Never Too Old to Serve
The longest-serving deacon still gives his all to God
Carlos Briceño Comments Off on Never Too Old to Serve
One of the key reasons used by Pope John XXIII for convening the Second Vatican Council was aggiornamento, an Italian word meaning “updating.”
That is exactly what Patrick McDonald needed regarding his life as a Catholic upon his return to his native Michigan after living and working in Europe for several years during the early 1960s; he especially needed to get up-to-date regarding the Mass.
After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Detroit Law School in 1961, he received his master’s of law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1962. He left the United States that year and served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force as a staff judge advocate in France. When he and his wife, Peggy, returned to the Detroit area in 1965, the Mass was different.
The changes that occurred during Vatican II meant no more readings in Latin, no more altar railing with people receiving Communion on the tongue, no more priests facing east with their backs to the congregation. He reflected, “We really didn’t know the Church anymore.”
After reading in a local Detroit newspaper that the Church was going to restore the permanent diaconate — a call issued during Vatican II, which Pope Paul VI implemented when he published his apostolic letter Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem in 1967 — McDonald decided to study to become a deacon.
Not only was it convenient — the Archdiocese of Detroit was one of four archdioceses in the country where the diaconate program was going to be launched — it was also practical.
“The nice thing was that anybody taking the courses could also have their spouse present,” Deacon McDonald said. “I said, ‘This is ideal.’ My wife and I wanted to get back into the swing of things and get to know the Church again. This provided us with an opportunity to do that.”
When he entered the diaconate program in 1969, he described himself at the time as an “average” Catholic. “I had an appreciation for my faith,” he said. “I loved God. But we weren’t involved much.”
However, he did have a proclivity for service. As a college student, he belonged to Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity whose motto he liked so much — “Be a leader. Be a friend. Be of service” — that he decided to adopt it as the motto for the McDonald family, which includes eight children, all practicing Catholics.
Ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1972 when he was in his mid-30s, he’s now known as the longest-serving active deacon in the United States.
An impactful memory of his ordination day was being prostrate on the floor, an image captured in a photograph that made it onto the cover of the local Sunday newspaper’s magazine, a copy of which he still has. That image sums up for him the path of service he was about to embark upo.: “What struck me about that day was thinking that I’m in this, and now I’m committed to fully, fully give God my all,” he said.
Even now, at age 86, he is still giving God his all. He does not want to slow down. Ever since 1976, he’s been serving others at his parish, St. Patrick, in Brighton, Michigan, where he’s one of four deacons. He puts in about 20 hours a week with his diaconal duties.
“I want to be the best possible deacon I can be for Our Lord,” he said.
He even still works about 22 hours per week as an attorney at the law firm he founded.
“I think that, if you are idle, and you just retire, period, your mind starts to deteriorate,” he said. “And if you are idle, in terms of spiritual life, your heart starts to deteriorate. And so I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to rust out. I want to remain as sharp and active as I can and be able to be of assistance to people.”
Once a deacon, always a deacon.
CARLOS BRICEÑO is director of communications and evangelization at the Basilica of St. Mary in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia.
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The Need for Assistants
“So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’ The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.”
— Act 6:2-6
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