Several years ago, my son and I attended Sunday Mass at a parish close to home, though it wasn’t our home parish. My wife, recovering from serious surgery a few days earlier, stayed home and asked us to find someone to bring her Communion.
After Mass, I approached a friend at the parish and explained the situation. Without hesitation, she tracked down the deacon who had served the liturgy and introduced him to me.
“I know we just met,” I said, “but do you think you could come to our house sometime today and bring Communion to my wife, who’s just had surgery?”
The deacon (also named Mike) looked me in the eye and nodded. “I think I can do that,” he smiled. “Would 2 o’clock be OK?” At the appointed hour, the deacon arrived at our home, greeted my wife, prayed with us and gave her Communion.
This man, within just a few minutes’ time, exemplified for me the ministry of the permanent diaconate, as defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 1588): “They are dedicated to the people of God, in conjunction with the bishop and his body of priests, in the service of the liturgy, of the Gospel and of works of charity.”
It is a teaching rooted in the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, which restored the permanent diaconate: “Dedicated to duties of charity and of administration, let deacons be mindful of the admonition of Blessed Polycarp: ‘Be merciful, diligent, walking according to the truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all.’”
The U.S. bishops define the role succinctly: “The deacon, in virtue of his sacramental ordination and through his various ministries, is to be a servant in a servant church.”
Through my work as a Catholic journalist and as a member of several parishes through the years, I have been privileged to know and work with literally dozens of permanent deacons and reported on the ordination of many (including 64 at once, in 2007 in Santa Barbara, California).
I have always found the most powerful moment of the ordination liturgy to be the presentation of the Book of the Gospels to the deacons, near the end of the rite of ordination. As they receive the book, these men receive a powerful admonition from their bishop: “Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach.”
For me, it is a moment to reflect on my own call to ministry, a reminder that all of us, as ministers, are servants of the Lord, regardless of our role. That is both humbling and uplifting for me. I pray for the deacons.
They come from all walks of life — insurance salesman, building contractor, educator, doctor, maintenance worker and more — and all have been active for many years in their respective parishes.
Collectively, they serve in a variety of parish ministries — in outreach to the sick or imprisoned, in religious education and Christian initiation, even in administration. In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, some deacons serve as assistants to the auxiliary bishops in the five pastoral regions and as master of ceremonies at liturgies these bishops celebrate.
One of the kindest and humblest deacons I ever knew — not exactly a young man — drove 60 miles daily from the Ventura County suburbs to South Los Angeles to coordinate a community-services program for the underserved. His wife, an absolute sweetheart, assisted him in this ministry and also was a spiritual director, served on a local fair-housing council and was active in their parish.
Theirs, like that of so many deacons and wives I have known, was a ministry of joyful and loving service to God’s people, models for all who serve in any ministry of the church.
To learn about the Deacon Formation Program here in the Diocese of Providence, visit dioceseofprovidence.org/deacon-formation-program.
