The Deacon

I recently had the great privilege of attending the inaugural Deacon’s Conference at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology in Steubenville, Ohio. Deacons from 20 states and two countries attended the weekend conference, titled “Conformed to Christ the Servant: A Scriptural Approach to the Permanent Diaconate.”

Among the many outstanding speakers was the theologian Dr. John Bergsma, who spoke about the Jubilee Year of 2025. The theme for the 2025 Jubilee Year is “Pilgrims of Hope,” a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis.

Bergsma explained the scriptural underpinnings of a jubilee year and why it is central to Jesus’ mission as the Messiah and savior of humankind. According to Bergsma, Moses established a law that every 50 years society would get a “reboot,” giving freedom to slaves, granting forgiveness to captives and restoring families to their rightful inheritance (Lv 25:8-10). Although Israel consistently failed to keep this generational “reboot,” they looked to the promised Messiah to fulfill this year of jubilee.

Bergsma further explained that in Luke’s Gospel Jesus interprets the words of the prophet Isaiah in relation to the jubilee as applying to himself (cf. Lk 4:16-21), thus the appearance of the long-awaited Messiah would grant forgiveness to captives, set slaves free and restore families to their inheritance. This year of jubilee mandated by Moses and fulfilled in Jesus continues in his Church today.

‘Messengers of Hope to the World’

As successor to St. Peter, Pope Francis has the authority to declare and consecrate sacred time. Because Pope Francis declared that 2025 is a jubilee year, there are special graces connected to this time. The “binding and loosing” authority given to Peter (Mt 16:18-19) by Our Lord gives the pope the power to command something by divine spiritual authority. The authority that once applied to the declaration of holy seasons in Jewish antiquity now applies to present-day jubilees.

In Moses’ day, the ministers of the Jewish holy seasons were Aaron, Aaron’s sons and the Levites. But what does this have to do with deacons?

St. Jerome sees the typological prefigurement of the diaconate in the Old Testament Levites. The parallel positions of Aaron (the high priest), Aaron’s sons (the priests) and the Levites translate into the early Church hierarchy of bishop, presbyters and deacons.

According to the third-century “Didascalia Apostolorum,” “the priests and Levites now are the presbyters and deacons … (the) high priest is the bishop.” Moreover, the function of Moses ministering the cup of the blood of the covenant and splashing it on the altar and on the people (Ex 24:6-8) demonstrated that God and his people share one blood. Today, the deacon is the ordinary minister of the cup of the New Covenant containing the blood of Jesus.

Because of these connections, the deacon enjoys a praiseworthy place in any jubilee year. In a spiritual reflection published for the Jubilee of Deacons in February, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops encourages deacons to “do everything with humility, with joy without complaining, and in radical hospitality to the poor and marginalized. Allow the love of Jesus to flow from you, as you humbly serve others as missionary disciples. In this way, you will be messengers of hope to the world.” In exchange, deacons will reap the graces of the Jubilee Year.

DEACON VICTOR PUSCAS is director of diaconate formation for the Diocese of Joliet, in Illinois. He holds a D.Min. degree from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.