Future deacons reflect on service, healing, the Sacraments
SCROLL THE ARROWS to see another photo.
CLICK HERE to read more deacon candidate profiles.
Archbishop Shawn McKnight has summoned 14 men to the Diaconate — 13 of them for the permanent Diaconate and one seminarian for the transitional Diaconate.
He plans to ordain them during Mass on Saturday, June 7, in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City.
The permanent Diaconate candidates and their wives have been preparing since 2020.
This is the fourth and last in a series of articles profiling the candidates.
To serve and inspire
James A. “Jim” Rangitsch Jr. has always had a servant’s heart.
“I have felt drawn to the Diaconate for a very long time,” he stated. “I believe my ordination as a permanent deacon will enhance my desire to serve others in a broader spectrum — both on a human and spiritual level.”
He hopes as a deacon to be seen as a faithful and approachable servant of God — “for people to feel comfortable coming to me with any concerns or needs they are experiencing.”
“With the help of the Holy Spirit, I also hope to be an inspiration through my words and actions,” he stated.
Mr. Rangitsch was born and raised in Billings, Montana.
“My family belonged to Little Flower Catholic Church, where I received my Sacraments and was active in my role as an altar server and as I grew older, a lector,” he said.
He attended Catholic grade school and upon graduating from high school enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.
After 20 years on active duty, he retired from the military and served another 20 years as a civilian air traffic controller.
Mr. Rangitsch and his wife, Sandra, are active members of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Sedalia.
He emphasized that he and his fellow candidates for the Diaconate are truly a family.
“And that includes our wives, who have walked this five-year journey with us,” he said.
Together, they experienced a broad array of emotions at every step of the process.
“We supported each other through many ups and downs, both academically and personally,” he noted.
He appreciates the outpouring of prayers the candidates have received from their parish communities.
“It is a blessing to be supported in this way,” he said.
As a deacon, Mr. Rangitsch hopes to focus on ministering to people who are underserved in his community.
“There is such a need for connecting with folks on a human level and understanding how they came to be in their situations,” he said. “Sometimes, it just takes a conversation to make a connection.”
He’s always ready to meet people and speak to them on opportunities to serve God.
He sees the Jubilee Year of Hope as a prime opportunity for people to return to the Church.
“Too many have drifted away from their faith,” he stated. “I know this in my own family.”
He acknowledged that there’s a fine line between encouraging people and giving them a sermon.
“Prayer for them is our absolute constant, and we should never cease,” he said.
Mr. Rangitsch asked for prayers for God to give him the strength to follow always the Holy Spirit in word and deed, “to proclaim the Good News and to effectively evangelize to all people I serve and meet along the way.”
Healing and proclaiming
Throughout diaconal discernment and formation, Robert M. “Bob” Czarnecki has likened his role as a physical therapist assistant to what his role as a deacon might be.
“Through my services, I have helped to heal and strengthen people physically,” he noted. “Similarly, my hope is that through my services to God and his Church as a deacon, I might heal and strengthen my brothers and sisters in Christ spiritually.”
Mr. Czarnecki, a St. Louis native and current member of St. Stanislaus Parish in Wardsville, was raised Catholic and moved to Jefferson City in 1984.
He and his wife, Rhonda, have been married for 36 years and have three adult children and six grandchildren — one of them yet to be born.
Mr. Czarnecki holds a degree in general studies with an emphasis in exercise science, behavioral science, and communications, as well as an associate’s degree in applied science.
He works as a physical therapist assistant.
He emphasized that a deacon’s role is that of a servant.
“My hope is that through my service to our bishop, my pastor and other priests, my fellow deacons and parishioners, I may bring people to God and to his Church,” he stated.
Mr. Czarnecki emphasized that getting to the threshold of ordination has been a team effort.
“I could not have achieved this without the support of my wife, Rhonda,” he said. “Her words of encouragement and her ability to manage things at home were what gave me the ability to focus on studies and get through some challenging times.”
He also appreciates the support he has received from Deacon John Schwartze, diocesan director of Deacon Formation, “who, through his guidance, was able to help me navigate through some busy times.”
Mr. Czarnecki’s spiritual director, Monsignor David Cox, also gave invaluable assistance.
The future deacon doesn’t know yet what area of ministry he’ll be focusing after Ordination.
“I am willing to fulfill whatever role the bishop assigns to me,” he said.
He believes his greatest opportunity to help bring people to Christ will be through promoting the Sacraments, especially Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist.
“For me, personally, Reconciliation is a time when I can physically feel the love of Christ,” he stated.
“After confessing my sins, I feel so unworthy,” he said. “But, to then hear the words, ‘I absolve you from your sins’ from the priest, who is working as an instrument of Christ, causes me to feel as if this heavy weight has been physically lifted from my body.
“I want everyone to feel that,” said Mr. Czarnecki. “I want everyone to feel Jesus’s love through Reconciliation.”
Furthermore, he stated, no relationship with Christ can feel more intimate than through receiving him in the Holy Eucharist.
“By the miracle that occurs during every Mass, simple bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of our Savior,” he stated. “Then, by our partaking and consuming of the Body and Blood, Jesus literally becomes part of you, and you become part of him — a miraculous interconnection.”
It’s no coincidence that Jesus established his new covenant with a meal.
“For when sharing a meal, an interconnection is formed among those partaking — a bond, so to speak,” said Mr. Czarnecki.
“By taking part of Holy Communion at Mass, not only our we forming an interconnection with Christ, but also with those partaking during that Mass, and with every single person who has ever partaken in the Holy Eucharist dating all the way back to the Last Supper, thus forming the body of Christ!” he stated.
“I want everyone to be part of this!”
In this Jubilee Year of Hope, Mr. Czarnecki is convinced that there’s always hope as long “as it is known that Jesus loves us.”
“He loves us so much that he became one of us,” Mr. Czarnecki noted. “He allowed himself to be crucified and buried. He arose from the dead and appeared many times to his disciples.
“He loves us so much, that when he ascended into heaven, he left us a Church that he himself established and proclaimed that ‘the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.’
“He appointed Peter as head of that Church. He sent his Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who gave his disciples the strength and the courage to go out and proclaim the Good News and grow this Church.
“This Church still stands today. It is a living sign of Christ’s presence in the world, not only in the physical structures and in the clergy and members who make up this Church, but also in the Holy Eucharist that is housed in every single Catholic church throughout the entire world.”
Mr. Czarnecki asks for prayers for him to receive guidance from the Holy Trinity in carrying out his assigned duties as a deacon.
“Please pray that I may also receive healing, strength, courage, wisdom, fortitude and especially acceptance of the will of the heavenly Father,” he said.
