Holy Name Cathedral overflowed with joy, peace and love on May as Cardinal Cupich ordained 13 new permanent deacons for the Archdiocese of Chicago and one permanent deacon for the Diocese of Joliet.

“I can’t believe it,” said Deacon Juval Flores Cruz after the Mass. “I can’t believe I’m a deacon. It’s amazing. It’s just amazing.”

Flores Cruz and his wife, Lourdes Gomez, are parishioners of Sts. Genevieve and Stanislaus Parish, 4835 E. Altgeld St., and that is where he will minister.

Permanent deacons are ordained clergy who assist the bishop and priests in ministries of the word, liturgy and charity. This includes proclaiming the Gospel, leading intercessions at Mass, preaching, preparing the altar, celebrating baptisms, leading the faithful in prayer, distributing Communion, witnessing marriages and conducting wake and funeral services. Deacons also identify the needs of the poor and underserved and shepherd the church’s resources to meet those needs.

In the Archdiocese of Chicago, they go through a comprehensive, four-year formation program, offered in both English and Spanish through the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein.

Just before the ordination rite, Cardinal Cupich addressed the men who were about to become deacons in his homily, telling them to hold fast to Jesus’ admonition to his disciples to “Remain in my love” (Jn 15:9) as they set out to build the church.

The early church was marked by joy, a sense of purpose and also the gift of discernment, the cardinal said, and they were able to keep those gifts by focusing on the love of Christ.

“You have much in common with those early Christians,” Cardinal Cupich sad. “You come here with those qualities, with joy in your heart, with a sense of purpose to be ordained, to take up the mission of Christ. And you have acquired the skills of discernment, that have led you to decide that this is the right step for you. The test for you, starting today, as you take up this ministry as deacons, is to learn from these early Christian communities, that remaining in the love of Christ will be the remedy, the main source to sustain your joy, your sense of purpose and your discerning heart.

It will be the remedy, the cardinal said, when the deacons find themselves “adrift, with the joy and ministry running dry, or if you are playing by a fog of doubt regarding your purpose, or gripped in the paralysis of indecision. Let love draw you back to what your life and ministry is all about. Love will remind you that joy is not the absence of suffering or the absence of sadness, but the experience of being connected to others.”

Gomez, Flores Cruz’s wife, said that she wasn’t surprised when her husband told her he felt called to be a deacon.

“I said, ‘I’ve been waiting,’” she said, adding that Flores Cruz’s heart is “so open to God.”

Deacon Dan Strutzel, who will serve at St. Brigid Parish in Wadsworth, said that he was feeling “joy, and a sense of peace” after being ordained.

Interviewed with his wife, Elvia, at his side and one of his young grandchildren in his arms, he said he did not come to the conclusion that he had a vocation to the diaconate lightly. As a young man, he considered whether he had a vocation to the priesthood, and decided he was not called to that.

Now, after 30 years of marriage, he believes he is where is meant to be, he said.

He wants to help build St. Brigid, created from the union of two parishes, into a thriving parish community, he said, and to encourage more young people to join the parish.

Deacon Ryszard Skrzeczyna, who will serve at St. Francis Borgia Parish, 8033 W. Addison St., said he feels called to bring hope to people who have fallen into despair. That includes those he met on two recent trips to Ukraine, where he found that emotional and spiritual devastation was at least as bad as the physical devastation of the country after four years of bombings and war with Russia, he said, speaking in Polish with his wife, Beata, translating.

It also includes those here in the archdiocese who have lost hope, for whatever reasons, whether it involves substance abuse, trauma or something else.

“He has a heart to save people wherever and however it is possible,” Beata Skrzeczyna said.

At the end of the ordination Mass, Deacon Daniel Moore, director of formation, thanked all those who helped over the deacons’ four years of formation.

He offered special thanks to the wives of the new deacons, who were at their sides throughout the formation process.

“There are no words or a best way to say thank you to the wives of the ordinandi,” Moore said. “Your unique commitment of loving presence and support in your husband’s vocation to serve is a beautiful gift to your family and to the church. I thank you from my heart.”

Stephanie Kolodziejski, whose husband, Deacon Robert Kolodziejski, said she felt “wonderful” after the ordination.

“It’s very special,” she said. “He’s thought about this for so many years.”

Kolodziejski will serve at St. Peter Damian Parish, Bartlett.