Rev. Mr. Christopher Hoffmann, seminarian, raised to Diaconate, presents self fully to God
Hopes to be ordained to Priesthood next year
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Jesus came to do the will of the Father and to give his life as a ransom for many.
So, too, do those he chooses for sacred office in his Church.
“In just a few moments, you will literally give away your life, give your future away in service to Christ and the mission of his Church,” Bishop W. Shawn McKnight told Rev. Mr. Christopher Hoffmann shortly before ordaining him a transitional deacon on June 3.
“You are giving yourself to Christ,” Bishop McKnight insisted, “without reservation, even to the point of committing yourself to lifelong chaste celibacy to be completely free to serve his divine will and to be at the service of the needs of the body of Christ — that is, his Church.”
Celebrating the Ordination Mass were: Bishop Emeritus John R. Gaydos; Monsignor Robert A. Kurwicki, vicar general; Father Steven P. Beseau, rector and president of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, where Rev. Mr. Hoffmann is receiving his seminary formation; Father Paul Clark, diocesan vocation director and director of seminarians; and many other priests of the diocese.
Assisting them were Deacon Robert Reinkemeyer and Deacon Enrique Castro.
Fellow seminarians of the diocese served at the altar.
Erick Chinchilla and Ryan Bax proclaimed the readings. Members of the Cathedral of St. Joseph Choir, conducted by Thomas Halpin, led the singing, with Annette Kehner serving as organist and Dewayne Carver serving as cantor.
Ongoing journey
This summer, Rev. Mr. Hoffmann will assist the pastor of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City while working with the diocesan director of religious education, youth and young adult ministry and the diocesan director of marriage and inter-cultural ministries.
He will begin his final year of seminary studies at the Josephinum this fall.
He hopes to be ordained a priest of this diocese next spring.
“This has been a journey,” said Bishop McKnight, “and it will continue on as we look forward to next year’s celebration.”
As part of the Ordination Rite, Rev. Mr. Hoffmann stated his willingness to serve Christ’s people, proclaim the faith in word and deed, pray daily for the people of the world, and do so obediently and respectfully to the bishop.
He then prostrated himself before the altar, as a symbol of his dying to self and of his complete helplessness apart from God.
“This gift of yourself, ritually acted out in the prostration of your very body during the Litany of the Saints before the altar — as if to Christ himself — will be a vivid expression to the entire assembly of your desire to embrace Christ fully and completely,” Bishop McKnight told Rev. Mr. Hoffmann.
“It will also be a reminder to those of us in sacred orders, of the commitments we made on our own ordination day,” he said.
The congregation and choir chanted the Litany of the Saints, imploring the holy men and women in heaven to pray for Rev. Mr. Hoffmann and for the entire Church.
Then, Bishop McKnight, while placing his hands on Rev. Mr. Hoffmann’s head, called upon the Holy Spirit, in the name of Christ and his Church, to set the new deacon aside for holy service in the world.
Deacon Robert Reinkemeyer, a permanent deacon who assists the pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Tipton and Annunciation Parish in California, ceremonially helped the new deacon put on his deacon vestments.
Bishop McKnight then presented to Rev. Mr. Hoffmann the Book of the Gospels.
“Receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whose herald you have become,” he said. “Believe what you read. Teach what you believe. Practice what you teach.”
At the Offertory, Rev. Mr. Hoffmann’s parents, John and Linda Hoffmann, presented the bread and wine for consecration.
Rev. Mr. Hoffmann said later that throughout the Ordination Rite, he never lost sight of the mosaic image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary above the bishop’s chair.
“I’m offering my ‘yes’ to God like Mary, and she’s holding Jesus, whose Priesthood I am ultimately working toward,” he said.
“Sacramental icon”
Even after priestly ordination, Rev. Mr. Hofmann will also remain a deacon for the rest of his life.
As such, he will serve as “a pastoral bridge between the shepherds and their flocks, with a special mission to remove the barriers and walls that might separate pastors from their flock,” Bishop McKnight told Rev. Mr. Hoffmann in his homily.
“With your natural gifts and the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit,” the bishop stated, “you shall assist your bishop and his priests to help meet the pastoral obligations we have to those in our local Church.
“You will become a sacramental icon of Christ the Servant, who came not to be served but to serve,” the bishop told him, “even to His death on the Cross.”
The bishop reminded Rev. Mr. Hoffmann to lead by example, becoming blameless in the sight of God and serving joyfully as if He were serving Jesus Himself.
“Countless prayers”
The congregation sang “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent” as Rev. Mr. Hoffmann prepared the altar for the Eucharist.
“Holy Father,” Bishop McKnight prayed, “your Son chose to wash the disciples’ feet and so set us an example. Accept, we pray, the oblations of our service and grant that by offering ourselves as a spiritual sacrifice, we may be filled with a spirit of humility and zeal, through Christ our Lord.”
At the end of Mass, the bishop prayed that Rev. Mr. Hoffmann would have a fruitful ministry and “be found faithful as a minister of the Gospel, of the sacraments and of charity.”
“It is with gratitude that I am able to share God’s gift of my ordination with you and the Church,” Rev. Mr. Hoffmann wrote to the people of the diocese. “My journey here has been paved with countless prayers and support from many people over the years, and for this I am extremely grateful.
“Know that you all will continue to be in my prayers as I enter ordained ministry,” he wrote.
