Deacon celebrates 25 years working with the poor

Vincentian Deacon Arnold Hernandez assists during the Mass at St. John Center in Little Rock Sept. 27 celebrating his 25th anniversary of ordination to the permanent diaconate. Over his shoulder to the left is a picture of St. Vincent de Paul, founder of the Congregation of the Missions.
Vincentian Deacon Arnold Hernandez assists during the Mass at St. John Center in Little Rock Sept. 27 celebrating his 25th anniversary of ordination to the permanent diaconate. Over his shoulder to the left is a picture of St. Vincent de Paul, founder of the Congregation of the Missions.

Deacon Arnold Hernandez has dedicated his life to working with men who are often on the fringes of society and don’t always have regular contact with the Church.
He is at home among the men on Arkansas’ death row or one of the state prisons as well as the migrant workers in southeast Arkansas.
On the feast of St. Vincent de Paul, Sept. 27, Hernandez was honored during a Mass and luncheon at St. John Center in Little Rock for his 25th anniversary as a deacon. He holds a unique position as the only permanent deacon in the five U.S. provinces of the Congregation of the Missions, commonly known as Vincentians. St. Vincent de Paul is the order’s founder.
Along with two Spanish-speaking priests, Hernandez provides a variety of ministries especially in the Hispanic community. They are based at St. Anne Church in North Little Rock.
Hernandez, who was born in Del Rio, Texas, to a Mexican-born mother and U.S.-born father, has always been immersed in the Hispanic culture.
“Spanish was the first language at home,” he said.
Since the age of 14, he worked as a carpenter. Construction jobs took him to New Mexico, Arizona, California, Georgia and Tennessee. He has three children who live in New Mexico and Arizona and six grandchildren. On June 15, 1981, he was ordained a deacon for the Diocese of Gallup, N.M. (His marriage was annulled before he was ordained and he is not allowed to remarry and remain a deacon.)
Four years after his ordination he got involved in prison ministry at the Los Lunas prison in New Mexico.
In 1993 he made a bold decision to join a religious order as a deacon. The Vincentian order was appealing to him because of their commitment to the poor.
“Some communities talk about serving the poor, but the Vincentians actually do it,” he said.
He also wanted to belong to a religious order that lived together as a community.
“Being family oriented, I wanted to be in a community,” he said. “It was for cultural reasons.”
In 2002 he moved to Arkansas to join the Vincentian Evangelization Team, which was previously based at the diocesan offices at St. John Center. During the busy seasons, he visits the farmworkers and tries to help them get money for health and dental expenses. This year he wrote and published the “Pastoral Project with Hispanic Farmworkers” with the assistance of St. Luke Church in Warren. He makes regular visits to death row as well as three other state prisons and the Forrest City Federal Prison.
The opportunities he has to lead Word and Communion services on death row are the most rewarding ministry for the 70-year-old deacon.
“It is more of a receiving than giving ministry,” he said. “They challenge me as a Christian, not only as a deacon. They are faith-filled persons considering where they are.”

Malea Hargett

Malea Hargett has guided the diocesan newspaper as editor since 1994. She finds strength in her faith through attending Walking with Purpose Bible studies at Christ the King Church in Little Rock.

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