A number of weeks ago, I posted a bulletin insert on diaconal identity. I promised to post more, so here is a second installment of my effort to catechize the faithful about the diaconate. What do you think, deacons?
“Deacons have a three-fold ministry. The first is MInistry of the Word. One of the deacon’s primary responsibilities is to proclaim the Gospel by his manner of life. He is also to read the Gospel at Sunday Eucharist and other liturgical celebrations. If a deacon is at the altar, he will proclaim the Gospel reading. Most deacons usually preach the homily (sermon) at Sunday Mass about once a month. So the deacon’s Ministry of the Word includes reading the Gospel in the liturgical assembly, preaching homilies on occasion, teaching the faith in various other ways to the faithful, and living out the Gospel by his way of life, a life dedicated to simplicity, humility and service to others. The bishop tells the newly ordained deacon: “Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you preach.”
The local and universal Church needs to develop a coherent theology of the diaconate. I suspect it will take a couple of generations for this to occur. It has been neglected for nearly 1200 years and only brought to the forefront once again by the restoration of the permanent diaconate in 1968 by the Vatican Council and Pope Paul VI. Deacon Bill Ditewig has some very interesting ideas in his recent book, The Emerging Diaconate: Servant Leaders in a Servant Church. Take a look at it if you haven’t yet.
