|
|
|
A Short
Introduction to the Ministry of Deacons
A survey of the Early Church reveals that deacons
were not assistants to the priests, or primarily Church leaders, but
rather they participated in the bishop’s ministry of service and
reconciliation to those people who were marginalised as a result of
social, economic, cultural or spiritual poverty or injustice.
Essentially, the deacon's task is to learn of the needs of people in
the name of the bishop, and bring word of this to the community.
Deacons are called to bring the presence of Jesus to the market
place where we shop, to the places where we play, to the workplace,
and to family life.
Deacons are not the only members of the Church to be involved in
this ministry, but they are to be (in the words of Pope Paul VI) the
"animators and promoters of the Church's service." It is in this
task of stirring up, mobilising and summonsing the Church to works
of charity and justice that we see their distinctive identity. They
are to shatter our complacency with the "ordinariness" of need and
injustice, and motivate the Church to the life of service to which
all the baptised are called.
"The deacon should indeed be a person who looks at the same
circumstances we all look at, but who sees much more than appears to
most. The deacon should be a person who can listen to what we all
listen to among the voices and murmurs of humanity, but who hears
more. Someone who grasps almost intuitively the dimension of need
that routinely escapes our all-too-superficial hearing and sight."
(US Bishops’ Committee on the Permanent Diaconate.)
The image the Church presents of the deacon is that of one standing
at the edge or margin of both the Church and society. It is from
this vantage point that the deacon invites those people who are
marginalised to meet Christ, and also invites the Church to make
Christ present.
Deacons are the eyes, ears, hands, arms and feet of the bishop.
Ordained by the bishop, they serve as the bishop directs. Usually
this is in a parish setting, but it could be anywhere the bishop
feels there is a need. The deacon works in harmony with the ministry
of priests and the lay leaders of the Church.
While the ministerial tasks of a deacon may often overlap those of
priests and pastoral associates, a deacon is neither a priest nor a
pastoral associate. The deacon is not an “almost priest” or a “mini
priest,” nor is the deacon a replacement for the “pastoral
associate.”
The deacon is not a substitute for, or about diminishing the
ministry of lay people who are called by their baptism to share in
the mission of Jesus. “On the contrary, the deacon’s tasks include
promoting and sustaining the apostolic activities of the laity.”
(Pope John Paul II)
"The priest is primarily called to the service of worship and
sanctification through the administration of the Sacraments and the
proclamation of the Word. His service of charity in the world, and
especially walking with his people in their pilgrimage through life,
is an extension and a validation of his service in the sanctuary.
"The deacon, on the other hand, though truly an ordained minister,
is primarily called to the service of charity in the world. His
ministry in the sanctuary is an extension of his service to the
world. He has a quite distinct and specific role in the Church which
is not to be confused with that of the priest. The priest and the
deacon represent two different poles, so to speak. (Cardinal Clancy,
former Archbishop of Sydney)
The deacon's ministry is "to bring God's Word to believer and
unbeliever alike, to preside over public prayer, to baptise, to
assist at marriages and bless them, to give viaticum to the dying,
and to lead the rites of burial. Once he is consecrated by the
laying on of hands ... he will perform works of charity in the name
of the bishop". The deacon is "to celebrate faithfully the liturgy
of hours for the Church and for the whole world." (Rite of
Ordination of a Deacon).
Deacons undertake a similar formation process to students for the
priesthood, which generally includes a degree in theology, studies
in canon law, homiletics, pastoral care and liturgy.
©
Rev Deacon Shane O’Dea
1998
|
|
|
|
