seminarians the year before becoming priests, the council reinstated what is called the &#8220;Permanent Diaconate,&#8221; meaning deacons who have gone as far as they intend to in the Sacrament of Holy Orders &#8212; which, it turns out, suited Hine to a tee.&#8220;I was in the seminary during college&#8221; he noted, where he considered life as a missionary. But the process is called &#8220;discernment&#8221; for a reason, as those who feel called to the priesthood spend years in formation to help decide if it is what they really want. In his case, it wasn&#8217;t.&#8220;We&#8217;ve been lucky; we&#8217;ve been blessed,&#8221; he said of his family. &#8220;You get to an age when you realize you should give something back to everybody.&#8221; Being able to participate more fully in the religious life while still being married accomplishes that. &#8220;I get the best of both worlds.&#8221;Donald Crane, of Wilkes-Barre, followed a different path. A city police officer for 37 years, he first considered becoming a deacon when his pastor at St. Benedict Parish suggested it in 2010. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t even know what a deacon was,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Becoming one sure wasn&#8217;t on my bucket list.&#8221;After mulling the idea, he gave it a try. &#8220;I figured Father saw something in me that I didn&#8217;t.&#8221; It may have been happenstance that drew him to this point, but he figures becoming a cop was the same way.&#8220;Dad saw an ad for the civil service test; I took it and scored pretty well, and that was history,&#8221; Crane, 64, said. &#8220;I guess God has a path for us, and I honestly believe this is the one he has for me.&#8221;Diocesan Spokesman Bill Genello said this is the largest group of men being ordained permanent deacons in a decade. &#8220;In 2011, there were seven ordinations; in 2004 there were 15,&#8221; Genello said. &#8220;These 17 will bring the total of active permanent deacons in the diocese to 72.&#8221;The training is long, if part-time &#8212; five years of night classes once a week, some weekend classes, a monthly day of reflection and other commitments. &#8220;It&#8217;s a pretty involved program,&#8221; Hine said. &#8220;but it goes by so fast you don&#8217;t realize it.&#8221;And it&#8217;s not quite done. There are six more months of training for the delivery of a homily during Mass. But both men get to participate in their first Mass as a deacon at their home parishes this Sunday.Before that, there&#8217;s the ordination, involving prostration before the altar at St. Peter&#8217;s Cathedral in Scranton. Both men conceded they have a case of butterflies, and Hine joked that getting down to the floor shouldn&#8217;t be a problem, but &#8220;sometimes the hard part is getting back up.&#8221;Crane said the venue and the fact that the Mass will be broadcast live on the diocesan TV channel add to the moment. &#8220;This is like going to the Super Bowl. This is big time.&#8221;Both also look forward to a new life after ordination, a life they say more men should consider.&#8220;It really is a call of service,&#8221; Hine said, &#8220;to try to help the poor and the marginalized not only in our church but in our world.&#8221;<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Mark Guydishmguydish@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</shirttailMeta></div>

Deacon ordination signals shifting face of the Catholic Church