First Catholic, Then Jesuit, Now Transitional Deacon, Soon To Be Jesuit Priest

Deacon ordained at UMass
December 02, 2007
By ALEX PESHKOV
AMHERST - About a hundred people gathered yesterday in the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel at the Newman Center at the University of Massachusetts, where the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, ordained Sean Todd O'Mannion of Northampton as a transitional deacon. The term "transitional" signifies O'Mannion's preparation for the priesthood. "It's a wonderful day for all of us, and this is a very special place," McDonnell said. "Out of this place, out of this chapel, a tremendous number of vocations came over the years." The order of deacon dates back to the earliest days of the Catholic church. Deacons are ordained to serve in three areas: proclaiming the Gospel; assisting at the altar; and by works of charity. "Now you are not only a carrier of Gospel, but also its minister," McDonnell said. "It's a beautiful day. I am so thankful that everyone came and I am glad that (the ordination) happened here, at the Newman Center," said O'Mannion, 44, who earned his undergraduate and master's degrees in French at UMass. "We've got a lot of vocations out of here and also I came here ... So, in a way, it's all going full circle." It was at UMass some 10 years ago that O'Mannion converted to Catholicism, receiving the sacraments of initiation at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Northampton. He worked as an associate editor at Merriam-Webster before entering the Novitiate of Society of Jesus in 2001. During his time with the Jesuits he ministered to addicts in prison and worked on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. In 2004 he was accepted as a seminarian in the Springfield diocese and attended Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston. He has served pastoral assignments at St. Joseph, Pittsfield, St. Anne, Chicopee, and currently at St. John the Baptist, in Ludlow. Two other diocesan seminarians were ordained as transitional deacons at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican last month. Jonathon Reardon of North Adams and Mark Glover of Hampden, both students at the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City, were ordained by Cardinal John P. Foley. The Springfield diocese anticipates that they, along with O'Mannion, will be ordained to the priesthood on June 28 at St. Michael's Cathedral in Springfield.
©2007 The Republican © 2007 MassLive.com Link (here)