PALM BEACH GARDENS | The six married men who will be ordained to the permanent diaconate Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola come to their vocation from different paths, with four of them born in other countries. But they all report a desire to serve the church and further the kingdom of God.
Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito will ordain Dony Antony, Fred H. Bradley III, Timothy Dube, José Rafael Capó Linares, Mario R. Neyra Sr. and Oscar Rodriguez at an 11 a.m. Mass attended by priests, deacons, religious and faithful of the Diocese of Palm Beach. All are welcome to attend and honor the commitment of these men to diaconal service in word, sacrament and charity.
The men recently answered questions from the diocesan Permanent Diaconate Office about their lives and reasons for pursuing the call to serve as a deacon. Following are their responses, edited for brevity and clarity:
Dony Antony, of St. Matthew Parish in Lake Worth, was born in India and moved to the United States in 2003. Married to wife Josy for 22 years, with five children, he said it was while serving as a volunteer sacristan at his parish that Deacon Andy Plucinski asked him if he had ever considered becoming a deacon.
“At that moment, I hadn’t considered it at all. But his question stayed with me, and I began to reflect more seriously on what it might mean to serve the church in this particular way. That conversation, along with the time spent in the sacristy, began to open my heart to the possibility of the diaconate,” Antony said.
“Looking back, I realize that the vocation to the diaconate was not something I chose — rather, it was Christ who called me, through the people and experiences that he placed in my life. The more I prayed and reflected, the more I recognized that the diaconate was the path where I could fully offer myself in service to God and his people,” he said.
Fred H. Bradley III said he found his way back to the Catholic Church after a long separation, “and when I began to regularly participate in the sacraments, I began to internalize the truth and beauty of the faith, and I felt drawn into the ministry as the most personal way to live out the fullness of the faith. My father-in-law was a deacon, and I noticed how abundant his life was and how fulfilled he was in his vocation after three decades of service.”
When Bradley told his wife of 24 years, Ellen Marie, that he was considering the permanent diaconate, she said, “OK, I’ve known that for years.” Members of Holy Family Parish in Port St. Lucie, with six children and four grandchildren, they have had a fruitful ministry to couples preparing for marriage.
“I have entered a period of internal silence in the months leading to ordination,” he said. “The very recent passing of my father-in-law has actually helped me to see the value of the vocation as living the best life possible. As I meditate on the indelible mark of holy orders, I find myself desiring holiness in all areas of my life, and ever mindful of sin and the need for forgiveness.”
Watching a deacon give a homily at his home parish, St. Bernadette in Port St. Lucie, Timothy Dube said he felt God call him to that ministry. “I said, I think you have the wrong guy because I have a terrible fear of public speaking. He didn’t stop asking and I finally relented with the hope that he would take that fear away. Of course he did, and now I am even at the point where I enjoy it,” he said.
With four children, ages 6-13, and married to wife Laura for 16 years, Dube feels that his involvement in lay ministries has been “a natural pathway to the diaconate.” Also, he said the deacon formation process has deepened his faith more than expected.
“My class was doing an assignment in Christian spirituality, and we were trying to discover a word or phrase that was deeply meaningful for each of us,” Dube said. “I looked at the cross and the words ‘He died for me’ came into my heart. When that happened, I had an awakening within my soul, and from that moment forward I didn’t just love Jesus Christ, I was in love with him.”
A native of Venezuela who emigrated to the United States in 2010, José Rafael Capó Linares is married to Blanca Beatriz Aguirre de Capó, his wife of 33 years, and they have two children. He has felt the tug toward diaconate ministry since discussing the possibility in December 2017 with his pastor at St. Jude Parish in Boca Raton, Carmelite Father John Horan.
His work coordinating four men’s Emmaus retreats helped deepen “my commitment to spiritual accompaniment and lay leadership,” he said, leading to service as a lector and extraordinary minister of holy Communion. Graduating from the School of Christian Formation in 2019 “provided a basic theological foundation, equipping me to serve with greater knowledge, humility and faith.”
Linares sums up his reasons for becoming a deacon: “to serve my neighbor; to be a witness to the truth and love of God, proclaiming his word to those less privileged to receive it; to fish for and rescue souls from the spiritual blindness that is becoming more pervasive in our society and that continues to worsen under our ongoing indifference; to make a serious commitment to be part of the solution — to be brave and step forward, to be fearless, and to be light and salt.”
Mario R. Neyra Sr. has witnessed a progression of events leading him to the permanent diaconate. Since growing up in Peru, he has tried to serve the Lord through the church. Now, after moving to the United States in 2004 and as a member of St. Juliana Parish in West Palm Beach with Patricia, his wife of 27 years, and son Mario Jr., Neyra has been active in several ministries, including the Confraternity of the Lord of Miracles, a traditional Peruvian devotion, Radio Católica Online TV and a couples ministry called UNIDOS.
He credits urging from his wife and encouragement from his pastor, Father Ducasse François, for starting his journey toward the diaconate. All of his past experiences have prepared him to be a deacon, he said. “With a deep sense of purpose, I have taken on new responsibilities and dedicated my life to serving God. Each day, prayer leads me, and I find comfort and growth in the constant reading and formation of the word of God and the liturgy.
“Every moment in our lives is a ‘God moment.’ Seriously, I feel the hands of God in each moment of my life and in the life of my whole family,” Neyra said. “Of course, we face troubles in our lives, like everyone else, but there are more blessings that we can only say ‘Thank God’ for.”
After Oscar Rodriguez’s wife of 26 years, Sol Estrella, recently experienced weakness, then paralysis with an unknown cause, he spoke with his spiritual director, Father José Crucet, who was a physician in Cuba. The priest suggested that she might have Guillain-Barré syndrome, which turned out to be the correct diagnosis. It was a relief for their three children and parish family at St. Joan of Arc in Boca Raton, though she did not recover right away.
“As I was letting friends and family know what was happening, I asked them to pray for her,” said Rodriguez, a native of Mexico who moved to the U.S. in 2010. “Many people included her in their petitions, groups organized prayers, Masses were offered, and others came to the hospital to pray with her and bring comfort during the month she remained there. I was especially strengthened by the prayers of my classmates in formation.” The experience has drawn him closer to the consoling presence of God and the power of prayer.
He has assisted St. Joan of Arc as a sacristan for Spanish liturgies, helping coordinate funerals and weddings for the Hispanic faithful, connecting devotions brought from other countries to their adopted parish. “I hope that becoming a deacon will be a benefit to the lives of others,” Rodriguez said. “I am more than willing to work toward this objective and put all my effort into achieving it.”
For information about the Permanent Diaconate Formation Program in the Diocese of Palm Beach, visit www.diocesepb.org/ministriesoffices/ministries/diaconate-ministry/. To contact the office, call Deacon Pete DelValle, formation director, at 561-775-9540. The deacon ordination Mass is set to be livestreamed at www.youtube.com/@Cathedralpbg.
