With God in Italy
Katie Yoder Comments Off on With God in Italy
Teresa Tomeo still remembers her first trip to Italy with her husband, Deacon Dominick Pastore. “We had some downtime and decided to wander in Rome,” she told The Deacon about a parish pilgrimage they joined in the summer of 2001. “We just felt so at home and could not stop marveling at the beauty all Read More
Teaching Moments
Father Daniel Dozier Comments Off on Teaching Moments
The diaconal litany is a prominent feature of virtually every sacramental celebration in the Byzantine tradition. These litanies contain both general and specific intercessory prayers offered to God by the deacon on behalf of the Church, especially for the outpouring of God’s mercy and grace in the celebration. Known by the Greek word ektenia (ἐκτένεια, Read More
Backyard Pilgrims
Teresa Tomeo Comments Off on Backyard Pilgrims
My family moved to the Midwest from the East Coast when I was still a child, and my parents often took me and my sisters back to New York and New Jersey for family visits and vacations. It was always interesting to me that those special times usually included taking in one of the famous Read More
To Serve Is to Love
Deacon Dominic Cerrato Comments Off on To Serve Is to Love
Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (“God Is Love”), offers an in-depth reflection on the nature of love, particularly focusing on the integration of eros (possessive or ascending love) and agape (self-giving or descending love). Promulgated in 2005, the encyclical addresses the essential relationship between love and the Christian vocation, where love becomes Read More
Signs of Love
Deacon Steve Kramer Comments Off on Signs of Love
In my office is a photo of the 30 men I was ordained with in the Diocese of Rockville Centre back in 1994. Often enough my thoughts wander to all of the ministry of love that these men, my brothers, have shared with the People of God. Speaking to a group of permanent deacons in Read More
Afraid of the Lord
Deacon Tim Healy Comments Off on Afraid of the Lord
From time to time in hospital ministry I’ve encountered people nearing the end of their lives who were genuinely frightened about the prospect of coming face-to-face with God. In a landmark study of religious belief, Baylor University researchers found in 2006 that almost 50% of Americans believed in an authoritarian or critical God. Given that Read More
Walking Wounded
Deacon Robert T. Yerhot Comments Off on Walking Wounded
As a spiritual director for clergy and men in formation, I find a question invariably arises as I accompany them to a greater depth of self-awareness and interiority: “What is impeding my progress, Deacon?” While part of the answer to that question is specific to each individual, I find there is common ground into which Read More
What Would Aquinas Do?
Deacon Daniel Lowery Comments Off on What Would Aquinas Do?
Not all dioceses require men in formation for the diaconate to complete a course in philosophy, yet philosophy can be remarkably helpful to deacons, most notably the philosophy of the Aristotelian-Thomist tradition. Although St. John Paul II affirmed in Fides et Ratio, his 1998 encyclical on the relationship of faith and reason, that the Church Read More