Being a relatively new deacon, I have been pondering how to describe in a concise manner the spirituality of the diaconate, its relationship to marital spirituality for us married deacons, and its common elements with our brother clergy the priests and bishops.
I am not sure I have gotten too far with all of that.
I know that others are working on the identity of the deacon as it is being experienced in the world today, and the theology of the diaconate vis a vis the Church’s history of the diaconate both in the Latin and Eastern Rites. Diaconal spirituality is tied into all of that, no doubt.
But something Bishop John M. Quinn of the Diocese of Winona said on August 22, 2009 in his homily for my ordination keeps ringing in my ears:
“Be not the greatest, unless in your greatness you are the servant of all.”
There is a lot packed into that statement. It is a comment on kenosis, a comment on diaconal dignity, a comment on to whom we belong.
We are called to greatness in our servitude. Our spirituality is more characterized by the ordinary than by the wonderous, by the signs of the times, the grittiness of living than by the softness of beatitude. We are perhaps more like Peter than John, more Marcan than Johannine, more Teresa of Calcutta than Theresa of Avila.
We can be none of that unless we walk with the Lord, and pray constantly. This is where the Liturgy of the Hours becomes so important. We pray so as to sanctify our time. We pray in a similar fashion as do our brother priests and bishops. We pray in a way that brings God to man, and man to God.
“Be not the greatest, unless in your greatness you are the servant of all.”
It is a wonderful vocation.
