It’s not uncommon for a well loved and well known Catholic to have more than one priest at their funeral Mass. In exceptional cases there may even be a bishop. But at Jason Costa’s funeral, ordained deacons outnumbered priests and archbishop combined.
Costa, who died July 4 at the age of 31, was administrative assistant for the Archdiocese of Vancouver Permanent Diaconate Office for nearly six years. In a testament to his dedicated work, 10 priests and Archbishop J. Michael Miller concelebrated while more than a dozen permanent deacons attended.
Many of the deacons were helped and guided by Costa during the years of diaconate education leading to their service in roles including bringing the Eucharist to the sick, praying at gravesides and funerals, and serving in ministries of the archdiocese such as First Nations, Hispanic, and Filipino.
In the words of homilist Msgr. Gregory Smith, Costa’s service to the archdiocese “contributed enormously to the success we have had training permanent deacons, which is recognized by the honour of having our archbishop preside at Jason’s funeral Mass.”
It was in the permanent diaconate office that Costa “truly fulfilled his vocation as teacher,” said Msgr. Smith, director of the office. “Beginning as an administrative assistant supporting me, he ended as the coordinator, with me supporting him.”
Costa’s contributions would eventually range from giving talks for future deacons to becoming involved “in every aspect of formation planning and in our relationship with St. Mark’s College,” even offering one time to meet with the dean of theology, said Msgr. Smith.
“I still remember realizing that something had shifted when he said ‘no need for you to meet with the dean. I’ll go.’”
Msgr. Smith said the archbishop recently told him, “‘It’s hard to imagine the archdiocese without our deacons.’” He continued, “It will be hard to imagine our deacons without Jason.”
Before joining the permanent diaconate office Costa worked with Msgr. Smith for years as his parish secretary at Christ the Redeemer in West Vancouver.
The priest drew a chuckle from clergy and laity when he noted Costa actually had roles at five parishes. “Jason’s passion to teach and share the faith his parents planted in his heart at baptism at Our Lady of Fatima was so strong that just one parish wasn’t enough for him.”
During his years of active parish involvement he was a youth minister and “sang or taught or led at St. Mary’s, Our Lady of Sorrows, and Sacred Heart; and when he was the parish secretary at Christ the Redeemer, he filled in for the Grade 7 catechism teacher during her maternity leave.”
Even those years of “generous and gifted parish ministry weren’t enough for Jason,” said Msgr. Smith. “He felt called to serve the whole local Church in the Permanent Diaconate Office.”
At Costa’s funeral vigil the night before, Deacon Marty Cayer said he was honoured to have been asked by Costa to preach. “Over the last few months my wife Lora and I have had the pleasure of visiting Jason, bringing him Communion, and growing in friendship.”
During that time they saw Costa’s “good decision making, thoughtfulness, and ability to plan,” from his permanent diaconate work to his private life, including making his own funeral arrangements.
He knew, the deacon said, “that his parents Dino and Maria, and all of us, would be too distraught right now to recall all the little important details he certainly wanted included, being the meticulous person he was.”
He recalled Costa’s positive attitude from the time he was diagnosed with cancer at 17. “He chose not to feel sorry for himself, but instead became his Grade 12 class president.”
That outlook continued as Costa lived his life independently, “arranging for his own home care so as not to ever over-burden his parents; and continuing to smile and crack jokes.”
His compassion for others took many forms including many friendships, coaching wheelchair basketball, teaching children about the Catholic faith, and doing “the very little things well, like when I watched him lend his own wheelchair battery out one day to a fellow hospital patient who was just in need.”
He illustrated Costa’s passion for life with an incident where the young man came tearing along the street “at full speed in his wheelchair, downhill, sunglasses on, wind jacket blowing, and a huge smile on his face.”
Living for the higher things of God is why Costa requested ashes on Ash Wednesday, Communion as often as possible, and anointing, viaticum, and confession. “Because as much as he wanted to grow closer to all of us, he was ultimately trying to move closer to his Creator. In his illness, through the power of faith and the sacraments which he so deeply believed in; it’s because Jason always tried to do what was right …”
He concluded his homily by noting that while Costa was physically gone, “in his thoughtful wisdom Jason recently wrote an article to help us cope with this reality, too.”
The article, “Where There is Suffering, Hope Abounds,” appeared in the diaconate quarterly newsletter that he was key to creating. The article is reprinted below.
Where There is Suffering, Hope Abounds
By Jason Costa
If there is ever a “good” time to be in the hospital, it should be during Lent. That was my experience this Lent, and I must say the Sunday readings resonated with the “cross” that I bore lying in a hospital bed for four and a half weeks on antibiotics for a blood infection.
Pain, discomfort, subpar food – any feeling that comes from being in a hospital – nobody appreciates. But as Christians, as desolate as the situation may be, and even if we are just visiting someone, the Lord reminds us that it is through suffering that we have hope.
In the Gospel of Matthew he says, “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” This hope is to live in the peace and comfort of the Lord, that he is always with us because of his abounding love for us.
As Catholics we are very fortunate to share in his love through the Eucharist. Those who minister to the sick in our hospitals and care homes know the importance of being able to take the Body of Christ to the infirm. It is an assurance that the Lord is with us in our trials, and we can still be nourished by the graces of offering up our sufferings in union with his.
For this, I am very grateful to Deacon Marty Cayer and his wife Lora, for their willingness to bring me Communion each week since I’ve been in hospital. As well I am grateful to Msgr. Gregory Smith for providing me the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. But most of all, I am grateful to the entire diaconate community for your prayers and well-wishes. We often underestimate the power of prayer, but I truly felt uplifted and inspired by your faithfulness.
Through my ordeals, which I have faced for some 13 years now, there have been two Scripture verses that have always drawn me close to the Lord in these “desert” times:
- Philippians 4:13: I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
- Romans 5:3-5: We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.
Truly, the Lord gives us strength to push past the trials in our lives, though only if we choose to turn to him and trust in him. If we do this, we will receive the peace and hope he afforded us through his death and resurrection. A peace where we know we can rest in him and a hope that we can continue to carry on his mission of love in our lives, with our families and friends, and in our communities.
On that note I do miss living this mission with you all! I hope to be with you soon to continue our journey in the permanent diaconate together.
I wish to leave you with some reassuring words I read in an article from Pope Francis recently: “From the eyes of all those who are weighed down by the trials of life, he [Jesus] looks out at us with mercy and says to us: ‘Peace be with you!’”
