I'm not in formation to play dress-up

After our extended thoughts yesterday in defense of the Order of the Diaconate as a permanent order of the Church in response to a post of an e-mail by Deacon Greg Kandra from a priest in the Diocese of Lincoln about said priest's rather negative feelings about the diaconate, I got to exploring some deacon-related posts on Deacon Greg's blog as well as the highly potent thoughts of Father John Zuhlsdorf from some two years ago on the idea of permanent deacons sporting the Roman collar since-by virtue of their ordination-deacons are and will forever be clergy.  Some, like Deacon Greg and, it would seem, Father Z., have come to the conclusion that it is alright to do so. In a very raw and literal sense, I also have reached the notion that there is nothing illicit about deacons wearing the collar since deacons are clergy. In many dioceses, it is allowed for deacons to wear the collar, and in some it is not because the bishop does not want to confuse deacons and priests. Father Zuhlsdorf thinks such bishops may be acting silly, since un-ordained seminarians are encouraged and often expected to wear clerical dress, but a fully ordained and functioning deacon can't wear the collar...

I get and respect this point. If I am-by God's grace-ordained-I'll probably keep a set of clericals around should the bishop permit it. I think they are appropriate for certain special occasions. However, just because someone has been given the privilege and authority of wearing a Roman collar by virtue of their ordination or station in the Church doesn't mean that it is either always or normally appropriate, either. After seeing some of these posts and some of the comments about collar-wearing, I am actually quite disturbed by the militancy of some of these folks-I'll call them "collar people"-about deacons wearing a Roman collar. It made me wonder if some of these folks went through formation just so they can go around and say "look, I'm married, and I get to wear a Roman collar!" I didn't enter formation to wear collars, let alone to concern myself with whether the bishop would allow me to wear one. If a blacksuit and collar are your big obsession (One commenter even said deacons could/should be able to wear black biretta-I like birettas, I think they are really cool actually, but seriously...this is how some of you see your ministry?) It begs the question whether you entered formation for the diaconate for the right reasons in the first place.

After reading some of these various posts, I put the question of appropriateness of the collar to my spiritual director, I wanted his input from experience. He said that he had an issue in seminary with the seminarians wearing cassocks and collars because Joe Catholic on the street sees collar and says "priest!" I shared with him that I hung out for a few drinks with seminarians from time to time when I lived in Cincinnati as part of my role in the K of C in those days, and in that heavily Catholic area, priests do get stopped on the street and asked to hear confessions-I've stopped priests begging for Reconciliation myself. It puts a deacon in a very awkward situation to have to explain that he can't do that-better to avoid the problem altogether when possible.

The militancy of some of the collar people put me in mind of this post in which an Aspirant in formation somewhere complains that he is "bored to tears" because he knows more than most of the class, and he writes this bombshell:

I am currently in formation for the permanent diaconate.  I have often thought in the back of my mind that, at some point in the not-so-distant future, the door will open wider for a married priesthood in the Latin Rite, with permanent deacons an obvious source of potential candidates.  This post made me realize that I’m probably wrong.

[Note: He was referring to a different post he'd seen]


So this fellow thought that somehow Rome was going to allow married priests wholesale, and he wants in on the action? Talk about a wrong reason for being in formation...This is likely the kind of person who has scandalized that priest in Lincoln I talked about from Deacon Greg Kendra's blog yesterday.

I'm not sure this fellow gets it. Even I don't completely "get it" yet, that is what formation is for...discernment. It is all about understanding God's call to ministry, and the Holy Spirit's call for your life. It is not about what you know or don't know, it is about letting the Holy Spirit take you to school. It isn't about putting on a Roman collar or not, it is about putting on the whole armor of God. It is not about "will I get to preach or not," but it is being able to help when that child or that layperson comes to you as they did to Christ and says "teach us how to pray." It isn't about you...it is about the people God is sending you to.