Rule of Life

A Rule of Life for 2023, discerned and coming out of annual retreat 2022:

• Prayer:
  • Draw close to God in a Holy Hour each day, striving for at least 30 minutes of contemplative prayer.
  • Pray the Office of Readings, Lauds, Vespers, and Compline each day.
  • Pray my daily Rosary, offering:
    • the first mystery for the Holy Father and my bishop;
    • the second mystery for priests, deacons, and religious, those in formation, and for vocations;
    • the third mystery for Suzanne and our boys;
    • the fourth mystery for all those for whom I’ve promised to pray;
    • and the fifth mystery for the men of Exodus and of the world.
  • Read from the Gospels every day, seeking to learn more of Christ the Servant.
  • Pray the Auxilium Christianorum prayers (including the Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ), Litany of St. Joseph, and the Exodus reading & reflection each day.
• Vocation:
  • Live extreme ownership of my role as husband, father, and deacon.
  • Bring the best of my work to the mission & team of Exodus.
• Sacrifice:
  • Offer a cold shower each day.
  • Fast until Noon on Wednesdays for Suzanne and our family, and on Fridays for my bishop and the Church.
• Self:
  • Perform some form of exercise and pushing my body each day.
  • Be purposeful in choosing the healthier food option.
  • Make a daily Examen (within Compline).

To live the promises I made at my wedding and at my ordination:

• To take Suzanne to be my wife; To be true to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health; To love her and honor her all the days of my life.
• To be consecrated for the Church’s ministry by the laying on of my bishop’s hands and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• To discharge the office of Deacon with humble charity in order to assist the priestly Order and to benefit the Christian people.
• To hold fast to the mystery of faith with a clear conscience, as the Apostle urges, and to proclaim this faith in word and deed according to the Gospel and the Church’s tradition.
• To maintain and deepen the spirit of prayer that is proper to my way of life and, in keeping with this spirit and what is required of me, to celebrate faithfully the Liturgy of the Hours with and for the People of God and indeed for the whole world.
• To conform my way of life always to the example of Christ, of whose Body and Blood I am a minister at the altar.
• To show respect and obedience to my bishop and his successors.

The Prayer of Ordination of Deacons:

Draw near, we pray, almighty God,
giver of every grace,
who apportion every order and assign every office;
who remain unchanged,
but make all things new.
In your eternal providence,
you make provision for every age,
as you order all creation
through him who is your word,
your power, and your wisdom,
Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.

You grant that the Church, his Body,
adorned with manifold heavenly graces,
drawn together in the diversity of its members,
and united by a wondrous bond through the Holy Spirit,
should grow and spread forth
to build up a new temple
and, as once you chose the sons of Levi
to minister in the former tabernacle,
so now you establish three ranks of ministers
in their sacred offices to serve in your name.

And so, in the first days of your Church,
through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
your Son’s Apostles appointed seven men of good repute
to assist them in the daily ministry,
that they might devote themselves more fully
to prayer and preaching of the word.
By prayer and the laying on of hands
they entrusted to these chosen men the ministry of serving at table.

We beseech you, Lord:
look with favor on these servants of yours
who will minister at your holy altar
and whom we now humbly dedicate to the office of Deacon.
Send forth upon them, Lord, we pray,
the Holy Spirit,
that they may be strengthened
by the gift of your sevenfold grace
for the faithful carrying out
of the work of the ministry.

May there abound in them every Gospel virtue:
unfeigned love,
concern for the sick and poor,
unassuming authority,
the purity of innocence,
and the observance of spiritual discipline.

May your commandments shine forth in their conduct,
so that by the example of their way of life
they may inspire the imitation of your holy people.
In offering the witness of a clear conscience,
may they remain strong and steadfast in Christ,
so that by imitating on earth your Son,
who came not to be served but to serve,
they may be found worthy to reign in heaven with him.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
℟ Amen.