Deacon Jim Cantella during his Ordination Mass to the Permanent Diaconate with Most Rev. Bishop Michael Fisher, Diocese of Buffalo, May 2023
Service Sacramentalized: Honoring DEACON JIM CANTELLA Matthew Kuhner Ph.D.
Every man who receives the sacrament of Holy Orders – every permanent deacon, priest, and Bishop – has a unique mission in the Church. Truly, they are conformed in their very being to the ministerial heart of Jesus Christ through this sacrament, and their role as ordained ministers in the Church is irreplaceable in a general sense. Nevertheless, their role is also irreplaceable in relation to this moment in history, to the context and the concerns of their specific ecclesial mission. Jim Cantella’s mission as a permanent deacon in the Diocese of Buffalo was like the proverbial shooting star: bright, burning, and all-too-brief, profoundly impacting all who witnessed it. While a shooting star is seen for but a brief moment, the vision of it stays with you forever.
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Deacon Jim’s ordination to the permanent diaconate all but coincided with the revelation of a life-threaten-
ing brain tumor, which would ultimately conclude his life less than 60 days later. His preparation for ordination took place over the course of six years, spanning two different graduate schools and countless hours of formation. Of particular note, he logged over 45 hours of sacramental and liturgical instruction and over 60 hours of instruction and practice in homiletics. And yet, remarkably, he had the opportunity to assist at his first Mass on ordination weekend, only to assist at his last Mass just two weeks later. While he had prepared to deliver homilies over many, many years of active ministry, he had the opportunity to preach a homily only once. How are we to understand this mystery, this tragic loss of a great man and a newly ordained permanent deacon – especially in a cultural context that so desperately needs the gifts and the dedication of Deacon Jim? Grace perfects nature, but grace is never limited by