Thought that title might catch your attention!? Formation Day tomorrow at Wonersh. Here's my latest essay, due to be handed in tomorrow.
A priest in your deanery makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with the permanent diaconate, but he asks you to explain to him simply what you are called to do. What do you tell him?
This essay provides content that will be useful to explain to a priest in the deanery, who wants nothing to do with the permanent diaconate, what it is that a permanent deacon is called to do. It is the premise of this essay that the essence of the explanation is implied in two words from the essay title, ‘called’ and ‘do’ and that mining them for meaning is a theological work of significance, in describing a sure diaconal praxis. It is perhaps not surprising that a priest wants nothing to do with the permanent diaconate. In fact, he may be one of many, clergy and laity alike, who reject the notion of permanence for the diaconate, perhaps seeing deacons as, “vestmented figures making cameo appearances in the high liturgies of important festivals in the church’s year,” (Collins, 2002, p4.)
However, it should be asserted from the outset that, “ordination to the permanent diaconate is not a second-best vocation to priesthood, but is a distinct and irreplaceable ministry,” (O’Donoghue, 2008.) It is acknowledged, though, that this has still to be fully realised and there are challenges, not just for priests, but also especially for the laity who, it appears, are under- catechized in respect of the permanent diaconate, often because of a lack of exposure to the ministry of deacons, in view of their limited numbers.
It is important to understand what the Church was trying to do during Vatican Council II, when it decided to recommend the restoration of the permanent diaconate, even though, unfortunately, “in the face of uncertainty and opposition, it did so with a theology that was tentative and incomplete,” (Road, 2005.) This is in no measure one of the primary reasons why there is resistance and uncertainty about the permanent diaconate. The Church Fathers at Vatican II were divided as to whether it should be restored. Some saw its restoration as potentially undermining vocations to a celibate priesthood, whereas others saw it as an opportunity for the Council to exercise its duty to, “look for ways in which bishops could be enabled to use whatever means necessary and available to provide pastoral care for their people,” (Ditewig, 2007, p114.) The Belgian, Cardinal Suenens, made the decisive and inspired contribution at the Council that led to the Council recommending the restoration of the permanent diaconate. Diplomatically, Suenens acknowledged the objections of bishops opposed to restoration, specifically the objection that many laymen currently carried out the functions that were historically assigned to deacons in antiquity, and that therefore ordination was not necessary. To counter this functional objection, Suenens articulated a theology to underpin a restored permanent diaconate that emphasised its sacramental nature as being the raison d’etre for its restoration, rather than a restoration for purely pragmatic, resource-driven, or pastoral reasons alone, (Ditewig, 2007, p113.) In other words, he was saying that a permanent diaconate was essential for Church, especially in the context of the modern world. The sacramental nature of the permanent diaconate means therefore that it is in itself, an outward sign of an inward grace, for the service of the Church and the world.
In his book, “Deacons and the Church, Making connections between old and new,” John Collins sets out to “clear away misunderstandings of the early deacons so that we would be able to avoid working from unreliable models.” (Collins, 2002, p3.) Collins writes says that there are misunderstandings that lie at the basis of today’s concerns about the diaconate, such as might be influencing the deanery priest, and that these need to be addressed first, so that there can be some clear theological thinking about the diaconate, but not as a platform for replicating an antiquated model of the permanent diaconate. It would be prudent to identify some of the justifications for the existence of deacons in Scripture and the early Church, in relation to Christ the Servant, from whom that justification comes.
As part of this identification it should be noted that, “it is in Christ that we find the model of ministry and that model is not exclusively presbyteral,” (Ditewig, 2007,p114.) From the start, Jesus came pre-eminently as a servant and this is seen in a focused manner at the Last Supper, specifically in the Gospel of John, chapter 13:2-17. John is the only Evangelist not to comment on the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, having dealt with it earlier in his Gospel. Therefore, John narrates the moment of the feet washing, but as would have been understood by his contemporary readers, this occurs within an assumed Eucharistic context. The Eucharist is therefore central to the understanding of the call or vocation of the deacon, because it is an obvious example of diakonia, or service, where Jesus presents service as a state and activity. Therefore it could be said that the words, “do this in remembrance of me,” (Luke, 22:19,) instituting the Eucharist in Luke’s Gospel, could be equally applied to the act of the foot washing, as being symbolic of the institution of service, in support of, ”I have given you an example, that as I have done, you also may do,” (John, 13: 15.) This is a service, or diakonia, that the Church is called to by divine mandate. McPartlan articulates a theology, by stating that this is Jesus, ”instituting the Eucharist so that he can continually tend to his followers, washing away, this time with his blood, the sins which have accumulated since he bathed them completely in baptismal water,” (McPartlan, 2003,p105,) and again, “the purpose of the Eucharist is to transform those who are assembled,” (McPartlan, 2003,p57.) Equally, the constitutive element of diakonia becomes demonstrated as normative for the Church in its mission of transforming, through loving service, all it comes into connect with, ad intra and ad extra.
The anglicised word, ‘deacon,’ has arisen from the Greek word diakonia, mostly interpreted as ‘servant.’ Hence, deacons are servants. Deacons have been a part of the ordained ministerial structure since the early Church, evolving out of the necessary division of labour that the Apostles introduced and confirmed with prayer and the laying on of hands, Acts 6:1-6. Therefore, diakonia is ‘hardwired’ into the hierarchical leadership structure of the Church. Unfortunately, the practice of the Church for almost a millennia was to treat the diaconate as a transitional state on the path to priestly ordination, and consequently the permanent diaconate withered. Therefore, the opportunity the Church had at its disposal, to visibly and permanently witness to diakonia through its ordained ministerial structure in an iconic manner, was undermined.
The deacon should be a “living and personal icon of... service,” (Evans, 2006.) The call to service is infused with the grace of sacramental ordination, so that the deacon’s functions can be, “strengthened by sacramental grace, in communion with the bishop and his group of priests they (deacons) serve in the diaconate of the liturgy, of the word, and of charity to the people of God,” (Lumen Gentium, n.29.) This is what the deacon is called to do, the munera, or duties. From an identity created by the Holy Spirit in ordination, to be a sacramental sign configured to Christ, Christ’s icon. To proclaim the Gospel, preach and teach the Word of God. Assist the parish priest with the provision of liturgical services, assist him during Mass, and lead some services in his absence.
However, what should particularly characterise the service of the deacon so that he is not seen as a clergyman cluttering the sanctuary? It is the huge need in society for the ongoing service of the Church, whether it is animating lay initiatives involved with assistance to the poor, or personally challenging, in the name of the Church, and imbued with the knowledge of the richness of Catholic Social Teaching, the hegemony of the ruling elites. The deacon should be leading all this, taking the Church out to the World and bringing it back to the altar. The bishop emeritus of Lancaster, Patrick O’Donogue, suggests that, “deacons should become experts in Christian care, and address poverty...spiritual, moral, physical, drug addiction and social exclusion, (O’Donoghue, 2008.) Only when deacons are active in this arena will the full value of a permanent diaconate be realised. In as much as Jesus removed his garment to wash the feet of his disciples, deacons are there to roll up the sleeves of the Church and get it ‘stuck in’ to service.
To improve the contrast and delineation between the ordained ministries of priest and deacon and to demonstrate that, ”there is a vigorous campaign to eliminate diaconal ordination as a prerequisite for ordination to the priesthood” (Collins, 2002.p4.) This would facilitate a positive culture and strong identity around the permanent diaconate, and its unique iconification of diakonia, that could provide a powerful non-verbal catechesis for laity and priests alike. Equally, the “deacons mission is the mission of the bishop as it is particularly configured in service,” (Keating, 2006,) and such a change would make this relationship more explicit, and provide a cathetical opportunity to bring out the relational aspect of ordained ministry and the collaborative aspects of priest and deacon sharing in the bishop’s ministry.
In conclusion, “The Eucharist, not by chance, characterises the ministry of the deacon. In fact, service of the poor is the logical consequence of service of the altar,” (1998:n.73.) The ministry of the permanent diaconate exists to make tangible in a permanent, sacramental and iconic manner the mandate given to the Church at the Last Supper. That is, that just as Jesus washes the feet of his disciples, as an act of loving service, we are commanded to do so also in memory of him. This particular mandate is given in a unique way to the permanent deacon, who must make “himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,” (Philippians 2:7) in the permanent diakonia of the Word, Altar, and pre-eminently Charity.
Bibliography
Collins, J. 2002. Deacons and the Church Making connections between old and new. Leominster. Gracewing.
Ditewig,W. 2007. The Emerging Diaconate Servant Leaders in a Servant Church William New Jersey. Paulist Press.
Keating , J. “The Moral Life of the Deacon” in Keating , J (Ed.) 2006 The Deacon Reader Leominster. Gracewing p119-138.
McPartlan, P. 2003. Sacrament of Salvation. An Introduction to Eucharistic Ecclesiology. London.T&T Clark
Evans, D. 2006. “The Deacon: An Icon of Christ the Servant” in The Pastoral Review July/August p28-32.
O’Donoghue, P. 2008 “Towards a new vision of the permanent diaconate” in The Pastoral Review Jan/Feb p38-43
Road, C. 2005. “The Permanent Diaconate in England & Wales” in The Pastoral Review March/April p32-35.
1998:n.73. Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons
Internet sources:
DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH, “LUMEN GENTIUM,”
1964. Vatican: the Holy See. English.10/04/10.
Paragraph 29.
I attended a Formation Day a couple of Sundays ago at Wonersh. The lectures were about the episcopacy and the papacy, that is, bishops and pope. In view of the ‘firestorm’ in the media concerning the abuse of children and young people by some clergy, these were very topical lectures.
