The Deacon

Deacon Greg Kandra has written a wonderful reflection on “The Diaconate of Benedict XVI” in the March/April publication of The Deacon. He outlines Benedict’s diaconal ministry via the proclamation of the Word, charity, and his ministry at the altar. To complement Deacon Kandra’s article I would like to highlight Benedict’s theology of diakonia, which can be found in an address he made to the permanent deacons of Rome on Feb. 18, 2006.

Benedict begins his address by highlighting the Pauline Christological hymn in the Letter to the Philippians where St. Paul notes that Christ “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (RSV, 2:7). Deacons are called to a life of self-emptying (kenosis).

Aspirants and diaconal candidates must know that the path to the diaconate is one of kenosis. Christ’s life as servant must become the life of the deacon. St. John the Baptist’s words are key to the formation for all disciples of Christ: “He must increase; I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). The model of Christ’s ministry as “one who serves” (Lk 22:27) is manifested with perfect clarity as he washes the feet of the apostles. Benedict notes that this humble gesture of Christ offers an example so that his disciples might imitate him in service and in mutual love.

Becoming more and more like Christ the Servant cannot be achieved by our own merits or efforts. Benedict emphasizes that deacons need to intentionally cultivate greater union with Christ through a life of prayer, the sacramental life, and Eucharistic adoration in particular. It is striking that Benedict underscores the importance of Eucharistic adoration in the life of the deacon. The reality is that the kerygma and the diakonia of the deacon will become fruitful to the degree that the deacon’s ministry flows out of a Eucharistic faith. Eucharistic adoration “prolongs and intensifies” the communion experienced at the Mass (cf. Sacramentum Caritatis, No 66).

Christianity is a way of life marked by the centrality of self-giving love. Elsewhere, in a homily at a Mass celebrating the Lord’s Supper, Benedict emphasizes the centrality of the notion of gift in the Christian discipleship: “Christianity is above all a gift: God gives himself to us — he does not give something, but himself. And this takes place not only at the beginning, at the moment of our conversion. He continually remains the One who gives. He always offers us his gifts anew. He always precedes us. For this reason, the central action of being Christians is the Eucharist (Homily, Holy Thursday, March 20, 2008).

Fostering the interior life, particularly with Our Lord in the holy Eucharist, is critical to forging deacons in the heart of Christ the Servant. The celebration of the sacred liturgy is the foundation for the vocation and ministry of the deacon. Communion with Jesus Christ, which is nourished by prayer and the sacramental life enables the deacon to give of himself kenotically to others in love, that they may come to know the love of God.

Mission of Diakonia

In his February 2006 address to deacons, Benedict affirms the diaconal mission to serve the poor, but notes the emergence of other forms of poverty besides material poverty: spiritual and cultural poverty. Benedict comments, “Many people have lost the meaning of life and do not possess a truth upon which to build their existence; a great many young people ask to meet men and women who can listen to and advise them in life’s difficulties.”

In the present culture crisis, where God, the human person, the existence of objective truth, and the meaning of love have become eclipsed, deacons can engage in the “diakonia of truth.” In an address to Catholic educators in Washington, D.C., on April 17, 2008, Benedict XVI highlighted the significance of this form of diakonia: “The dynamic between personal encounter, knowledge and Christian witness is integral to the diakonia of truth which the Church exercises in the midst of humanity. God’s revelation offers every generation the opportunity to discover the ultimate truth about its own life and the goal of history.”

Nourished by his consistent encounter, his formation in the teachings of the Church and his own witness, a deacon can become a critical guide to accompany the spiritually and culturally impoverished faithful in a variety of situations that Benedict XVI highlights in his February 2006 address.

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Dr. Roland Millare is the author of “A Living Sacrifice: Liturgy and Eschatology in Joseph Ratzinger” (Emmaus Academic, $34.95), which focuses on the inherent relationship between eschatology and the liturgy in light of Ratzinger’s insistence upon the primacy of logos over ethos.

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First, deacons can be privileged servants to the diakonia of truth in their ministries of baptism and the family. In offering formation to parents in preparation for baptism, deacons “help parents who ask for baptism for their children to reflect more deeply on the mystery of the divine life that has been given to us, and that of the Church, the great family of God.” Parents are the primary educators of their children, but the pastoral reality is that many parents have neglected this duty to the spiritual detriment of their children. Deacons can help families to understand the significance of the life of grace given in baptism and the importance of the family as the domestic church.

Second, deacons “also proclaim the truth about human love to engaged couples who desire to celebrate the sacrament of marriage.” Deacons in marriage preparation and ministry can help spouses to understand the gift and grace of the Sacrament of Matrimony and the true meaning of sexuality. Deacons can charitably and patiently help couples to understand the Church’s teaching on contraception, cohabitation, pornography, chastity, divorce and so forth. They can help couples to understand the beauty of the marriage vocation and pure conjugal love.

Finally, Benedict XVI notes that many deacons work in offices, hospitals and schools. In those settings, deacons can “illumine and give meaning to human work” and “to the suffering of the sick.” In their service to the truth, deacons can help the faithful see the full meaning of everyday life even in the midst of the cross of illness and even death. The diakonia of truth is a message of hope that does not disappoint because the present sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that await those who have been saved in hope (cf. Rom 8:18-25). Deacons must become living icons of Christ the Servant who offers the liberation of peace and joy that are fruits of our communion with him.

Consummated in Charity

Charity is an essential part of diakonia. Benedict XVI reminds the Church that “charity is not a kind of welfare activity,” it is “an indispensable expression of [the Church’s] very being” (Deus Caritas Est, No. 25). For deacons, charity has been a part of its ministerial mandate from the moment the first seven deacons were given the charge “to serve at table” (Acts 6:2). In light of the diakonia of truth, deacons must work to ensure that the faithful understand the inseparable unity between truth and charity, which Benedict XVI articulates with great clarity in his encyclical, Caritas in Veritate:

“Through this close link with truth, charity can be recognized as an authentic expression of humanity and as an element of fundamental importance in human relations, including those of a public nature. Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically lived. Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity. That light is both the light of reason and the light of faith, through which the intellect attains to the natural and supernatural truth of charity: it grasps its meaning as gift, acceptance, and communion. Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love. It falls prey to contingent subjective emotions and opinions, the word ‘love’ is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite. Truth frees charity from the constraints of an emotionalism that deprives it of relational and social content, and of a fideism that deprives it of human and universal breathing-space” (No. 3).

The link between truth and charity, which has become severed in contemporary culture, must become part of the deacon’s charge to restore through his teaching, his preaching, his ministry and his own witness.

St. Stephen and St. Lawrence remind deacons that the crown of martyrdom is the fullest witness to the inseparable link between truth and charity. These deacon martyrs were willing to lay down their lives out of love for the truth that Jesus Christ is God and the poor are the greatest treasures of the Church. All deacons are “martyred” during ordination as they commit themselves to Christ’s self-emptying way of life to become a servant. This diakonia includes an uncompromising commitment to proclamation of the truth and an unwavering dedication to charity.

Benedict XVI’s theology of diakonia invites deacons to enter into Christ’s way of self-giving love: a life given for others. In his address to deacons, Benedict XVI calls deacons to “be servants of the Truth in order to be messengers of the joy that God desires to give to every human being.” Benedict is the model of a consistent diakonia of truth and charity.

DR. ROLAND MILLARE serves as vice president of curriculum and director of clergy Initiatives for the St. John Paul II Foundation in Houston, Texas.

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Pope Benedict on Charity

“Charity is at the heart of the Church’s social doctrine. Every responsibility and every commitment spelt out by that doctrine is derived from charity which, according to the teaching of Jesus, is the synthesis of the entire Law (cf. Mt 22:36-40). It gives real substance to the personal relationship with God and with neighbor; it is the principle not only of micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups) but also of macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones). For the Church, instructed by the Gospel, charity is everything because, as St. John teaches (cf. 1 Jn 4:8, 16) and as I recalled in my first encyclical letter, “God is love” (Deus Caritas Est): everything has its origin in God’s love, everything is shaped by it, everything is directed towards it. Love is God’s greatest gift to humanity, it is his promise and our hope.” — Caritas in Veritate, No. 2

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