Question about Permanent Catholic Deacons

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I know you have to be over 35 years old to become a deacon, so what do deacons do during the 17ish years in between highschool graduation and becoming a Deacon? University wouldn’t take up 17 years, so what is it that they do? Also, if they just work normal jobs during that time, why make them wait so long if they are being called to it?
 
The permanent deacons I know were busy starting a career, getting married, having children… A man who is married can be ordained to the permanent diaconate. But once he is ordained, he cannot marry, or remarry if his wife passes away before him.

If a man feels the call to the diaconate at a younger age, he may want to talk with a vocations director to discern if he’s called to the priesthood or religious life.
 
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Most of the deacons I know were ordained when they were well past 35, and in the years prior to that age they were busy getting an education, getting married, raising a family, having a career, and all the other things men typically do.

My impression is that when they get to be middle-aged and their kids are somewhere between high school and grown adults, in other words the kids are not taking up all their time any more, they begin to think about other things they might do and feel a call to the diaconate.
 
I believe the age requirement is lower for unmarried men, but it is 35 years for married men mainly due to having families. This is because their marriage is their primary vocation and he should be devoting himself to that.

I am currently 29 and feel called to it but I know I have to wait. I have a 20 month old and another on the way. Now that I have children I TOTALLY understand why we have to wait. Assuming we don’t have more children which is of course a big assumption my youngest will be about 6 years old. I wouldn’t blame them if they made me wait longer as I have been told they might. The Church usually does things for very good reasons and this is one of them
 
They have families, bringing more souls to God, closeby.

I know a priest who was having a talk with a man in another city…a youngish father…father of 6…the fellow said to this priest…“I think I have a vocation to become a deacon”…and the priest, knowing him, said "No you don’t…look at all the evidence that God gave you that you should be a husband and a father. "

What charitable and brutal clarity a priest can give.
 
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And in that phrasing is actually the call to holiness of all lay people.

In fact St Josemaria used this very expression…
"Filling the world with light, being the salt and light — that was how our Lord described the mission of his disciples. To bring to the ends of the earth the good news of God’s love. All of us Christians should devote our life to doing this, in one way or another.

I’ll go further than that. We have to yearn not to be alone. We have to encourage others to help in this divine task of bringing joy and peace to men’s hearts. As St Gregory the Great says: “Insofar as you progress, attract others to go along with you, desire to have companions on the road to the Lord.”

But bear in mind that, as our Lord tells us in a parable, the sower of weeds came “while men slept.” We so easily allow ourselves to be carried away by the torpor of selfishness and superficiality, getting wrapped up in thousands of passing experiences, that we avoid coming to grips with the real meaning of the world and life. A bad thing that lethargy, which smothers man’s dignity and makes him a slave of sadness! (Escriva, Christ is passing by).
And in the same book:
We Christians have a commitment of love to the calling of divine grace, which we have freely accepted, an obligation which urges us to fight tenaciously. We know that we are as weak as other men, but we cannot forget that if we use the means available to us, we will become salt and light and leaven of the world; we will be the consolation of God. Our determination to persevere in this resolution of Love is, moreover, an obligation of justice. This obligation — common to all Christians — implies a constant battle. The entire tradition of the Church has described Christians as milites Christi: soldiers of Christ. Soldiers who bring serenity to others while continually fighting against their own bad inclinations. Sometimes because we are short on supernatural outlook, in effect short on faith, we do not want to hear any talk of life on earth as a kind of war. We maliciously insinuate that if we think of ourselves as milites Christi, there is a danger that we might use the faith for earthly purposes, bringing pressure to bear, creating little isolated groups. This very naive line of thought is completely illogical and usually goes hand in hand with cowardice and love of comfort.
 
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the age minimum of 35 for being ordained to to diaconate only applied to married men. From Vatican II:

Lumen Gentium:
With the consent of the Roman Pontiff, this diaconate can, in the future, be conferred upon men of more mature age, even upon those living in the married state. It may also be conferred upon suitable young men, for whom the law of celibacy must remain intact.
 
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Correct. Per the 1983 Code of Canon Law:
Can. 1031 §2. A candidate for the permanent diaconate who is not married is not to be admitted to the diaconate until after completing at least the twenty-fifth year of age; one who is married, not until after completing at least the thirty-fifth year of age and with the consent of his wife
 
What you do in between is express your desire to be a deacon to your priest then do what he wants you to do at the parish.
Deacons in our diocese are property manager lawyers pest controllers small business owners lawyers doctors factory workers, some still working some retired
 
Do you know the rationale for celibate deacons being that age? All I can really think of is they don’t want it diverting younger candidates from the priesthood.
 
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But isn’t that also the case for priests or those making religious vows? We don’t have such a high age minimum for them.
 
There were a few attempts to nudge me towards the diaconate a few years ago. On paper, I suppose I’m a textbook classic candidate, as an attorney and college professor whose children would have been grown by the tie of ordination.

I explained that in addition to never having felt the call to the diaconate, I am well aware that I could not function alone if something happened to my wife.

Folks pointed out that (at least in some diocese) dispensations are regularly granted for widowed deacons to remarry! But I couldn’t take a vow that I know I would be asking to have dispensed if it ever mattered . . .

hawk
 
I applied for the Diaconate when I was 35 years of age.

I was advised to think about it more, because my kids were still young, and one had cereble palsy.

I decided to wait and it was a good decision.

At age 46, I reapplied and went through the 12 week discernment process, with my wife.

I realized, God was not calling me to be a deacon, so I withdrew.

Never regreted my decisions.

Jim
 
My dad considered the diaconate when he was younger, but decided the timing was not right (perhaps because the three of us older kids were very young). He later “re-discerned” and entered the 4-year formation program at about age 44/45. At that point, us kids were ages 16, 14, 12, and 5. He was ordained a few months before turning 50. I am the oldest of the kids, and I was in my sophomore year of college when he was ordained.

It was beautiful to witness my parents’ relationship evolve as they went through the formation process. My parents still live in the rural area where I grew up, so perhaps he doesn’t have as much to do in a smaller parish, but he does help with baptisms, marriage prep, taking Communion to the home bound, Bible studies and/or reflections, and anything else Father asks of him. He witnessed and blessed the marriage when I got married last year, and we are planning to have him baptize our soon-to-be born son, his first grandchild. To be a deacon is truly a special vocation.

My husband feels called to the diaconate as well, and he is old enough, but as we were just married and have only just started having kids, it will most likely be some time yet before he actually enters formation, if indeed he still feels the call at that time.
 
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Does anyone know about the age requirements for Deacons in the eastern rites? A friend of mine is starting the process to become a ruthenian rite deacon at age 33.
 
Let me ask you this- since it isn’t a paying job, would a deacon be permitted to relocate elsewhere if the employment of him or his wife demanded it?
 
While this may be applicable for Permanent Deacons in Dioceses of the USCCB, it does not apply to all Permanent Deacons within the boundaries of the United States.

Religious Orders of Pontifical Rite are not bound by the ruling of the USCCB on this issue as their ordinary is their Superior General under the direct authority of the Pope. Religious Brothers who are called to the Permanent Deaconate may be ordained as early as 25 in accordance with universal Canon Law.

The Dioceses of insular areas of pacific US territories such as the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and America Samoa are part of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific and the Dioceses of Puerto Rico form their own independent Puerto Rican Bishops Conference. As such, this statute made by the USCCB does not apply. I do not know of their rulings with regards to this issue.

God Bless,
Br. Ben, CRM
 
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Deacon,
I wonder, then, why that logic wouldn’t apply to young men discerning the priesthood. If a 25 year old candidate for the presbyterate can decide celibacy is for him, why wouldn’t the same be true of a candidate for the permanent diaconate?
 
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