OCEANSIDE — Bishop Michael Pham will ordain eight men to the permanent diaconate on Saturday, May 30, at St. Thomas More Church in Oceanside. Attendance is by invitation-only due to limited capacity, but the liturgy will be livestreamed at 10 a.m. at sdcatholic.org.
Those being ordained are:
Christopher Haack
St. Mary, Star of the Sea Parish, Oceanside
Christopher Haack, 56, had thought about becoming a deacon for perhaps as many as 12 years. But every time he discussed it with his wife, Gloria, they agreed that “it wasn’t the right time yet.”
That changed after their youngest child was in college.
Haack said that diaconal ministry is “all about service and surrender.”
“I want to really embrace my diaconal ministry with an openness and sense of excitement (and) adventure,” he said. “Who knows what God will throw my way?”
Haack is a Senior Environmental Health and Safety engineer. He and his wife, Gloria, will celebrate their 35th anniversary in August. They have three children and have been members of St. Mary, Star of the Sea Parish since late 2019.
Kevin R. Johnson
Immaculate Conception Parish, San Diego
Kevin R. Johnson recognized his call to the diaconate as he watched his wife serving others and felt a “quiet but persistent pull” to do the same.
“There was a strong sense that this wasn’t optional,” said Johnson, 47, “that I was being asked to step up and serve more intentionally.”
Johnson sees the deacon’s role as “living at the intersection of the altar and the people.”
Reflecting on what that means for “a historic and diverse community” like Immaculate Conception Parish, he said, “My goal is to honor the parish’s rich traditions, while helping foster a community that is welcoming, grounded in faith, and active in service.”
Johnson is the training director at the Electrical Training Institute of San Diego and Imperial Counties. He and his wife, Bridgette, have been married for 21 years and have three children. They’ve attended Immaculate Conception Parish for 19 years.
Mike Macie
St. Rose of Lima Parish, Chula Vista
Mike Macie was volunteering with the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults process, when fellow OCIA facilitators told him that he had “a deacon’s heart.”
About five years ago, around 15 years after first feeling the call and shortly after turning 55, Macie was asked by an auxiliary bishop and two co-workers at the diocesan Pastoral Center — on the same day! — when he was going to become a deacon. Macie and his wife agreed that evening that he should pursue it and “see what happens.”
As a deacon, he said he plans “to humbly and gently lead and to serve in ministries, groups and organizations … with enthusiasm.”
Macie, 60, is executive director of the Services Corporation for Parishes and Schools in the Diocese of San Diego. He and his wife, Mary, have been married for 33 years and have five children. His connection to St. Rose of Lima Parish goes back to the 1970s, when he made his First Communion there.
Francisco Martinez
St. John of the Cross Parish, Lemon Grove
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Francisco Martinez was a sacristan for his parish’s outdoor Masses.
“Having the keys to the church allowed me a private moment one night before the Blessed Sacrament,” recalled Martinez, 58. “In the silence of the empty chapel, I prayed, ‘Lord, if you want me to be a deacon, let one of your priests ask me.’”
Within two weeks, that prayer was answered.
Martinez, a handyman for the past 26 years, said that a deacon is “the ‘eyes and ears’ of the bishop and the pastor in the local community.”
“The opportunity to accompany people in their most vulnerable moments … has given me a sense of purpose that I never imagined when I first started this path,” he said.
Martinez and his wife, Sofia, have been married for 25 years, have six children, and have attended St. John of the Cross Parish for 19 years.
Joseph Naval
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Rancho Peñasquitos
Joseph Naval spent most of his professional life as a graphic artist. But, recently, he was hired as a pastoral associate at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish and soon will be ordained a deacon.
“I’ve simply found a bigger canvas,” said Naval, 50. “I spent two decades drawing for clients, but now, my greatest joy is helping others draw closer to Christ.”
He said that the call to the diaconate “intensified” during the COVID-19 pandemic, when, though public Masses were suspended, he assisted at a few private liturgies.
“One day, during the elevation of the Host,” he recalled, “I felt as if God was holding me, whispering, ‘I love you. You are mine.’ This encounter … changed me forever.”
Naval and his wife, Laarni, have been married for 22 years and have three children. They have attended Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Rancho Peñasquitos for about 20 years.
Joseph Parker
Resurrection Parish, Escondido
Joseph Parker might never have become a deacon were it not for his wife, Erika.
“During our courtship, she invited me to Mass and, over time, I could feel God calling me to the Catholic Church,” said Parker, 51, who entered the Church during his engagement and later became actively involved in parish ministries.
“All of this service led to being invited to our parish rectory with our pastor inviting us to consider the diaconate,” he said.
“I am most looking forward to bringing our community’s needs in service at the altar,” he said, while also focusing on service with youth, young couples preparing for marriage, and those in need.
Parker has been a registered nurse and a member of Resurrection Parish for the past 28 years. He and his wife, Erika, have been married for 27 years and have two children.
Juan Pablo Rodriguez
St. Charles Parish, Imperial Beach
Juan Pablo Rodriguez honestly answered no when his wife asked him if he had ever considered becoming a deacon.
But “that question remained with me, quietly stirring my heart” for the next 15 years, said Rodriguez, 49, who serves as the director of infrastructure and cloud services at a local education agency.
During the COVID pandemic, he helped with the sound system for outdoor Masses.
“I began to sense that inner voice growing stronger and clearer, gently asking, ‘Juan Pablo, would you like to be a deacon?’ And my response became, ‘Yes, Lord, here I am; send me.’”
“I am open and willing to serve wherever I am most needed,” he said, but he is “especially interested” in marriage preparation and family life ministry and also feels called to provide spiritual direction.
Rodriguez and his wife, Ana, have been married for 27 years and have three children. They have been members of St. Charles Parish for about 14 years.
David William Vacchi
Newman Center Catholic Community at UC San Diego
David William Vacchi met his future wife, Rosaura (“Rosy”), as a student at the University of San Diego.
Attending Mass together in USD’s Founders Chapel, he said, they “fell in love with each other and Christ.” But, several years into marriage, Vacchi informed his wife that the upcoming Sunday Mass was going to be his last.
Heavy traffic forced them to attend Mass someplace new: the Newman Center Catholic Community at University of California, San Diego.
“As we walked through the doors, something felt different. … It was like we had come home,” said Vacchi, 50, who has served as business manager and campus minister at the Newman Center for the past 10 years.
Encouraged to pursue the diaconate by the priests there, he hopes to help others to “accept God’s love and pour forth that love onto and into the world around them.”
The Vacchis celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary on April 29 and have attended the Newman Center for at least 18 years.
