Florida Catholic | Diaconate Retreat Offers Spiritual Nourishment

Diaconate retreat offers spiritual nourishment

BOB REDDY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC VENICE BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 03.21.08

Gladys Severe, Deacon Max Severe, Deacon Jim McGarry and Mary Rose McGarry prepare for the start of the annual diaconate retreat March 7 at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Spirituality Retreat Center in Venice.

BOB REDDY | FC
Gladys Severe, Deacon Max Severe, Deacon Jim McGarry and Mary Rose McGarry prepare for the start of the annual diaconate retreat March 7 at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Spirituality Retreat Center in Venice.

VENICE | The people who serve as one of the key components of the Diocese of Venice don’t have a chance to get together very often.

The nearly 100 deacons serving in the diocese did just that March 7, during the Lenten retreat at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Retreat and Spirituality Center.

Bishop Frank J. Dewane told the deacons and their wives that the retreat would serve as a journey to spiritual fulfillment. That journey would bring them to a new understanding of their relationship with God. The opportunity to have fellowship and a spiritually uplifting experience was an important part of the retreat.

Deacon Max Severe of St. Catherine Parish in Sebring said the deacons are like a family. He said that the opportunity to gather during the Lenten season is particularly important. “This is the nourishment we need for the time of the Resurrection,” Deacon Severe said.

He was joined at the retreat by his wife, Gladys, and traveled with Deacon Jim McGarry, also of St. Catherine Parish, and his wife, Mary Rose.

“This is such an important experience for us,” Deacon McGarry said. “Having our wives here is important because they are an important part our work. We could not do this without them.”

The McGarrys were active in their church in New York before Deacon McGarry took the step to becoming a deacon, an ordained clergyman who helps in the ministry of service in the church.

Deacons may proclaim the Gospel, preach homilies, baptize and celebrate marriage and Christian burial.

“It was something I felt I was chosen to do,” he said. “We do so much for the church that no one really knows about. It is a fulfilling experience.”

Father Fausto Stampiglia, pastor of St. Martha Parish in Sarasota, serves as the diaconate director and emphasized the importance of the work reminding them, “You are the eyes and ears of the bishop.”

Father John Harris, a Dominican from Ireland, spoke to the group with the theme “God Is Love.”

With his Limerick accent, Father Harris said he wants the deacons to understand that their relationship with God is based on love and that love is a guide for all they do.

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Diaconate retreat offers spiritual nourishment

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