More Deacons Could Be a Great Blessing

From time to time, those of us who are real "nerds" for ecclesiastical discussion will encounter someone, either in person or in an online discussion in one of the many Catholic forums available on the internet, who will make an argument similar to this. "There is a shortage of priests. Yet Bishop N. ordained 10 new deacons last week. The Church should not ordain as many deacons, it is undermining the priesthood."

I happen to believe that many of those who make this argument make it in very sincere good faith. They see that in many dioceses in our country and the developed world, the number of priests is in decline. Yet, by all appearances, the number of deacons appears to multiply. There are many people who believe that because deacons may be married before their ordination, and thus as married men while also receiving the Sacrament of Holy Orders, that many of the men ordained to the diaconate might have chosen the priesthood if being a married Deacon had not been an option. Deacons are not necessary, some argue, because "everything that a deacon can do, a lay person can do."

While I understand these arguments, I think they fail to take into account some critical realities of the diaconate and of the formation and life of deacons. Furthermore, the last argument is false from a liturgical point of view.

We are blessed in the Diocese of Knoxville to have both a growing presbyterate and a growing diaconate. We currently serve 73,000 Catholics with 85 priests and 78 deacons, with more priests and deacons on the way. It cannot be said that we have a shortage of priests here, we do not, at least not in the sense that is usually meant. We have one of the highest priest-to-parishioner ratios in the country. However, I am not of the opinion that there is such a thing as too many priests, or too many deacons.

Many of those who make the argument that bishops might ordain 10 or 15 or 20 deacons in a given year, but they might only ordain one or two priests, therefore this must be some evidence that the diaconate is undermining the priesthood, often fail to understand the nature of the formation of "permanent" deacons. Most classes of deacons begin together, are all formed together for anywhere from 4-6 years (usually), and then are ordained together. On the other hand, seminary formation can be much more staggered, so all of the men in formation will not be ordained together. Furthermore, many dioceses do not have their own seminaries and must send their seminarians elsewhere, whereas most classes of deacons remain together and are formed together. When the time comes to ordain the deacons, there will be more of them ordained by default.

Many of those who make the argument that the ordination of more deacons somehow undermines the presbyterate hold to the notion that men would deliberately forgo a called vocation to the priesthood in order so that they could marry, and then later become deacons. I've actually heard that argument from some people, and I have to ask how familiar they are with the screening process in their diocese for potential candidates to the diaconate. I know that both myself and my wife had to undergo a psychological evaluation,  and that was after an initial recommendation from one of the two priests in my parish at the time. It also followed a pretty extensive application process. I'm pretty certain that a man who was simply seeming to have ditched the seminary would likely not be accepted into formation in our diocese.

It is true that there were a couple of former seminarians in my class... That's two out of a class of 24, and by the time these men were ordained, they were many years removed from seminary life, they had raised families and had grown children and established careers, and I have to say that I got the distinct impression that this wasn't exactly something they thought about doing years ago. It seems to me that like many of us, the call to the diaconate came as something of a surprise that they didn't expect to happen.

So how could ordaining many more deacons be a great blessing to the Church? I think that it must be understood that a deacon's roll is to be a servant, as deacons are ontologically conformed to Christ the Servant. This also means that deacons are members of the clergy and should be treated as such. I'm very blessed to have a pastor who respects his deacons and invites us to work closely with him. A large part of the way in which more deacons could be a great blessing is that more deacons could lead to the elimination of a common liturgical abuse in the Ordinary Form...

Many parishes utilize Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion not only to bring Holy Communion to the homebound (an extremely vital and important Ministry even in parishes with plenty of deacons), but increasingly at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I have been in many parishes where I have seen 6, 8, 10 or more Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion distributing Holy Communion at Mass. It is rarely necessary to have as many Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion during Mass as some parishes utilize. Extraordinary Ministers are supposed to be just what the name implies-extraordinary. Only to be utilized when needed, and not to be preferred over an Ordinary Minister of Holy Communion, a priest or a deacon. In fact, when there are enough deacons in the sanctuary, there should not be as many Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. 

This is not to denigrate or disparage the ministry of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Before I was ordained, I was an EMHC, but I understood that in the context of the Holy Mass, I was to be used in cases of real necessity, not mere convenience. 

Having more deacons in a parish should diminish the need for the use of many Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion during Masses, and restore the proper role of the clergy as the primary Ministers and administerers of the Sacraments. To those who would say that this is somehow clericalism, I would answer that it is not clericalism to say that the clergy should be doing the job of the clergy! The laity should be answering the exalted call of being the People of God in the Church and the world. For some, this does mean that being Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion is part of their apostolate. That's awesome, but they're still Extraordinary, and not Ordinary. The Ordinary Ministry of Holy Communion involves the laying on of hands from the bishop.

I am very blessed to serve in a small parish that enjoys a priest pastor, another in residence, and four deacons. Three of us deacons have children or grandchildren in our home. It is wonderful knowing that there are four of us plus the priests, because many hands make for light work. It is also a tremendous help knowing that your brother deacons are there to help when you need to be away for whatever reason. It also means that more Ordinary Ministers are doing their ordinary liturgical jobs.

For more deacons to be a blessing, however, three things need to happen, and two of those are entirely the responsibility of the deacon or potential deacon.

1. Don't be ashamed to be corrected or afraid to learn. The formation of deacons and the emphasis of that formation varies wildly from diocese to diocese. There is little uniformity in the formation of deacons because the canonical requirements that are specific about the formation of deacons are very minimal. The only thing that canon law says about the formation of deacons is that there must be a program of formation (CIC 1031 §3) and that no deacon is to be ordained without undergoing an appropriate program of formation. What that constitutes is not canonically defined.

I went through five and a half years of formation and I think that our formation was very well done, yet even before it officially ended, I knew that there were going to be some things that I had to learn once I was actually ordained. When I began real service in a parish is when I began to learn the things I didn't know. I was only able to do that by willingly taking correction, and being willing to be chided on occasion.

Even more importantly, however, I take advantage of all kinds of opportunities for continuing education to learn more. Our diocese requires that we undergo some continuing education each year. We have mandated meetings for this purpose in our diocese once or twice a year, and sometimes more. However, I constantly seek out ways to expand my own formation, because formation never really ends. I utilize online lectures and courses from The Institute of Catholic Culture and the Augustine Institute, and I read publications online and in print which help me in my preaching and teaching in my ministry such as Homiletic and Pastoral Review or The Adoremus Bulletin. 

In addition, I am very blessed because my pastor has an extensive library of books, many on theological, ministerial, pastoral, or liturgical topics. He's always ready to lend me books whenever I might need them, or recommend a book or two to read that could help me along. I have found this to be invaluable to me. If other deacons read this and have a great relationship with their pastor, they might consider asking what their pastor recommends that they can do or what they can read in order to further their continuing formation so that they can best serve their parish and their people.

Father Patrick Resen and myself with our 2017 First Communicants

2. Make yourself present and available. A priest that I know who is not in our diocese once complained that he had a deacon who always seemed to have better things to do then to be at the parish on a weekend. He would ask him to do something and would learn that the deacon was going to be out of town, or had this obligation or that one. Obviously, I only heard about this story second hand, but I've heard similar tales from others, too.

It is absolutely true that for those of us who are married as well as ordained that we were married first. I think every one of us in that situation understand we have a duty to our wife and family that those who are unmarried do not have, and the Church understands this, and our pastors and parishioners must understand it as well. An older deacon that I highly respect once told me that if your family life is not in order and your situation is not right at home, it's going to be reflected in the way that you carry out your ministry, so we cannot dismiss or take lightly our duties to spouse or family, or our own need for refreshment and relaxation.

However, it is also true that when you are ordained, you agree to a lifelong commitment to the Church that is every bit as important as your commitment to your wife and your responsibilities as a Father and the head of your home. That means that you owe your pastor, your parishioners, and your ministry a good portion of your time, but that is especially true on Sunday. 

My pastor invites his deacons to assist in the sanctuary at whatever Mass they might like to or be available, not simply the ones which we are scheduled for. This is purposeful. He doesn't care if he has one deacon, or two deacons, or three, or all four of us at one Mass. Why? We are Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and this is a part of our ministry in the Church, a part of our ordained charism. As a result, I try to make myself available to assist at Masses more than merely when I am scheduled. Whenever I have done this, I have yet to feel as though I were unneeded or in the way.

I also have tried to make myself available to assist my brother deacons when they need a hand. "David, can you fill in for me on this date?" "David, can you preach for me this weekend?" Unless I am simply in a position where I cannot do it, I try very hard to agree to these kinds of requests. This is because it comes back to me when I have needed it. Last year I went through a time when I fell extremely ill for a prolonged period. I had to be away from the church for several weeks. Because I had made myself available when others needed me, they certainly didn't seem to have a problem when I needed them. Obviously, we don't help others because of what we will get in return, but when we lend assistance to our brothers, it will come back for the good of all in the end. 

It was so much easier to be able to ask for that assistance and still know that my own ministry and service were of value precisely because our parish has more than enough deacons, and I didn't feel like I was putting someone out to ask for a hand from them. That is one of the blessings of having many deacons in your parish, even if it is a small one.

3. Priests, be patient with your deacons and let them serve you. I've heard many priests say that they lose patience with deacons especially on liturgical matters. Whatever the problem might be, don't write your deacon off. If you feel he is deficient in some area, that he doesn't know what you need him to know, that he needs to learn something you don't think he knows, by all means teach him! Don't just tell him the way you want it done, explain the reasons why. He'll more than likely get it. Deacons are conformed to Christ the Servant, remember, the one who came not to be served, but to serve. If you're willing to be patient with us and show us how best to serve you, we will do it.

One thing I have come to believe from my own experience is that the ordination of more deacons is not a bad thing, if anything more parishes should have more deacons. More deacons can be a greater help to the pastor in so many areas, and the more deacons there are, the more they can help one another, and lift one another up in Ministry for the sake of the Kingdom of God.