St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians has a verse that speaks to the heart of the diaconate.
“We were so solicitous of you that we desired to give you not only the Gospel of God, but our very life, because you had become so dear to us.” –1 Thes 2: 8
The vocation of the deacon is to proclaim the Gospel, to give it to the people complete and unabridged. St. Paul knew that that can only be done well if we give our very lives in love to the People of God.
The kenosis, the self-emptying love of others, which is essential in a deacon’s life and spirituality, is difficult to get one’s hands around. It is “life in progress”, a daily conformation to the life of Jesus the Servant.
May the Spirit guide us always in the ways of service.
