The Deacon

This essay is based on a homily that Bishop Edward K. Braxton delivered at the ordination of deacons in the Cathedral of St. Peter in the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois, on June 8, 2019, the vigil of Pentecost.

The Spirit is the power that moves the stars, the force that turns the planets, and the love of God which guides men’s hearts!

Married couples gather each year for a joyful Mass of Thanksgiving marking 25, 40, 50, 60 and, yes, 70 years of Christian marriage, praying that the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit will continue to be at the spiritual heart of their marriage. Priests gather each year for a joyful Mass of Thanksgiving marking 10, 25, 40, 50 and, yes, 60 years in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, again, praying that the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit will continue to be the spiritual heart of their priesthood. When the bishop ordains deacons of the Church, he and all present pray that the Holy Spirit will be the abiding spiritual heart of their lives and ministry as deacons.

When St. Luke tells us in Acts 6:1-7 that the Twelve chose Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas, seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, they are clearly selected for diaconal service, though Luke never calls them deacons.

The diaconate, as a named order in the Church, emerged gradually and came to include far more than attending to widows who were neglected in the daily distribution of goods and serving at table. But, their unique ministry is made clear with the words: “They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them” (v. 6).

Diverse Ministry

Today, the ministry of deacon is very diverse in a world that desperately needs the loving service that the Holy Spirit enshrines in the heart of every deacon. The Church distinguishes between permanent deacons and transitional deacons. The latter are men who hope to be called to the priesthood. However, this is no excuse for candidates for the priesthood to think of their diaconate as “more” or “better” than the diaconate of married men who will always serve as deacons. We do well to remember that those who are priests and bishops are also deacons and remain deacons throughout their ministry.

St. Luke tells us that the seven men selected were full of wisdom. Deacons, like priests, must be full of wisdom. Not as St. Paul teaches us: the wisdom of this world, but the wisdom of Christ.

Christian Wisdom

Christian wisdom is born of the deepest prayer-filled reflection on the word of God and the riddle of human existence. A deacon with true Christian wisdom has engaged the radical questions of life. Why do you exist? Why in this time and place? Why do innocent people endure catastrophic suffering while evildoers die peacefully in their beds? Why do we die at all? What is our destiny? What does it mean to say that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and that we are called to share in the resurrection mystery? Why does Jesus vanish when we recognize him in the breaking of the bread? Rote catechism answers to these questions are not sufficient. Christian wisdom is born from serious inquiry, great silence in the presence of the God who is God.

It is born from lectio divina, begging for spiritual enlightenment while pondering Scripture. In the end, Christian wisdom does not view the world and human history as so much sound and fury signifying nothing, not a tale told by an idiot. Christian wisdom views the world as charged with the grandeur of God’s invitation to share in unending divine life, through the living gift of divine love.

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Bishop Braxton’s Prayer for Deacons

May the Holy Spirit, the gift of Pentecost, open your eyes to the needs of your brothers and sisters, inspire in you words and actions to comfort those who labor and are burdened. May you serve them truly after the example of Christ himself and at his command. And, through your ministry, may the Catholic Church stand as a living witness to truth and freedom, to justice and peace, so that all people everywhere may be raised up to a new hope!

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Christian wisdom affirms that the life of every individual person in the world has purpose, meaning and value. Ultimately, Christian wisdom discerns that God is not God the way we would be God if we were God!

Christian wisdom means that you know Jesus of Nazareth, not as a theological argument, an image in a church window, or words on a page, but as the center of your life. One who walks with you, talks with you and tells you that he loves you. By his sin-shattering, life-giving selfless love, by his life, by his teaching, and by his death and resurrection, Jesus has given each of us the pattern of our own lives if we are to be like him and see him as he is. Jesus reminds us that, as a deacon, it is far better to be more, give more and love more than to have more, buy more or take more.

On June 3, 2019, the Church commemorated the 56th anniversary of the death of St. John XXIII, June 3, 1963, a brother deacon and a giant of faith. This pope literally transformed the Catholic Church through the Second Vatican Council. The ministry of every deacon and priest living today has been shaped by the Christian wisdom of that council’s documents. On that same day, June 3, the Church honored St. Charles Lwanga and the Ugandan martyrs, heroic heralds of the vitality of the Catholic Church in Africa, who were burned alive for not renouncing their faith on that day in 1886. Deacons will surely deepen their Christian wisdom by exploring the lives of great martyrs.

Christian wisdom will help deacons take their places in the Church and the world with the blessed assurance that Jesus Christ is the way and, quite literally, the light of the world. The central mission of ordained deacons is to guide and accompany the faithful into Christian wisdom by a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ.

Laborers

In Luke 10:1-22 Jesus sends 72 disciples out two by two, saying: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest” (v. 2). Would that we bishops were sending 72 deacons out into the harvest of our dioceses each year. The whole People of God expresses great gratitude to deacons and their families when they present themselves for ordination.

At the same time, we bishops lament the fact that with deaths, retirements and those who simply walk away from their ministry, our dioceses are not ordaining a sufficient number of priests. Without them, the shape of the Church to come may be bleak indeed.

Therefore, all deacons, without diminishing the essential importance of their own ministry, should do all they can to increase the numbers of harvest workers, “Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”

Pride in Ministry

Today’s new deacons should ignore the naysayers. Do nothing that demeans your ministry, undermines the faith of the people or brings scandal or strife into the Church. Instead, bring them Christian wisdom. Work in close fellowship with the priests in your diocese, always remembering that there can be no Church without the Eucharist and no Eucharist without priests.

Deacons are to take pride in every aspect of their ministry, striving to present themselves as Christian gentlemen. And, when they proclaim the word of God, do so with a strong and deliberate voice that can be heard by all. Never enter the pulpit to preach without being fully prepared.

The People of God are hungry for a deeper understanding of the word of God. Do not give them book reviews or political commentary. Unfortunately, many Catholic people participating in the Sunday Eucharist have difficulty paying attention to the readings, and if they do pay attention, they do not really understand the background, content and personal spiritual implications of the Scripture readings. They long to know how the greatest story ever told applies to the story they are telling with their personal lives as husbands, parents, brothers, employers and workers, neighbors, and members of the larger community.

In Midst of Wolves

“I am sending you as lambs in the midst of wolves” (Lk 10:3). Newly ordained deacons are sent into a world, which more and more wishes to drown out the Good News of the Catholic Church, the Good News, which is countercultural.

The beliefs and values of the Church are ignored and belittled in many quarters. Sadly, this is sometimes done by individuals in the Church, including some members of the clergy. The Gospel of Christ is diametrically opposed to materialism, secularism and relativism that are commonplace in American culture.

Deacons should beware of a culture that rejects God, worships money and worldly success, indulges in excess (alcohol, drugs, tobacco) debases human sexuality, undermines the very nature of the family that casts off unwanted developing human life from the womb. Beware of forces at work seeking to exacerbate the ethnic, racial, cultural, economic and political divide in this country; forces that embrace euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Have the courage to challenge a culture, which does not beat its swords into plowshares and turn its spears into pruning hooks. Instead, it trains for war again and again and again!

New deacons today are ordained during an era of great tension and conflict in our world, in our country and in our Catholic Church. They must not ignore or hide from this tension and conflict. They must go forth with great confidence and quiet joy into this brave new world as ministers of the Gospel, the sacraments and works of charity to the vulnerable, the marginalized, the oppressed and those most in need. Bring the light of the word of God to illuminate the sometimes dark headlines in the morning news. Still, carrying no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, announce to all that “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Believe what you read! Teach what you believe! Practice what you teach!

New deacons must always remember Jesus at the Last Supper. He startled his disciples by washing their feet in humble service telling them, telling all Christians: “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet” (Jn 13:14).

As Catholics, we could well be called the Church of the foot-washers! By the grace of the Holy Spirit, we must serve each other and the world, with humility, joy and love.

You are the hope of the Church!

Bishop Braxton was a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago when he was ordained auxiliary bishop of St. Louis in 1995, the second bishop of Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 2001 and installed as the eighth bishop of Belleville, Illinois, in 2005.

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Washing feet

The practice of foot-washing can be traced to the hospitality customs of ancient civilizations. In places where sandals were the prime footwear, the host would provide his servant to offer water for guests to wash their feet.

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