Conferment of Ministries and Ordinations to Diaconate at Kristu Jyoti College Bangalore

Forty-one clerics of Kristu Jyoti College, Bengaluru received the ministries of Lector and Acolyte in Kristu Jyoti College chapel, on Saturday 29 March 2025. The ministries were conferred by Fr. Shalbin Kalancherry, the Vice-Provincial of the Salesian Province of Bangalore. Fourteen Salesians and two TOR clerics received the ministry of Lector, and nineteen Salesians and six TOR clerics the ministry of Acolyte. The clerics had two days of spiritual preparation guided by Fr. Cyril Edamana SDB. The Vice-Provincial during the homily took the lead from the Gospel passage about the Pharisee and the Publican (Lk 18:9-14), stressed the idea that everything we have received is gratuitous gift of God and therefore we cannot claim any merit to the ministries of Lector and Acolyte. The only attitude that we should cultivate is that of gratitude to God for having chosen us for these ministries. He also thanked the staff of Kristu Jyoti College for their dedicated service in forming the clerics for such ministries.
The ordination to the diaconate was held in Kristu Jyoti College, Bengaluru on 31 March 2025. Sixteen clerics were ordained deacons by Most Rev. Dr. Peter Machado, the archbishop of Bangalore, among whom 8 were Salesians from different provinces of India and 4 belonging to Third Order Regular (Franciscans), and two to the Order of the Pious Schools (Piarists). A Benedictine from Asheervanam, Kengeri and another from the Sacred Heart of Betharram, who were not students of KJC also received the order of the diaconate. The candidates had two days of spiritual preparation animated by Fr. Varghese Thannippara SDB. The archbishop in his homily emphasized that humanity is more important than technology. Whatever may the advancement in technology or the use of artificial intelligence in our daily lives be, at the end of the day a child needs the bosom of its mother to lean on, and not some technologically developed machine. In the same way, we cannot also replace a deacon or a priest in this present world. The diaconate is a stamp! Even if one becomes a priest later, his diaconate is not wiped off. The archbishop exhorted the candidates to be men of compassion after the model of St. Lawrence of the early church who was compassionate and generous towards the poor and needy. We wish all the deacons a fruitful ministry and thank the staff of Kristu Jyoti College for having accompanied them through formation.