Friends
Peace be with you.
As we celebrate Deacon Dan Hoeger’s transition into retirement this weekend, it’s a reminder for me to request that some men in our parish consider starting formation for the permanent diaconate. It would be good if TEN men would consider beginning the process. A reason for this large number is that not all of them will complete the process. For priesthood formation, only about a quarter of those who begin the process actually complete it. If you start with ten men, perhaps two or three will actually be ordained and able to serve this parish. Another reason is that sometimes people move or are asked to serve in another parish/cluster. Sometimes a person’s job or life situation demands they move, which means they’ll probably not be a deacon in the parish that helped them discern their vocation. The Archbishop has also asked a very few deacons to be assigned to a neighboring parish that is in need of his ministry.
Another reason for asking so many men to consider the diaconate is that the ministry of the deacon is probably one of the most diverse ministries in the church. They truly have one foot in the church and another in the world. Some deacons are more comfortable in the church and take on a full-time church position leading a ministry for the parish or even operating as a pastoral coordinator helping with the administration of a parish. But most deacons work at a regular nine-to-five job during the week and do some kind of ministry to the parish after hours and on weekends. Both of our deacons fall under the second category.
The core ministry of the deacon is to be a minister of charity and evangelization. In the Acts of the Apostles, the deacons were a group of men meant to bring communion to the Greek speaking widows since the Apostles appear not to be able to speak Greek and were stretched thin with just reaching out to the Aramaic speakers. But, right after they’re appointed, the deacon St. Stephen is martyred for evangelizing, for preaching about Jesus Christ. Those same two characteristics continue to define the permanent diaconate as it was reconstituted after Vatican II.
In this parish, we could use help with our social outreach to the poor. I would welcome a deacon who wants to help solidify a strong social justice presence in this parish located in the heart of the homeless in Cedar Rapids. I would also welcome a Deacon who would want to make visiting the sick a priority with Julie Kruser, our parish visitor, to bring them communion and make sure their spiritual needs are being met. I would welcome a deacon who had a passion for doing marriage prep, since that along with baptism are the two sacraments for which they serve as an ordinary minister. Lastly, I would welcome a deacon who has a passion for the liturgy and would like to assist on the weekends and be a part of the liturgy committee. One deacon is likely not going to be able to serve in all of these capacities, which is another reason we could use more than one man to consider formation.
It seems to work best to have wives involved in the preparation but they at least cannot object to their husbands becoming a deacon. You also have to be at least thirty five years of age when you are ordained and it takes at least five years of preparation to do so. I’ll be reaching out to some of the men of the parish as the next class of deacon candidates is set to begin formation soon but, because I don’t know every man let alone every man’s heart, please feel free to reach out to me to talk over next steps if you would be open to trying it.