Here is a brief quote from Pope Benedict XVI from his address on May 21 to the Pontifical Mission Societies.
“Preaching the Gospel is the call of God’s children to freedom, to the construction of an ever more just and solidary society, and to our preparation for eternal life….. we, like the Apostle Paul, have no arms but the word of Christ and his Cross… willingness to give their life for Christ’s name and for love of mankind.”
Pretty much sums up the vocation of a deacon — preaching, freedom, justice, preparation for eternal life, martyrdom.
That last one is always a difficult one for deacons. The call to martyrdom is part of the call of the diaconate. We have to have a conceptual grasp of that as well as a lived experience. How we live that on a daily basis needs to be worked out.
