Deacons Giving Sermons

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nephillygirl

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Are deacons permitted to give sermons? I have noticed this beginning since Pope Benedict took over the Vatican. I ask because our three priests sat by on Christmas Eve mass while a deacon stood at the pulpit and delivered a sermon giving validity to evolution! I’m appalled and need answers!
 
Yes, deacons are permitted to give homilies, especially at times like Christmas when there are extra Masses (at most parishes), to give the priests a break. And I cannot infer from your post what the deacon said, but the Church does not necessarily teach against evolution as a theory. It does not endorse evolution as fact. That said, I have no idea what place evolution has in a Christmas homily. It sounds like possibly an extraordinary case of poor taste.
 
I have not seen it since I moved to Detroit, but when I lived in the Philadelphia area, it was not uncommon for one of the two Permanent Deacons at my parish to give the homily. We also has a transitional Deacon (boy did we ever put him through the ringer before his ordination 😃 ) who frequently gave the homily.
 
We see it occasionally at our parish. I rather enjoy it.
Kathy
 
Mine is a cathedral parish and our deacon(s) (we had two at one point) gave the sermon once a month. I rather liked it since both deacons were married and their sermons reflected the married (e.g. family) state.
 
Yeah, our deacon is married, too. I’m pretty sure he’s a new grandpa as well.

He gives the homily a few times a year. He’s a very earnest man with a real love for Jesus, but he tends to be a bit long-winded and with a very low, soothing speaking voice. Not a good combo early in the morning; at one point earlier this year, he actually had to nudge our pastor awake after giving the homily. In our pastor’s defense, he’d been up late at the hospital with his sick mother for the past several nights, but it was still rather amusing. :o

Fortunately for us he has a marvelous singing voice. We actually have a deacon who can sing the deacon’s part of the Exsultet!
 
duplicate thread
this discussion is already in progress at
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=125984

just because we encounter a practice at Mass in our parish or elsewhere with which we are unfamiliar, does not make it an abuse, so we should not jump to conclusions. Yes, the permanent diaconate has been restored under Pope Paul VI and yes permanant and transitional deacons can preach.
 
And Deacons are ordained, that is why they can deliver the homily.
 
nephillygirl;:
I have noticed this beginning since Pope Benedict took over the Vatican.!
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Benedict XVI has nothing to do with it. My small parish has two deacons and both have preached regularly for the last 20 years. During priestly formation men recieve their duty to preach when they become deacons. So every preist that you have listened to recieved his authority to preach when he became a deacon. Church law identifies that one of the roles of the deacon is to preach the Homily.
It is perfectly acceptable for the deacon to give the homily so long as the parish priest is the “normal” homilist. I must admit the most unbelievable sermon I have ever heard was given by a deacon who was in his “secular life” an corporate trainer and motivational speaker. Absolutely set the congregation on fire with his unbelievably captivating and “orthodox” homily. I believe the homily was on the real presence and the sacrifice of the Mass. People were in tears when they went to recieve after that homily.

It was a regular upper room experience.
 
Is the practice of allowing deacons to give sermons or homilies something that came about since the second Vatican council? For a traditional Catholic, it seems like everything went downhill since then. Preaching evolution at a Christmas Eve Mass is an abomination…inferring Christ could have been a “chimp” is acceptable? I don’t think so. :mad:
 
Is the practice of allowing deacons to give sermons or homilies something that came about since the second Vatican council? For a traditional Catholic, it seems like everything went downhill since then. Preaching evolution at a Christmas Eve Mass is an abomination…inferring Christ could have been a “chimp” is acceptable? I don’t think so. :mad:
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I don’t know if there was a change since Vatican II (I looked and haven’t found anything - so far).

It’s difficult to comment on the homily you heard, specifically the subject or content. We weren’t there. If there was something that was heterodox about the homily it’s not because he is a deacon. Priests are just as likely to prepare a homily with a bizarre theme.
 
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