BRISBANE Deacon Peter McDade was retiring after a “dream run” of 16 years active ministry in his home parish St William’s Church in Grovely.
St William’s had been his church before he entered the diaconate, and while most ordained men were not posted to their home parish, he said he was fortunate enough to spend his whole ministry there.
Deacon McDade wanted to acknowledge his wife Tricia for her support over the years.
They celebrated 49 years of marriage this year.
He said deacons’ wives were a “truly blessed group of people” who needed to be acknowledged for the contribution they make to the diaconate and the life of the Church.
He said all of the deacons’ wives he met had been incredibly supportive of their husbands in their ministry.
Deacon McDade’s diaconate blossomed out of the day-to-day of parish life, where he, his wife and his family volunteered.
He was appointed a parent supervisor to the parish youth group, which was started by his daughter and son.
He said they were finishing a youth session one Friday, when one of the young people said to him, “You should think about becoming a deacon, you’d be good at that”.
“To be perfectly honest, I did not have the slightest idea what he was talking about, I had no idea what the ordained ministry was about, and to this day I thank God for the insights that young person had and the courage to say ‘you should have a go’,” he said.
He received encouragement from his wife and his parish priest Fr Frank Lourigan, and was accepted into the early cohort of permanent deacons in Brisbane.
He said the permanent diaconate in Brisbane has gone from strength to strength.
The ministry of a deacon was not like that of the priest, he said.
A way he had of thinking about it was that “the priest ministers first to the gathered – Sunday Mass and that sort of thing – whereas the deacon ministers first to the ungathered – those who have left the Church, the youth, people estranged for whatever reason”.
He said for his part, he spent a lot of time doing marriage preparation, funerals and baptisms.
He said baptisms in particular were a chance to reach out ecumenically in a powerful way.
“I love doing baptisms, it’s an absolute joy, and I love doing weddings,” he said.
“I struggle with funerals but people will come up to you and say, ‘That was a lovely service, thank you’, to which I say, ‘You should be thanking the Church, it’s the Church’s liturgy, all we’re doing is delivering it’ and hopefully the grace will flow from that.”
He said all of the Church’s liturgies had a unique beauty to them.
He said for men considering the permanent diaconate, “don’t die wondering”.
A call to the diaconate can come from anywhere, he said.
His ministry began at the ground level of parish life and that was where it stayed, which he saw as “an indication from God that I’m best suited where I am”.
“The people have been very gracious, thoughtful and supportive in Grovely because I could stand up there about to give a sermon and look out and I could see 10 people I know who would be more worthy of being up here giving a homily than I am,” he said.
For now, Deacon McDade is waiting to leave hospital after a minor surgery to celebrate his retirement with friends and family.
