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Sabbath Moments: Finding Balance in Your Life
Deacon Daniel Lowery Comments Off on Sabbath Moments: Finding Balance in Your Life
The challenges many deacons experience in achieving and sustaining balance in their lives frequently has been noted. Indeed, according to a recent study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, some 31 percent of deacons report that they experience difficulty in this regard. All too often, responsibilities associated with the Read More
Merciful Like the Father
Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers 2
Divine mercy is the Father’s merciful love — a love that becomes visible in and through the person of Jesus Christ. Those who seek and find mercy in the Lord Jesus are experiencing God’s own divine mercy and love through Christ’s words and actions, by his death on the cross and in his resurrection. Mercy, Read More
A National Celebration
Deacon Digest staff 1
For years, the leadership of the National Association of Diaconate Directors (NADD) had been planning a special celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the permanent diaconate in the Church. The culmination of their work took place July 22-26 in New Orleans, where more than 2,800 people — including more than 1,300 Read More
Women in the Diaconate: What Are the Issues?
Sister Sara Butler 3
Pope Francis repeatedly has declared that the Church does not have the authority to ordain women to the priesthood. He regards the teaching of Pope St. John Paul II in his 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis as final. Many Catholics believe, however, that the possible access of women to the permanent diaconate constitutes a separate Read More
How Intellectual Formation Influences Everything
Deacon David A. Lopez 1
The goal of the Christian life is nothing other than union with God. As is so often asserted, God became man so that man might become God. Our lord Jesus Christ made this union possible by his incarnation, life, death and resurrection. The primary means of receiving such a gift are the sacraments, and therefore Read More
Out of the Ashes, Justice and Peace
Deacon Mel Tardy Comments Off on Out of the Ashes, Justice and Peace
“Are they all Catholic?” asked my wide-eyed daughter. We’d never encountered so many black clergy and religious until visiting Atlanta in 1996 and stumbling upon an amazing black Catholic prayer service. At their reception, after conversing with someone, I turned to leave and said, “Thank you, Father.” He responded, “Oh, I’m not a priest; I’m Read More
A Call to Rethink the Diaconate
Deacon Victor Puscas Comments Off on A Call to Rethink the Diaconate
The very idea of a deacon reviewing a book written by a bishop only proves the time-honored maxim that fools rush in where angels fear to tread. This particular fool chooses to begin with the words of the fictive restaurant critic Anton Ego from the Disney movie “Ratatouille”: “In many ways, the work of a Read More
The Study on Women and the Diaconate
Deacon Dominic Cerrato 5
CARA recently released a new survey of religious women. One result indicated that, on the question of ordaining women to the diaconate, 73 percent of religious superiors believed it was theoretically possible, and 72 percent thought that the Catholic Church should ordain women to the diaconate. According to CARA’s senior research associate, Mark M. Gray, Read More