Taking The First Step-Diaconate

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mozier

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Well, everyone, I have done it.

I have just written an email to my parish priest, saying that I believe God is calling me to the permanent diaconate.

I have been praying over this for a very long time (years, in fact), but have been too afraid to make this step until today. I was a seminarian once, but left due to a “Goodbye Good Men” situation back in the 1980’s (ie. I wasn’t gay and people in authority were, plus I was traditional and orthodox, and they weren’t). When I left the seminary, I felt that God wasn’t through with me yet in regards to being one of His in the clergy. After getting married (15 beautiful years and counting!), the feeling never left me. And even being out of the church for all of those years before reconciling, I still felt a call to serve.

Yes, my wife completely supports this.

I just cannot shake this feeling that I am going to give the priests in the rectory a good laugh at my expense before they gently “let me down” by humoring me. I am not in the Inner Clique of the parish, and we already have a deacon (though this is a huge, cathedral parish). However, I am sane and steady, with a master’s degree from an established university and a thorough knowledge of the Catholic Faith. I am also a reader at mass and have taught CCD in the past. I love our Faith and strive to live it every day.

I am 40 years old. Why put it off any longer? I felt that if I didn’t make a move now, then I would burst. I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Please pray for me, everyone. May God’s will be done.
 
Mozier: I’m praying for you! I hope it is God’s will for you.

40 is not too old. I have a friend in his late 50’s who is also seriously thinking about the Diaconate.
 
I must say, I am very inspired by you, Mozier, and others on this forum who are so touched by the Spirit. Before CAF, I assumed most people just knew their “fit” by the time they are, say, 21. You are a living example of how our Lord continuously feeds our souls. Peace be with you always!
 
Congratulations, Mozier! I will indeed pray for you. 👍 I wonder myself if down the road I might find myself struggling with just such a discernment.
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ProudArmyWife:
I must say, I am very inspired by you, Mozier, and others on this forum who are so touched by the Spirit. Before CAF, I assumed most people just knew their “fit” by the time they are, say, 21. You are a living example of how our Lord continuously feeds our souls. Peace be with you always!
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21? Ha! Most of us are still kids at 21. Somewhere around thirty is where most of us really start to grow up, I think. (Note I said most, not all.) At a little over a month short of 35, I’m still trying to figure out where God wants me. He’s certainly been making some changes in my life the last couple months.
 
Absolutely you have my prayers!

Also, encourage your wife to post here, if we can offer her any support.

May God continue to bless and guide you! 👍
 
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mozier:
I just cannot shake this feeling that I am going to give the priests in the rectory a good laugh at my expense before they gently “let me down” by humoring me. I am not in the Inner Clique of the parish, and we already have a deacon (though this is a huge, cathedral parish). However, I am sane and steady, with a master’s degree from an established university and a thorough knowledge of the Catholic Faith. I am also a reader at mass and have taught CCD in the past. I love our Faith and strive to live it every day.

May God’s will be done.
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Deacons serve the Bishop not the parish. I don’t believe the local priests can deny you anything. Get in touch with your diocese Vocation Director (check their website), direct your energies towards him. You may need a recommendation letter from your local priest, but the diocese is in charge of the deacons. You will be the eyes and ears of the Bishop. You may not even serve your local parish, that’s up to the Bishop according to your talents and the diocese’s needs. A good starting point for understanding the deacon and his place in the church is the book “101 Questions and Answers on Deacons” by William Ditewig. God bless you on your journey, someday I may follow. As you say, Gods will be done.

Brian
 
Mozier,
God Bless! I know this is a very long process which you and your wife will flurish in! Please keep us posted on how things go!
I too have been ‘battling this calling’ for a very long time (although younger than you). To that end, somebody seems pulls me or my wife aside to and suggest this step for me in the groups I’ve become active in lately.
Perhaps one day, but I would very much enjoy hearing of your journey!
Pax,
CS
 
The pastor can certainly reserve all baptisms, marriages, and homilies to himself. He doesn’t even have to allow his parochial vicars to solemnize marriages. Even the bringing of Viaticum may be reserved to the pastor. My first diaconal agreement of service (contract) stated that I would do baptisms and marriages when the pastor was disabled. After two years, my daughter was born and he let me baptize her. However, a deacon can request a change of assignment if he is too hamstrung in his ministry.
 
G&S:
The pastor can certainly reserve all baptisms, marriages, and homilies to himself. He doesn’t even have to allow his parochial vicars to solemnize marriages. Even the bringing of Viaticum may be reserved to the pastor. My first diaconal agreement of service (contract) stated that I would do baptisms and marriages when the pastor was disabled. After two years, my daughter was born and he let me baptize her. However, a deacon can request a change of assignment if he is too hamstrung in his ministry.
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Sounds like you were assigned to my husband’s pastor. 😃

My husband gets to do the stuff the pastor doesn’t want to, like hold a holy hour with one of the six monstrances blessed by Pope JPII for vocations, all the funeral vigils, and the marriage & baptism prep. He’s used well by other priests, though, and I think this makes his assignment more bearable. That, and the small group of orthodox Catholics who depend on my husband for devotions & such.
 
I should probably state that I have always had the opportunity to preach at Mass. Once per month. I lead most of the devotions as well. I took a strong role in assuring that the GIRM was implemented. Twenty things had to be changed in the way we celebrated Mass.
 
be assigned wherever the bishop wants you which may be elsewhere in a nearby parish OR …parishes.
 
Although the bishop assigns you, he will respect your geograhical limitations as well as your secular employment if applicable. It used to be that a deacon in my diocese could basically pick his assignment. This is certainly not true now. As the years go by, there is less variation from diocese to diocese.
 
UPDATE: Tomorrow, I am meeting with my pastor. Please pray for me, for the Lord’s strength and that the pastor will look upon me favorably. God’s Will be done.
 
Congratulations to you for answering the call. I too heard and felt the nagging of the call to ministry. I wasn’t sure what my pastor’s response would be, but thankfully he almost said: what took you so long? Perhaps yours will give you the same response. It’s been over 10 years now that I have answered and I have never regretted a day. In fact, it was the best thing yet!

To answer what a deacon is: the Catholic tradition, the Diaconate is an ordained ministry – the Deacon is a member of the clergy. The Diaconate can be traced to the selection of Stephen and six others (Acts of the Apostles, 6:1-6) to engage in what would today be called “ministries of service.” Stephen and the others were chosen by the Apostles to distribute food to the poor. The Apostles prayed over them and “laid hands” on them, just as our Bishop did when he ordained me. We believe it’s an unbroken chain – there was a Bishop who ordained our Bishop, and another Bishop who ordained him, and so on all the way back to the Apostles who ordained Stephen.
Stephen later became the first martyr of the Church. He was stoned to death in about the year 35 AD. So Deacons have been around a long time. In fact, there were Deacons before there were Priests.

A permanent Deacon is not an assistant priest or a junior priest or an apprentice priest. Deacons are ministers of service. Most permanent Deacons don’t want to be priests and most won’t ever be priests.

Deacons could be pastors of churches and even Cardinals as late as 1917. In fact, there was a Deacon who was a Cardinal as recently as 1876 – Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli served as Secretary of State for Pope Pius IX. He was a “Cardinal Deacon” – in his case, a Cardinal, but a deacon and not a priest. Deacons even used to get elected Pope sometimes, but that doesn’t happen any more.

WHAT DEACONS DO

Like priests, Deacons can do some things that lay people can’t do. We proclaim the Gospel at Mass and sometimes preach the homily. We bless the congregation with the monstrance at solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. We administer two of the Seven Sacraments; we can baptize babies (and adults too), and officiate at weddings. We also officiate at funerals and other liturgies.

There are also some things priests can do that Deacons can’t do. Deacons can’t say Mass or consecrate the Eucharist. They can’t hear confessions or anoint the sick.

Deacons do a lot of those liturgical things, but are primarily ministers of service to others – just like Stephen and the other men who distributed food to the poor. Just about all Deacons work in service ministries of one kind or another – visiting the sick and the imprisoned, working with the poor, with those in need.

Deacons may be married or unmarried. Deacons who are unmarried at the time of their ordination make a promise of celibacy, as do priests. A married deacon ordinarily may not remarry if his wife should die.
 
Well, overall the meeting with the pastor went well. It was a pleasant conversation, and I left with the impression that the ball has begun to roll well on the path to the diaconate.

The only concern I had was when I mentioned my desire to share the gospel, help those in need, and lead others to Christ, he challenged me with the question, “Well, can’t you do all of that as a layman?” I answered yes I can, yet I still cannot help but feel that God wants me to do this as a deacon. The pastor just said “Mmmmm,” and went on to the next question.

I am going to be meeting soon with our parish’s one and only permanent deacon, who was very happy to get my email which entailed the information that I am looking into the diaconate. That was very encouraging.
 
In the Diocese of Brooklyn, there is no upper age limit. There is a man in traning who will be around 71/72 when ordained.

Gene
 
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