According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1534, the sacraments of Holy Orders and Matrimony, which are sacraments of service, are directed towards the salvation of others because they confer a particular mission in the Church and serve to build up the People of God. Lawrence E. Mick, in his book Understanding the Sacrament of Holy Orders, describes this sacrament as the Church’s celebration of three major ministries of leadership: deacons, priests, and bishops. This leadership must be exercised in the light of Christ’s teaching and witness.
According to the book Touched by Christ: The Sacramental Economy by Lawrence Feingold (2021), each sacrament, in addition to imparting sanctifying grace and the gifts that flow from it, also confers graces that are specific to its purpose as represented by its sacramental signs. Feingold posits that the existence of graces proper to each sacrament can be explained in two ways. First, it would be redundant to have seven sacraments if all gave the same effect. The seven sacraments, therefore, must differ in the particular graces they provide to meet the fundamental needs of our supernatural life. Secondly, Feingold suggests that since the symbolism of each sacrament differs from one to the other, the graces given should also differ.
Thus, the difference in the sacramental sign should manifest a different aspect of grace to a different spiritual need, for instance while Baptism, grants to the baptized a special aid to be configured to Christ, with whom they are buried with in Baptism, and to keep the divine commandments, and to worthily receive the other sacraments because it is the door of all sacraments, Confirmation gives the recipient special aid of actual grace to bear firm and intrepid witness to the faith. The reception of the Holy Communion, on the other hand, gives the recipients a particular mission to love Christ in Himself and their neighbor, because in the Eucharist, Christ Himself, present in His Body and Blood, is both the reality and the sign.
Having recently been ordained as deacons in a ceremony held on March 1, 2025, a student from Hekima Jesuit School of Theology shared his experience regarding the question of graces received following their ordination. Josky Okumu, a Xaverian Missionary of Yarumal, shared that during the Litany of the Saint, he found himself thinking about his vocation journey and the call he was about to embrace. The reality of the responsibilities that came with ordination then dawned on him.
“After the ordination, that night, when I was alone, I thought about what people used to tell me that after the ordination, you feel different. The difference I feel now, after having received the Sacrament of Holy Orders, is not something physical or a supernatural power within me. No. The difference for me is that the way you approach things becomes very different. And even when you are about to make a mistake or when you are about to give in to temptations and fall into sin, your conscience is more alert and it pricks you.”
Deacon Josky feels that his conscience is now more alert, and the voice that speaks within him has become louder than before. He feels that a special grace now surrounds him.
“I have become more reflective, and even the way I carry myself when I’m with my colleagues is just different. This is a feeling that comes from deep within me, and I struggle to put it into words. But one way or another, I feel like there’s an inner force that has been ignited, and I am sure it’s actually guiding me throughout this journey. It’s like giving me directions on what to say, what not to say, and what to do, what not to do.”
Additionally, Deacon Josky feels that a sense of responsibility has enveloped him, one that is different from what he felt before. Now, he thinks that although he has freedom, it comes with the weight of that special responsibility.
“People are looking up to me to be a role model, so I need to change the way I conduct myself. This is still part of the formation process that I continue to receive, apart from the graces I received from the sacrament. There is no other way, but I know that I have to embrace this ministry fully and differently from the way I was before my ordination.”
Deacon Josky reiterated that he had been given this responsibility, which he accepted without any reservation. He therefore commits to safeguarding it, regardless of what is happening around him; he must continue to keep his word, the ‘yes’ that he strongly responded to his ordaining minister, the ‘yes’ that he pronounced before God, his family, friends, and the congregation that witnessed the occasion, he promised to keep his word as he fully embrace the ministry.
“During ordination, certain words are read, and these are not just words. If you reflect on them and internalize them deeply, you will realize that they carry deep meanings. When you consider the significance of these words, they truly stand out. Even when the bishop prayed to ordain us as deacons, the words of consecration are also significant; they are not mere words, but carry power.”
Deacon Josky relates the words pronounced by the ordaining minister during the ordination to the incarnation, that in the beginning, there was just a word. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. He said that this is how he also views the people who have been given higher offices, even in the political arena, where the person being sworn in holds the bible, and gives their word of commitment. Immediately after being sworn in, they assume that responsibility, and they are no longer the person they used to be.
According to Lawrence Feingold (2021), those who receive Holy Orders are bestowed with a sacramental character, which serves as the foundation or invisible stamp that calls forth a long chain of actual graces necessary for adequately fulfilling the missions of deacon, priest, or bishop throughout their lives. However, these actual graces also depend on the individual’s cooperation; thus, they may be lost through infidelity or can increase through prayer, fidelity, and zeal. These actual graces foster and stimulate the exercise of heroic pastoral charity and prudence, enabling the deacon, priest, or bishop to conform more closely to Christ, the Good Shepherd, to whom the sacrament of Holy Orders configures them. This special grace received at ordination is a dynamic gift intended to grow continually. It is directed towards serving both the local and universal Church, and it configures him in his weakness with Christ, whose tasks he carries out.
By Pamela Adinda