Very good response
The first thing I would do would be to discuss this with my pastor. Usually one must have several years of service in his parish in some form of ministry, i.e., lector, Extraordinary Eucharistic minister, etc. Even if you apply, there is no guarantee that you will be accepted. There is a rigorous screening process and then comes the time for formation if accepted. Most arch-diocese/diocese have either a 5 or 6 year formation process. The first year is for discernment. The remaining are formation. When I applied back in 1988, there were 96 applicants. 16 were accepted and 12 were ordained after the formation process. You will be given adequate study (meaning a bunch) and it will prepare you for what lies ahead. It has rewards beyond anything I could ever expect. Hope this helps.
Last time I read Acts, it mentioned nothing about Paul being knocked off a horse. (I made that same mistake, so don’t feel like the lone stranger) Check out the first part of Acts 9:3-4.
I don’t know if I would call it a peace, I find it more of a wonderment that God has chosen me to do some of the things I do as a deacon. It keeps reminding me of the biblical quote ( I don’t remember the book or verse), but it says that God uses the foolish to confound the wise. I can’t help but think that he chose me to really confound the wise when he picked me. I have been ordained a deacon since 1991 and the blessings that I have received from our Lord as one of his least servants are beyond description. The things I count as my greatest blessings are baptizing all of my grandchildren (13) and witnessing the weddings for 3 of my daughters. I promise you, grown men do cry. I have given missions, talks at retreats, work with the diaconate office for my archdiocese. You will end up doing things you never dreamed you would do. I would suggest that you follow through and see if you get the call from the bishop if you are accepted into the program. That will remove all doubt.Deacon Ed,
Thank You, your right no horse, but there was a flash of light and he fell, and was blind for 3 days, and the Lord spoke to him. I’ll take that
“The first year is a discernment process to determine whether you have the call.” This I understand, and I am encourage.
My friend Deacon Neil spoke of a peace he has now being a Deacon that he never felt before. Is the same true with you? Was the process hard for your wife and family ?
Thanks for the source. I now have it written down. You will remain in my prayers. Keep me in yours. I need them.
For each person God calls in a different way. Much less suttle than a burning bush or being knocked town on a roadway as with saint Paul, but non the less called. For me it was about seven years ago and a homily I read by the bishop of Salt Lake. Before that time I had no thoughts of the diaconate.
It will depend on your diocese and parish. Your parish would need to agree to sponsor you, it which case they would pick up the cost of your classes and even more depending on thier finacial situation. In my diocese, it pick up half the cost of classes with the parish the other half. My parish pays for reatreats is supose to pick up the cost for ordiation vestments. I pay for my own books and do donate back to my parish for part of thier expense. There may also be money available from the KC’s and other parish groups.
We paid one third, the parish one third and the diocese one third for all classes and books. We got many gifts of cash and vestments at ordination from friends and family. My pastor and a parishioner bought me dalmatics as I only had one from Ordination. Other than the vestments bought for me personally, the ones bought bought by the priest and parishioners stay in the church and belong to the parish.
I recieve nothing from my parish. Regardin finances. In fact my parish priest is somewhat ignoring the fact that I am in formation. Outside of the favorable references to the scrutinies committee I am not in much communication with him. I have to schedule appointments (and rightly so) with him to discuss my progress. I recieve comments from him like, “well its not like your are going to be pope or anything” or " Its not much more that a glorified altar boy" etc. In a nutshell, I am well aware of the fact that he is not fond of the idea of permanent deacons. His previous parish he would not allow the permanent deacon to vest for mass more than once per month and he would not allow him to ever preach a homily, which is not the end of the world because a deacons role is of service. However with this in mind I must admit that the disregard of my formation has greatly influenced my confidence in myself in a negative way. I am in year 2 of 5 years and in my first year of candidacy, recently my class went through the rite of admission to candidacy. My fellow parishoners found out by reading the diocesan newspaper. Many people were quite bewildered to find that they even had a man in their parish in formation. It is one thing to run around and tell people you are in formation and it is another to have the pastor of the parish mention that perhaps a diaconal candidate could use some prayers by the faithful of the parish. I have discussed these matters with my mentor ( who knows my priest and is not surprised), my spiritual director and even the bishop. I guess we are all given crosses to bear. I entered formation just prior to this priests assignment to our parish.
I was going to say that it sounds as though you need to go to your formation director and discuss the issues with him, but you indicated that have aleady talked to your bishop and mentor. I am in the last 18 months of my formation and the communication and support of the pastor has been critical. You may need to ask to be moved to another parish if the situation does not change.