Deacon Stephen Fernandes: sharing his gift of faith with others

As a young boy, growing up in India, Stephen Fernandes never dreamed of living in Australia and becoming a permanent deacon in the Catholic Church. His family was poor, and education and work opportunities were limited. While he attended Mass as a boy, his faith ‘wasn’t strong’. But ‘by the grace of God’, his life took a different turn. Deacon Stephen, now 63 and living in Melton, in Melbourne’s west, enjoys a ‘blessed and rich life’ with his wife Liza, his adult daughter Irene, and those he serves as deacon in his local parish communities of St Anthony of Padua in Melton South and nearby St Catherine of Siena Parish in Melton. It’s a role that he hopes will help draw people closer to God.

Deacon Stephen was one of two men recently ordained to the permanent diaconate by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli at St Patrick’s Cathedral on 11 March. His is a vocational journey that started 30 years ago but that has only been realised in the past few years.

‘When I was about 37 years old—my daughter was seven or eight years old—my parish priest in Melton said to me, “Since you go to church so often, and you’re involved in the Church, why don’t you become a deacon?” I replied, “What’s a deacon?” I didn’t know what that was.’ Armed with some booklets and pamphlets provided by his priest, he set about deepening his understanding. However, upon talking to his wife about this possible vocation, and conscious of their young daughter and mortgage, he decided not to pursue the idea.

Fast forward to 2017, by which time daughter Irena had completed her teaching studies at Australian Catholic University, and Deacon Stephen had taken a redundancy package at his work in the automobile industry in Altona. It seemed a good time to take up studies at Catholic Theological College in East Melbourne. ‘I was always looking out for what was happening at CTC,’ he says, ‘and I’d do one or two studies here and there as I wanted to grow in my faith, but I was ready to take on studies to really strengthen my faith.’

Deacon Stephen explained that when he was a young boy, growing up in then Bombay (now Mumbai), he went to church ‘because his parents wanted him to go’, and not because of his own particularly strong faith. His family were poor, and so education was limited. He finished his schooling in India in Year 10 in 1986 and found work to ‘help put bread on the table’. He became ‘a helper’—that is, someone without a trade, who helps someone else. ‘I was very sad that I had no trade and was a helper,’ he says. ‘In India, working as a helper means to carry the toolbox for the person you are working with, but I wanted to work in an office—I really wanted to be an office person.’

Noticing Stephen’s sadness, a friend of his father’s suggested that he enrol in a technical school, which was possible due to reduced entry fees. This opportunity allowed Stephen to complete his motor mechanic certificate and to gain employment at a large automobile company in India. During this time, he joined a youth group run by Jesuit brothers in his home parish of Holy Family Church in Andheri, Mumbai. There he met his wife-to-be, Liza. They married in 1985 and decided to migrate to Australia due to the political unrest and government corruption in India at the time. Fortunately, Australia needed skilled workers, including motor mechanics, so they migrated to Australia in 1992. He continued to work in the automobile industry in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs until his late 50s.

Deacon Stephen says it wasn’t until he came to Australia that his faith started to grow. Although he received his first call to the diaconate in his early years here, he didn’t start to take an active interest in further theological studies until his late 50s .

‘I started doing a bachelor’s degree in theology at CTC, mainly to grow in my faith,’ he says, ‘I wanted to know my Catholic religion and faith well, and I wanted to understand what I was actually supposed to do as a Catholic.’

While studying at CTC, Deacon Stephen spoke to Fr Andrew Jekot, director of the permanent diaconate formation program within the Archdiocese of Melbourne, about his interest in becoming a deacon and was accepted into the program six months after that initial conversation.

‘In the program, I started to learn more about the role of deacon, and Catholicism in general,’ he says. ‘I started to know and understand more about my faith, and so my faith also increased.’ Deacon Stephen became more involved in his local church activities, including singing in the choir and serving on the pastoral council, and he did what he could ‘to know everything that was happening in the Church’.

As a deacon, he is looking forward to continuing his involvement in church activities and ‘being with the community’. ‘I want to share my knowledge of what I know about Catholicism now that I’ve learnt so much and have completed my bachelor’s degree in theology at Catholic Theological College,’ he says.

As a deacon, he will be able to continue living at home with Liza, and can also assist his parish priest in duties such as proclaiming the gospel and preaching, conducting baptisms, weddings and funerals (that are not celebrated as part of the Mass), and outreach work. ‘I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge and what I’ve learnt about Catholicism through my homilies,’ he says, ‘and when I’m spending time with people, too.’

Reflecting on his life, Deacon Stephen is ‘sure that it was the Lord’s hand that brought him and his wife to Australia’. ‘In India, we were very poor and didn’t have anything. Now, in Australia, I’ve done my studies, I have a nice car and house, a beautiful family—I’ve achieved so much; everything is a luxury here!

‘I am thankful to my Lord Jesus Christ for giving me all of these things. In India I could only do Year 10, I couldn’t study, and then I came here, finished a bachelor’s degree and now I am a deacon. I could never have realised that this would happen in my life.

God has given me so much, so I want to give back something in some way or the other.’

When not serving in his local parish, and praying at Mass, Deacon Stephen also enjoys praying at a small altar space he’s created in his home. When he prays, he says he draws strength ‘from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gives you everything that you ask for—he doesn’t hold back. If you ask, you will receive.’ These are words of encouragement that Deacon Stephen intends sharing with those he meets.