Serving the Parishes of
St. Martha and St. Mary
St. Martha and St. Mary
Blessed 40th Anniversary, Deacon Ken!
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Blessed 40th Anniversary, Deacon Ken!
Can you believe it has been 40 years since parishioner and educator Ken Oles was ordained as a Permanent Deacon? At that time, most people didn’t know what a Catholic deacon is, much less the reason for the descriptor “permanent” (candidates for priesthood start as “transitional” deacons). Our Deacon Ken was one of the trail blazers in this form of ordained ministry that had re-cently been restored by the Second Vatican Council, and he was in just the third ordination class in our Archdiocese of Boston! As St. Mary Parish had helped him to grow in his faith and awareness of this vocation in his life, he would help St. Mary Parish grow in their awareness and appreciation of a deacon’s ministry. Years later, Deacon Bert would do the same for St. Martha Parish (incidentally, Deacon Bert is now almost completely recovered from his heart surgery in Florida).Deacon Ken has served alongside at least six pastors, whom he has ably assisted - especially when St. Mary was a larger parish family with only one priest. He has prayer-fully prepared and preached over a thousand weekend homilies, which have enriched me spiritually as well as our parishioners. Deacon Ken lovingly baptized most of the babies at St. Mary over many years! He has also been a confidant and partner to the pastors so we know that we are not alone in shepherding and ministering the sacraments to God’s people. Many of our altar servers over the years have received extensive training from Deacon Ken. These families often share joyful memories that he had baptized those same children. Along with his wife, Bobbie, the Oles family has been an anchor of faith in our parishes and give roots to longstanding relationships with parishioners young and old.
Deacons are not transferred as often as priests, but they typically do get moved to another area parish after a while. Deacon Ken has the unusual gift of being able to stay in the same assignment for thirty-six years! This only changed when Deacon Ken voluntarily requested he be assigned to both St. Martha and St. Mary Parishes when we formally became a collaborative. As a new pastor, I knew this was a sign of his true “diakonia”, a word that means service. Our more recently ordained deacons appreciate how he has been a mentor for them, and they continue to turn to him for advice. While his serious illness has limited his availability for active ministry, he has made it a point to participate anytime he can - most recently leading the tra-ditional blessing of Easter food baskets.
We are so glad that Cardinal Seán, in his recent visit to our collaborative, made a point to honor Deacon Ken in this year of his 40th anniversary - a touching moment for him and for us all. Our prayers for him and his family con-tinue: prayers for healing and strength, prayers of gratitude and joy, and always prayers of love for this man of faith and service to the people of St. Martha and St. Mary Parishes!