Permanent Diaconate: Issues and Questions

[plato3]

If it is only desire that interest someone in the Diaconate they should continue serving the Church with their talents as a lay minister.

The Diaconate is a calling for all of the Deacons I know and “WE” do not see it as having our cake and eating it too! It has been a blessing for me and my family.

Do you also have a problem with the married Priest who have come home to the Catholic Church after having been Ministers in another faith while also raising a family?

The Catholic Church has a long history of Deacons within the Clergy and with the critical shortage of seminarians and the aging population of current priest, the Diaconate serves a vital role within the Church.

I hope you will keep an open mind and try to see the value the Pemanent Deacon has in the parishes around the world.

Deacon Dan

Very true. The permanent diaconate was re-established to bring the church where it was not-serving the poor, prisoners, soup kitchens, homeless Etc. But, because of the shortage, many deacons are doing more and more to help in the parish with Sacramental ministry (Baptisms,Weddings) and funerals, rosaries Etc.

 

[JamestheOlder]

If you are a young father of children, I would ask that you delay your admission to study for the diaconate.

Based on my personal knowledge and from listening to the advice of other deacons, your relationship with your minor children will suffer, and you will receive little consolation or advice from the priests in the parish where you serve. They will be completely “unaware” of your “problem”.

My best advice: discuss this subject in DETAIL with your spiritual advisor. You don’t have one? In most dioceses a competent spiritual advisor for yourself is mandatory.

Been there; done that. And Kevin Lyday is no longer a practicing deacon.

 

[JimmyBru]

You know, it is really interesting watching this discussion unfold. I can only pray that the Spirit move in all of our hearts with peace and humility.
And that is one aspect I think needs closer scrutiny - humility. Extreme intellectualism at times is its own enemy. Critical thinking is necessary when discerning a vocation, but thinking with criticism only leads to dissent. That’s not to say that this discussion is in a dissenting mode, but to ponder whether a man’s reasoning is for the greater glory of God, or the greater glory of himself is a futile undertaking. It will be God who will call, and God who will correct or reprimand, not us.
There needs to be a humbling of self in order to discern God’s will. If one will not humble himself to seek that Divine will, then the self only remains and that is wherein lies the problem. Someone on this thread spoke of ‘dying to self’. Our Spiritual Director from the program and my personal Spiritual director have emphasized this over and over. It has led me to a deeper prayer life - which I share with my wife - and to deeper appreciation of my role as man of God and of the world and to keep the two in their proper perspective. My wife has grown with me and I closer to her, since now the emphasis is on the other rather than myself. A good, solid Spiritual Director is a must.
I do, however, have to attend to my studies and spiritual growth. It is not at the expense of my wife and children, but rather because of and for them! Although I have to say that I am 52 yrs old and my two sons are over 21.
One of the problems I see of so many is the attitude of compartmentalizing their activities.Some see the ‘God thing’ as separate from the ‘work thing’ and separate from the ‘family thing’. The closer I get to ordination, I am beginning to see a fusion of all three and realize that they cannot be separated, but rather must be united. God must be in my work and in my family.
So. if someone tries to intellectually dissect the Diaconate and put a finite description in which only the pure of heart can enter, then we will be in big trouble. However, the heart can become less hardened through a GOOD formation process. We are all human, priests and deacons. We just need to treat each other that way with humility and patience.
I am sorry if this makes no sense, but I pray that all of those in formation and discernment find the answers to the questions they seek and appreciate the beauty in the mysteries that need no answers.
God Bless,