The Deacon

The deacon’s ministry is one of seeing. St. Stephen the Deacon — whom Pope Benedict XVI called an exemplary model for the new evangelization — preached the longest sermon recorded in the New Testament, a sweeping overview of God’s divine plan for our salvation. For this he was stoned, not because his homily was so long(!), but because it was so heart-piercingly true. At its conclusion, Stephen, “filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God … and he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’” (Acts 7:55-56). Note the simplicity of this formula, the foundation for all good preaching: He sees God; he speaks of what he sees.

Our brother Deacon Jim Keating poetically speaks of “contemplative ministry,” of “contemplative preaching,” of inhabiting, operating from and fostering a “circulation of love.” Why does Deacon Keating’s ministry resonate with us? May I suggest it is because he sees.

The Revelation of John summarizes the vision of heaven, our telos: “They will look upon his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (22:4). The psalmist yearns: “One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: … To gaze on the Lord’s beauty … your face, Lord, do I seek! … I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living” (Ps 27:4-13). Jesus’ entire ministry is replete with the contrast of blindness and seeing, light and darkness. Seeing with the eyes of faith is essential to grasping who Jesus is, what his Church is, how he is fully present — veiled and hidden, yet here — in every sacramental encounter, especially in his Eucharistic embodiment. The Lord’s Old Testament injunction — “you cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live” (Ex 33:20) — is now transfigured into a promise — “Blessed are the clean of heart, / for they will see God” (Mt 5:8). The newly baptized are called “illuminati” whose life goal is the beatific vision.

Leading Men Into Prayer

Let us be clear: Seeing is not only for the end; it is both goal and norm now. It may be argued that the entire corpus of St. Augustine’s writings is centered around this theme of seeing truly. Indeed, he trenchantly avows: “Our whole business in this life is to restore to health the eye of the heart whereby God may be seen” (Sermon 38, No. 5). Restoring to health is a synergistic action to push beyond our perceived limits by willingly accepting the Divine Physician’s initiative probing, thereby refining pain and long-suffering patience. Spiritual growth is chiefly removing obstacles — the barnacles on the heart, the cataracts on the eyes — to the piercing light of the Father’s love. (This has been the theme of my columns the past couple years). It is often excruciating because it is so thorough, because his love will not settle for less.

The most essential dimension now is the practice of prayer, of gazing on, of staying in his gaze. Apart from sustained, habitual, persistent, even costly prayer, seeing is limited. Unsurprisingly, those who truly begin to invest in the discipline of prayer, perhaps after many years of living an active Christian life, frequently aver, “I never knew how little I saw.” It is the spiritual experience of someone getting glasses after years of unwittingly settling for less.

One fruit: The more we are “into God,” the more he drives us into seeing — and serving — others truly. He becomes the lens; we begin to see others in conspectu Dei — as God sees. This is why deacon formation must chiefly be about leading men into prayer. Everything flows from this. See God; speak of what we see. This is angelic-diaconal ministry in its simplest form.

DEACON JOSEPH MICHALAK is the director of the Office for Synod Evangelization in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.