Newspaper Page Text
July 3,1980
PAGE 5
The Deacon - Servant: A Profile
BY SAM TAUB
The deacon is fully aware of just how
unique he is in today’s church. He knows the
restored, permanent diaconate is in its
infancy. He is a trailblazer, developing new
relationships with others who serve in the
church.
The average deacon can be described as a
man motivated by the Spirit to give of
himself in service to the people of God. His
title, deacon, means servant. He has no
aspirations to power or privilege.
The permanent deacon is generally a
husband as well as a minister. He attempts to
balance three priorities, seeing them within
the vision of the U.S. bishops. The priorities
are: 1. his responsibilities to wife and family;
2. the job or profession whereby he earns a
living; 3. his duties as a deacon. The
springboard of his service and spirituality is a
lifelong, joint ministry with his wife in the
sacrament of marriage.
A study of the permanent diaconate in
the U.S. church has been in progress for two
years. Sponsored by the Bishops’ Committee
on the Permanent Diaconate, over 1,400
deacons and approximately 700 deacons’
wives have contributed to the study. Their
information, opinions and conclusions
provide valuable data on the formation and
development of deacons.
This study indicates that the average
deacon is 50 years old and has been married
approximately 25 years. He has four
children, the two youngest still living at
home. He was born a Catholic and is either a
college graduate or has attended college. As
an adult, he has taken an active part in
Catholic organizations and parish structures,
most prominently in the Holy Name
Society, the Knights of Columbus and a
parish council.
The deacon lives in an urban setting, in a
middle-class or upper middle-class
neighborhood. He earns a living for his
family in a managerial or professional
position.
The average deacon is a man in tune with
post-Vatican II changes in the church. He is
moderately or even very satisfied in his
experience as a deacon-servant.
The deacon’s greatest support in ministry
comes first from his wife and next from his
fellow deacons. His greatest satisfaction
comes from being engaged in a ministry of
service, especially to the sick and aged, and
in being a minister of the Word. A deacon is
authorized to read the Gospel and to give
sermons.
The greatest frustration of the permanent
deacon is the feeling that he is not accepted
by priests. Priests often question whether
the deacon is adequately educated for his
ministry. Bishops, on the other hand, are
uniformly supportive of deacons.
The deacon sometimes finds that the
people with whom he works in ministry and
those he serves are not over-demanding of
him. They apparently value his commitment
more than his work. As a result, the deacon
can feel uncomfortable and unsure of
himself while working for the church. On
the other hand, the average deacon usually
has good rapport with his supervisor in
ministry.
The deacon feels he has sufficient
authority and is qualified for his ministry
because of the educational program he
participates in before ordination, lasting
from two to four years. In addition, deacons
find they are better accepted in parishes
which hold education programs on the
permanent diaconate for priests and laity.
Ninety-seven percent of permanent
deacons do not receive a salary from the
church. However in some Mid-western areas
where priests are in short supply, bishops
assign deacons to pastorates in small rural
parishes. Other deacons serve as ministers of
religious education under contract to the
church.
The deacon’s spiritual life is centered
around the Eucharist, Scripture and spiritual
reading. An annual retreat has become part
of his life, a part shared with his wife. He
makes an effort to continue his education
and formation in his post-ordination years.
Asked to reflect on his formation as a
deacon, he often rates his spiritual and
theological formation as average or above,
especially in the areas of counseling, field
experience, homiletics and canon law.
The deacon is convinced that restoration
of the diaconate is providential, the work of
the Spirit alive in the church. He envisions
this second decade of the first generation of
permanent deacons as a time of further
testing, of slow but steady growth and as a
time of consolidation of ministry within the
church.
KNOW
YOUR FAITH
(All Articles on this pase Coprighted
1980 by N. C. News Service)
Deacons In Scripture
BY FATHER JOHN CASTELOT
Deacons played an important
administrative role in the early centuries of
the church, especially in the care of the
poor, the hungry and the sick. As the
centuries passed, deacons became less and
less distinctive. While the order of deacon
was retained, it became a temporary,
transitional step to the priesthood.
Recently, in the years since Vatican
Council II, the office has been reactivated
along earlier lines, with married men being
ordained in surprising numbers to the
permanent diaconate, especially 1 in the
United States. Dedicated to service, they
bring all sorts of expertise to their work.
Some information concerning the
possible origins of the diaconate can be
found in the Acts of the Apostles. The
author of Acts is acknowledged as a
substantially reliable historian who has
preserved a good bit of information about
the infant churches. At the same time,
, serious students of his works are becoming
increasingly aware that he was primarily a
theologian, rather than a historian.
Furthermore, the author of Acts was
t looking back at these communities from a
later generation, some time between the
years 80 and 90. He apparently had a
tendency to idealize, to transform that time
» into the “good old days.” In the process he
softened many of the bitter tensions which
come through so strongly in the letters of
Paul.
* Still while the author of Acts may have
soft-pedaled the conflicts — if he was
actually aware of them — he did not ignore
them completely. One basic tension, a very
*' human one, involved native Palestinian
Jewish Christians and Greek-speaking Jewish
Christians from outside the homeland.
According to Acts, the Jerusalem
community had established a common fund
for its maintenance, especially for the
support of the needy. In the course of time
„ people noticed that the widows of the
Palestinians were being well cared for while
those of the Greek-speaking group were
being neglected.
t When this complaint was brought to the
attention of the Twelve, they pointed out
that their first duty was the ministry of the
Word, preaching, and that they would not
neglect this sacred charge in favor of
administrative work. They suggested that a
number of men be selected from the
neglected group to ensure a more equitable
distribution of community property.
Accordingly, the community chose seven
men and the apostles officially
commissioned them by the conventional
gesture of placing their hands on each man’s
head.
While these men are never called deacons
in Acts, and their commissioning was not an
ordination in the later sacramental sense of
the term, they do seem to be the forerunners
of what would gradually emerge as the
ordained diaconate.
Deacons do not seem to have played
much of a part in most of Paul’s Gentile
churches. There is just one rather offhand
reference to “the overseers and deacons” in
the first verse of Philippians.
In the later Pauline letters to Timothy,
deacons come in for considerable attention,
with specific criteria being laid down for
their selection. But, as the letters of Ignatius
of Antioch testify, the situation only
crystallized in the early second century to
the extent that then a single overseer
(bishop) was in charge of each community,
assisted by a presbyterate (priests) and a
diaconate.
Today, parishes which are fortunate
enough to enjoy .the services of deacons
should be aware of their need for
understanding and support. Most have a
prior commitment to wives and families.
Doing justice to both commitments can
cause no little pain. Efemands are made on
their time which take them away from their
families. The result: the deacons and their
families both suffer.
Deacons’ wives often find themselves in a
bind. They may resent losing their husbands
for the few hours they can call their own
each week, especially each weekend — the
busiest time in any parish. This resentment,
in turn, can engender feelings of guilt and
anguish.
In this area, the sensitive understanding
and support of the whole parish family can
be supremely important.
Deacon Michael Newman distributes Communion during a Mass in San Diego. (NC Photo)
A New Family For The Parish
BY FATHER JOHN F. MOORE
A new family has moved onto the block.
In common with all new families, they are
trying to get to know their neighbors.
Yet there is something different about
them which puzzles some people and
confuses others. At times they seem like any
other family. But then the neighbors see the
father wearing vestments and assisting the
parish priest at the weekly liturgy or
performing other tasks which usually belong
to the priest.
What is going on? Who are these people?
Why do they spend so much time at the
local nursing home? How can a married man
preach in church? These are a few of the
many questions surfacing in parishes across
the country.
The new family in the parish includes the
deacon, his wife and children. Almost every
day more Christians become aware of
permanent deacons as they assist parish
priests in a ministry of liturgy, word and
service. Some people receive the new
families well. Doubts, however, still linger in
the minds of others.
These men are permanent deacons in
contrast to transitional deacons, who
eventually will be ordained to the
priesthood. My personal opinion is that the
adjectives “permanent” and “transitional”
should be dropped and both groups should
simply be called “deacons.” The misnomer,
lay deacon, should be eliminated altogether
since all deacons, permanent or transitional,
are ordained clerics of the church.
The difference between the two groups is
that most men who feel called to serve as
permanent deacons are married. Thus one’s
neighbor or fellow worker might also be a
deacon who brings the Eucharist to the sick
of the parish, assists at marriages and offers
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
This kind of ministry is not something
new in the church. The order of deacon has
roots in the New Testament and has a long
history down through the centuries.
Gradually, however, the role of deacons
became less noticeable in the church.
During the second session of Vatican
Council II, the assembled fathers of the
council voted to restore the order of
permanent deacon and to allow the
ordination of married men, with the
necessary qualifications, as deacons. In 1967
the American church was given the necessary
permission to restore the diaconate for
married men on a permanent basis. Thus the
church acquired its new family.
In most diocesan training programs, the
place of family in the prospective deacon’s
life is well recognized. A man with a wife
and family really cannot go through the
years of preparation for ordination alone.
Nor can he effectively minister as a deacon
without his wife’s consent, support and
interest. Wives, therefore, are often
encouraged to attend their husband’s classes,
days of recollection and retreats.
The children of the deacon candidate can
have programs tailored to their ages so they
can learn what their father is doing and
think about its effect on the entire family.
This also shows them that he is not some
religious fanatic.
The permanent deacon can be accepted
into the fraternity of those already in sacred
orders — bishops and priests. They should be
ready to accept his wife and children as well.
Finally, the diocesan family need not be
surprised by the advent of the permanent
diaconate in its midst. Catholics can be
regularly informed of deacon programs by
the diocesan press and parish bulletins, as
well as by well-prepared instructions from
parish priests.
Prepared for in this way, the permanent
deacon will not be a stranger in his church,
his neighborhood or his parish.
Discussion
Points And Questions
1. Having read this week’s articles, what are some reasons why men
would seek ordination as permanent deacons?
2. What kinds of service do deacons provide, according to Sam
Taub?
3. What are the greatest frustrations of the permanent deacon? What
could help alleviate these?
4. Why does Father Moore consider the deacon family to be
different from other families? Do you agree?
5. Why is the term, “lay deacon” incorrect?
6. Father Castelot discusses the history of the deacon. When does
the deacon first appear in the church?
7. Where in the New Testament are deacons mentioned?
8. Why do you think married deacons encounter special problems?
Father Raul Del Valle conducts a class entirely in
Spanish for 13 Hispanic candidates for the diaconate at St.
Paul’s Parish in New York. (NC Photo by Chris Sheridan)
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