The small children playing while their young Filipina mothers chatted outside the front doors of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church as the sun sank into the haze beyond Pearl Harbor probably didn’t know why they were there. But it was a special day. A local boy — a son, brother, uncle, nephew, brother-in-law or cousin to many in the crowd filling the church — was being ordained a deacon and beginning his final year-long lap to the diocesan priesthood.

The last time a Hawaii-born man made that step was 17 years ago.

To the nearly 500 who came to the early evening celebration on May 30 at Cabico’s home parish in Pearl City, the new deacon was many things — a source of pride for his parents, his extended family and his parish, and a spark of hope for the broader Catholic community. His temporary diaconate would make him a lifelong brother to the permanent deacons and forever priests who were there in good number.

And for Bishop Larry Silva, who would perform the ordination, Cabico would be an “accessible, visible and tangible” witness to Jesus.

After the Mass’s opening procession, Cabico took his place in church in the front and center pew as his parents and family filled the rows behind him. With a fresh buzz-cut and smart rimless glasses, he looked sharp, fit, serious, and about 10 years younger than his 41 years.

In his homily, Bishop Silva wove a description of the iconic image of the Sacred Heart, whose feast it was that day, into a personal message for the ordination candidate, urging faithfulness and service. (See text on page 20.)

The ordination rite, most of which followed the homily, included Cabico’s promises to the bishop, his prostration before the altar, the silent placing of the bishop’s hands on his head, his reception of the Book of the Gospels and his putting on of the deacon’s diagonal stole and dalmatic.

An ample choir was led by hapa-Filipino director Robert Mondoy, whose tempo-shifting Philippine-inspired responsorial psalm added ethnic seasoning to the liturgy.

Through the second half of the Mass, the newly ordained deacon assisted the bishop at his right hand side, filling the chalices with wine, incensing the congregation, distributing Communion and intoning “The Mass is ended…”

Just before the recessional, the bishop proudly introduced the diocese’s four other seminaries, on summer break from school on the west coast, who were serving as acolytes during the Mass — David Soares, EJ Resinto, Anthony Rapozo and Jason Nunez.

Immediately after Mass, outside the church, deacon Cabico greeted a long line of faithful eager to give him a lei, a hug, a kiss, an envelope, a word of congratulations. Seminarian Nunez stood by to relieve the deacon of leis the several times they reached nose-high.

Afterwards in the sacristy, catching a breather between the liturgy and the reception, Cabico reflected on what had just happened.

“I’m humbled that the Lord has invited me to his diaconate,” he said.

What went through his mind when the bishop placed his hands on his head in the act of ordination?

“I am not worthy. But I give thanks and praise to the Lord,” he said.

Cabico also expressed gratitude for the encouragement and faithfulness of his parents throughout his long years of preparation. A biology major from Pacific University in Oregon and a former Gas Company employee, Cabico was recruited by Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo in 2002.

His parents Thomas and Editha, long-time active parishioners of Our Lady of Good Counsel, looked upon their oldest son’s ordination with humble joy.

“I give him to the Lord and the Blessed Mother,” Editha said. “Every day I thank the Lord for calling him.”

Thomas said he was “numb,” amazed at the outpouring of love and attention Jon had received.

The reception that followed under white tents behind the church lasted at least as long as the hour-and-a-half long Mass with plenty of talking and lots of eating. Generous buffets of island food stretched from sushi at one end to a roasted pigs’ heads at the other.

The new deacon mingled with the crowd. His mother, in a striking gold dress, and father, in a white Filipino-style shirt, both familiar faces to many parishioners, greeted and chatted and posed for photos.

Cabico has one more year of studies ahead of him at Theological College at the Catholic University of America in Washington. This summer he will work at St. Michael Parish in Kona, then take a couple of week’s vacation in August before going back to school.

His ordination to the priesthood will probably take place next summer.