The Deacon

The modern world tends to separate the question of who we are from what we are called to do. The premodern world always approached “being” and “doing” as unified realities. The classical axiom that captures this notion is “action follows being” (agere sequiter esse). The deacon’s relationship to the sacred liturgy is often reduced to a series of liturgical actions that the deacon does during the liturgy. The reality is that the sacred liturgy first shapes who (“being”) the deacon is as an icon of Christ the Servant. The mission of charity (“action”) should flow out of this liturgical identity of the deacon.

The second edition of The National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States of America highlights the unity between identity and mission: “In the deacon’s liturgical ministry, as in a mirror, the Church sees a reflection of her own diaconal character and is reminded of her mission to serve as Jesus did” (No. 35). Focus upon the vocation of the diaconate is often centered on the charitable works that the deacon is engaged in on behalf of the Church, yet this passage highlights the primacy of the liturgical ministry of the deacon from which Church can encounter a reflection of her own diaconal character and mission. We cannot understand deacons without an encounter with their liturgical identity.

Sacramental

The sacramental being of the deacon is made clear by one of the key questions posted to the diaconal ordinands on the day of their ordination: Do you resolve to conform your way of life always to the example of Christ, of whose Body and Blood you are a minister at the altar? The holy Eucharist should be the very form of the life of the deacon.

The Eucharist should transform every aspect of human life and it should become the form for the life of all people: “There is nothing authentically human — our thoughts and affections, our words and deeds — that does not find in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the form it needs to be lived to the full” (Sacramentum Caritatis, No. 71). If deacons want to embrace their diakonia to the full, then they need to immerse themselves in the self-giving love of Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist.

The Eucharistic presence of Christ gives witness to the meaning of sacrifice, which is measured by the degree to which we are willing to give ourselves to others freely out of love. Authentic sacrifice in the celebration of the sacred liturgy is ordered toward love and not destruction.

Deacons, along with the rest of the faithful, are called upon to participate fully and consciously in the sacred liturgy. Consequently, they should embrace the disciple (the ascesis), which the liturgy offers by becoming obedient to the words, gestures and movements asked us by the Church within the liturgy. Ministers best serve at the altar as they become invisible to allow the person of Jesus Christ to become the true center of liturgy.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Ministry of the Liturgy

“In his formal liturgical roles, the deacon brings the poor to the Church and the Church to the poor. Likewise, he articulates the Church’s concern for justice by being a driving force in addressing the injustices among God’s people. He thus symbolizes in his roles the grounding of the Church’s life in the Eucharist and the mission of the Church in her loving service of the needy.”

— bostondiaconate.org/Resources, “Ministry of the Liturgy”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

During their particular roles within the Eucharistic liturgy, baptism, weddings, funeral, the Liturgy of the Hours, exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, giving viaticum to the dying, and/or the blessing and administration of sacramentals, deacons can give witness to Jesus the Servant by their humility and attention to the manner in which they minister (the ars celebrandi) to the faithful during these occasions. Deacons should constantly prepare themselves to celebrate the sacraments and sacramentals well by consulting the appropriate liturgical books and documents. All liturgical ministers are entrusted with the task and duty to give faithful witness to the liturgical treasures of the Church by simply adhering to how the Church calls us to celebrate the sacraments and to be attentive to the people whom we are serving.

Deacons can provide a beautiful witness to the Eucharistic life that all the faithful are called to. The Congregation for the Clergy says that “in the Eucharistic sacrifice the deacon does not celebrate the mystery: rather, he effectively represents, on the one hand, the People of God and, specifically, helps them to unite their lives to the offering of Christ; while on the other, in the name of Christ himself, he helps the Church to participate in the fruits of that sacrifice” (Directory for the Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons, No. 28).

One of the primary fruits of the Eucharistic sacrifice is communion, which commits the faithful to even greater love for the poor (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1397). The deacon lives both in the sanctuary and in the world. Fidelity to participating in the liturgy as a deacon is a source of nourishment for his diakonia and a sacramental sign of Christ’s sacrificial love for the Church.

Sacred Liturgy

The deacon is also entrusted with the mission to proclaim the Word, which he cannot do effectively without an interior life grounded in the contemplative and reverent celebration of the sacred liturgy. The discipline of celebrating the liturgy forms the deacon to seek only what is above so that he may be fully able to love the people and things of this world. When the deacon’s relationship with the liturgy is reduced to merely a list of functions that he can do, then we limit the potential for the liturgy to transform the interior life. The liturgy exists primarily to give glory to God and to sanctify the human person. Consequently, the deacon must always remember that the liturgy forms the person he becomes first and foremost. The liturgy shapes who he is as an icon of Jesus Christ and insofar as it shapes who he becomes, it directs his mission. Subsequently, his service and work as a deacon “begins at the altar and returns there” (National Directory, No. 39).

The study of the meaning and significance of the sacred liturgy and all aspects of its celebration is a critical component of the formation of future deacons and the continuing education of all deacons. Pope Francis, in his apostolic letter Desiderio Desideravi, emphasizes the importance of liturgical formation, which he describes as “serious and dynamic” (No. 31). This type of formation comes from the academic study of the liturgy and from all ministers and all the baptized being formed by the celebration of the liturgy itself. Pope Francis emphasizes the liturgy’s potential to form us in Christ: “The full extent of our formation is our conformation to Christ. I repeat: it does not have to do with an abstract mental process, but with becoming him” (Desiderio Desideravi, No. 41).

The deacon is called to a vocation that consists of the unity between the sacred liturgy (leitourgia), the proclamation of the Word (kerygma), and the mission of charity (diakonia). When people are tempted to separate the celebration of the sacred liturgy from social action, deacons can serve as witnesses to the faithful that the holy Eucharist is the ultimate source of our love for neighbor. Charity often misses the mark when it is not rooted in a love for God first and foremost. As mediators of communion between God, the Church and the world, deacons must first allow their own mission of diakonia to flow from the celebration of the liturgy. Through authentic diaconal ministry, they can give witness to the truth that the action of charity follows a liturgical or Eucharistic being.

DR. ROLAND MILLARE serves as vice president of Curriculum and director of Clergy Initiatives for the St. John Paul II Foundation (Houston, Texas). The St. John Paul II Foundation offers ongoing formation for deacons, deacon candidates, seminarians and priests on the Gospel of the Family and the Gospel of Life, as well as for married couples and healthcare professionals.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

‘Perfume of the Gospel’

Meeting with deacons and their families in Rome on June 19, 2021, Pope Francis said, “Deacons remind the Church that what St. Thérèse discovered is true: the Church has a heart inflamed by love. Yes, a humble heart beating with service.”

He added: “The generosity of a deacon, who gives of himself without seeking the front ranks, has about him the perfume of the Gospel. He tells of the greatness of God’s humility in taking the first step … to meet even those who have turned their backs on him.”

Pope Francis recalled the words of Lumen Gentium, which speaks of service to the People of God: “‘In the diaconate of the liturgy, of the word and of charity,’ emphasizes that deacons are above all — above all — ‘dedicated to duties of charity and of administration’” (No. 29)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..