On Saturday, September 3, 2022, Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium and Exarch of the Netherlands and Luxembourg presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Church of St. Nektarios Eindhoven in the Netherlands, accompanied by clergy of the Holy Metropolis and performed the ordination of Mr. Daniël Becker as a deacon.
In his address to the ordained, Metropolitan Athenagoras said among other things:
“My dear subdeacon, you are called to serve as a minister and our Church accepts this call today. Your ministry will first of all be a liturgical ministry. This ministry is important and sacred and, therefore, it must always be carried out in the fear of God. I would like to quote here the words which the deacon says to the priest or bishop at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy: ‘This is the time for the Lord to act.’
This sentence, which is a quotation from the Psalms, is at once so profound and so simple. It puts into perspective what happens during the Divine Liturgy and all the sacraments of our Church. It is, in a way, the lens through which we are to view the whole of the Divine Liturgy. It is indeed the Lord who takes the initiative. (…) What we experience today is the fruit of His action! Of His will! He is looking for deacons and He has chosen you. In Greek this is called “cleros”. Why am I telling you all this? To make it clear that it is God who has called you…”.
Ordained deacon Daniël Becker is of Dutch descent, married and he has four children.
