Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Tag: Diaconate

You are Here :
Art, Calendar of Saints, Christian Witness, ,

Art for the Feast of St. Stephen the Proto-Martyr

The Stoning of St. Stephen, Bartłomiej Strobel, ca. 1620,

“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth against him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. — Acts 7:51-60

Art, , , , ,

Art for the 5th Sunday of Easter

Saint Peter consecrating the Seven Deacons, fresco in the Niccoline Chapel, Fra Angelico, ca 1447

Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Proch’orus, and Nica’nor, and Ti’mon, and Par’menas, and Nicola’us, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem – Acts 6:3-7

Perspective,

An analysis of the Diaconal vocation

From the Pastoral Review: Deacons and the Servant Myth by Anthony Gooley

It is frequently argued that the distinctive character of deacons is that they are servants called to the charitable and social justice ministry of the Church. The belief that service is distinctive of deacons is the servant myth. It is based on a false reading of Acts 6 and it has consequences for the way in which the Church receives the ministry of deacons. Breaking down this myth is the first step in restoring an authentic diaconate in the life of the Church…

What happens in Acts 6.1-7? Is Acts 6 the starting point for the ministry of deacons and what is their ministry? Frequently readers assume that the Seven were called to meet the material needs of the Greek widows who were neglected at the daily distribution and that this form of charitable service establishes the authentic and distinctive character of deacons. This is the beginning of the deacon as ‘servant myth’. This myth is a belief that the distinctive and defining characteristic of a deacon and diaconal ministry is service, usually in the form of charity, especially to the poor and those on the margins of Church and society. It is a myth that continues to distort our understanding of the diaconate and hampers the full reception of the fruits of this restored ministry. Curiously it never seems to touch the transitional diaconate, which is accepted without question or indeed much reflection, at least in the Roman Catholic tradition. If service is the distinctive quality of the diaconate, what does this say about the service dimension of the other ordained ministries and the mission life of the Church? Diakonia is a word Roman Catholics use to describe the ministry of the bishop without any sense that the word is restricted to social justice or charity (Lumen gentium 24). Surely all ministers are called to imitate Christ the servant and a similar attitude should pervade the whole church. I do not argue that deacons cannot have or will not have a charitable or service role, only that it is not the distinctive character of their ministry. The myth does not have its genesis in Acts but is shaped by the revival of the diaconate in the nineteenth century German Lutheran church; reinforced by translators’ choices which shape our understanding of Acts and reflections of diaconate in post-war Germany in the 1940s and 50s. In this article I intend to explore the origins of the myth and suggest why it is not a sound basis for a theology and praxis of the diaconate. The most recent documents of the Roman Catholic tradition on diaconate contain layers of tradition, but it is possible to perceive an outline of diaconate that is balanced and avoids the servant myth as a foundation.

Making sense of Acts

In making sense of Acts 6.1-7 translators in English take some liberties with the Greek text. The choices translators make have influenced the way we hear and make meaning of this text. In verse one the cause for the complaint of the Greek speaking Christians is variously given as a neglect of the widows in the daily distribution of food (NRSV), of funds (GNB) and of food (JB). The RSV is happy to leave the neglect simply at an unspecified distribution. The Greek does not add the preposition of or the terms food and funds and in this the RSV reflects the original text. The text does not say what is being missed in the daily distribution and it has to be inferred from the whole context of Acts. It would hardly seem likely that either food or funds could be intended because Acts 5 deals with what happens to disciples who try to neglect others in the distribution of the material goods of the community. In verse 2 the apostles complain about not wanting to neglect the word and wait on tables (NRSV), neglect the preaching and manage finances (GNB) neglect the word to give out food (JB) and to give up preaching to serve tables (RSV). Again it is the RSV which resists the temptation to add anything to the text and it does not insert a preposition which is not found in the Greek between serve and tables or add references to finances or food. In verse 4 all translators are certain about prayer and with dealing with the word we are most interested in; diakonia, which is translated in the way it is most normally used in Acts and the letters of Paul. Diakonia is translated as ministry, and in the context of the whole sentence a ministry of the word (diakonia tou logou).

If we take the Greek text, as it is reproduced in RSV, we are able to construct a better picture of what is really happening in Acts 6.1-7. The Greek speaking Christians are complaining that their widows are being neglected in the daily diakonia. In Acts the diakonia is the proclamation of the Gospel. They are neglected for two reasons, the Aramaic speaking Apostles predominantly concentrate their proclamation in the Temple and the widows, who cannot comprehend the language and for social reasons are mostly restricted to the home, are overlooked in this daily diakonia. The solution proposed by the Apostles and agreed to by the whole Church is to appoint seven from among the Greek speaking community to do that daily diakonia in the homes of the Greek widows or as the expression in the Greek has it, to minister tables. Both the Apostles and the Seven had been entrusted with the same diakonia which is to minister or proclaim the word. To underscore this interpretation we see that Stephen immediately commences to proclaim the Gospel to the point of giving witness with his life (Acts 6-7.50) and Philip commences his diakonia of the word in proclaiming the Gospel, catechising the Ethiopian and baptising (Acts 8). The laying on of hands becomes the concrete sign that the ministry entrusted to the Apostles is to be entrusted to the Seven. The one thing we do not see the Seven do is charitable works or distributing food or funds to the widows, in fact we do not see anyone in the New Testament with the title of diakonos engaged in a specifically charitable service activity. This should give us some clues as we address the servant myth.

Whether or not the Seven were the first deacons, as Eusebius calls them, is debatable. The one word that Luke does not use of them is diakonos, the noun from which we get our word deacon. Proclaiming the word, leading communities, representing communities and taking messages between communities and other forms of ministry are associated with those who are called diakonos in the New Testament as well as the clear delegation and imposition of a mandate for such ministry by the leaders of the community through the laying on of hands. Therefore it is reasonable to infer that the Seven may have been referred to as deacons in the early Church and that Eusebius is reflecting that understanding.

How did diakonia become service?

We do not have space here to review the many references to deacons in the first nine centuries of the Church, and in particular the first four centuries when so much of the structure of ministries in the early Church was taking shape. A few brief references, taken from the Fathers and used again in the recent Roman Catholic documents, are testament to an earlier tradition, before diakonia was defined as service and deacons as a kind of ordained social worker/charity worker. Three references will suffice to indicate the flavour of this early tradition. Ignatius to the Magnesians, ‘deacons entrusted with the ministry/d of Christ’ and to the Trallians, ‘deacons are not waiters (diakonoi) providing food and drink but executives (hyperetai) of the Church of God’ and finally to the Philadelphians, ‘take care to use only one Eucharist…there is one bishop in union with the presbyters and the deacon.’ The earliest witnesses of the tradition reflect the common Greek usage. Deacons were not thought of as having a distinctive servant orientation but as part of the broader understanding of the apostolic ministry and leadership of local churches.

…

A type of diaconate was revived in the nineteenth century in the Lutheran Church in Germany and gradually this pattern of diaconate was adopted in the Nordic Lutheran and some of the Reformed churches. The Lutheran Pastor Theodore Fliedner and his wife Frederike established a ministry to care for the homeless and poor who were increasing in number in the industrialised cities. This ministry was not an ordained ministry and was modelled somewhat on the lines of a Roman Catholic religious order. The Fliedners took their inspiration from their understanding of Acts 6 as a ministry of charity to the widows who, in their reading of the text, were neglected in the daily distribution of charity and the goods of the community. They called the women in this ministry deaconess and the men deacons.

Brodd argues that the identification of diakonia with charity (caritas) and social service developed into a functionalist understanding of diaconate, where the deacon is defined not from an ecclesiological foundation based on the Church as koinonia and situating ordination within this context but inductively from the sum of the functions performed. The result is that in the Lutheran and Reformed traditions the deacon came to be seen as a kind of ordained social worker. In his study Brodd concurs with the work of Collins and indicates that caritas and diakonia essentially belong to two different conceptual circles.

It is the intersection of four elements that provide us with the final clues as to how diakonia became service. The first is the development of the functionalism in the eighteenth century as a way describing ministry. The second is the practice of diakonia that was revived in this charitable, social work form in northern Europe. The third is the influence of the authoritative work of Bauer, The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, which defined diakonia as service. He was perhaps influenced in this by his association with the Lutheran deacon movement. The fourth element is the development of role theory in psychology and sociology and the attempt to account for ministries in the church in terms of roles. What emerged was an understanding of diaconate not based on Scripture and the early tradition of the Church but one developed from the practice of the charitable diaconate movement.

Restoring the diaconate

‘The almost total disappearance of the permanent diaconate from the Church of the West for more than a millennium has certainly made it more difficult to understand the profound reality of this ministry. However, it cannot be said for that reason that the theology of the diaconate has no authoritative points of reference, completely at the mercy of theological opinion.’ …

The one essential reference point must be the recovery of the meaning of diakonia and diakonos from the Scriptures and the early documents of the Church. In order to do this through the Scriptural path churches, deacons and others interested in ministry must go through the work of John N Collins…

The International Theological Commission in its paper, From the Diakonia of Christ to the Diakonia of the Apostles, suggests that the Second Vatican Council intended to implement the principle and not any particular historical form of the diaconate. That is Laurence of Rome or Francis of Assisi or a Nicholas Ferrar might give us some idea of how deacons have exercised their ministry in the past but we may not want to copy their ministry as the model diaconal ministry. What we are looking for is a diaconate for today. It should also be a ministry that includes women in all of the Churches since we know from the Scriptures and the early Church and its laws that women were deacons…

An interesting analysis that provides substance to the ministry of deacon as proclaimer of the Word. Much of what the great deacon saints (most being martyrs) did was exactly that. It may have been exhibited in stories highlighting the service role, for instance Lawrence, but that shouldn’t overshadow the proclamation that was made real as a result of the service. Stephen, as noted in the article, fully proclaimed the Word above his life.

I’ve often half-joked that the deacon’s role is to be the big mouth and troublemaker, the one who stirs up those who are against the Church, exactly by his witness. Whether it was a king, mayor, soldier, or pope, the deacon was there, again, to bear witness to the clear truth of the Word. The deacon himself could be ignored, but the deacon with the Word was a mighty force whop had to be put down.

Deacon Gooley is off-base on the women as deacon issue, and it is too bad he didn’t further develop his article before taking it political. I would have liked to see more on the threefold role of Bishop and the deacon’s share of that ministry. He might have better explored the deacon and his tie to Jesus Christ in Trinitarian formulation, thus supporting the deacon’s role in proclaiming the Word.

On the deaconess issue, credible research and scholarship indicate that the deaconess was non-ministerial, assisting at baptisms (full immersion in the early Church) for the purpose of modesty as well as other liturgical and charitable functions pertaining to the women of the Church, but never serving at the altar. Their role was indeed focused on servanthood. The rite for installing the deaconess was different from that of the deacon, a blessing rather than an ordination (but with some dispute on this issue). The Greek Orthodox make some allowance for women deacons, but only in cloistered communities of nuns where priests cannot frequently visit due to distance or for other reasons (the nuns would go without the Eucharist otherwise since they are not going to handle the mysteries like bread in a cafeteria line). [T]he Holy Synod decided that women could be promoted to the diaconate only in remote monasteries and at the discretion of individual bishops.From ‘Grant Her Your Spirit,’ America, February 7, 2005 – a generally liberal magazine whose reporting may be clouded by agenda. They are, in effect, glorified “eucharistic ministers.” Whatever the Protestant Churches have done on the issue is of no consequence because, as the Young Fogey frequently points-out, everything in those Churches, including the very bases of faith (Jesus is God, Trinitarian doctrine) is only one vote away from being tossed out with the trash.

Christian Witness, PNCC,

A personal note of thanks

Last Sunday, the Solemnity of the Christian Family, marked one year since I began my active ministry at Holy Name of Jesus parish in Schenectady, NY.

Of course thanks are in order, but in a way I am uncomfortable making this list because everyone should come first. Needless to say I will start with the Lord who leads me in my ministry of service, at Holy Name, in the Mohawk Valley Seniorate, in the Central Diocese, and the PNCC as a whole. I am so thankful to Fr. Stan Bilinski for taking the time (and having the great patience necessary) to teach me the ropes. A huge shout out and special note of thanks to all the parishioners at Holy Name; they have been very charitable, accepting, and have shown great Christian love in welcoming my family and me. And, finally, my family who support me in my ministry and whose patience I tax with running to and fro to minister. I realize their sacrifice and am so thankful for their charity.

Here’s a picture of me assisting at Holy Mass on the occasion of the YMSofR Track and Field meet in Scranton. Holy Mass was celebrated at the Grotto of Christ the Benign. Prime Bishop Nemkovich is celebrating, I am the Deacon of the Mass, and Fr. Jason Soltysiak is standing in as Sub-Deacon.

Holy Mass at the Grotto of Christ the Benign

Please pray for me.

Christian Witness, , , ,

I’m a cracker too

The Young Fogey blogged this item concerning a hate filled article by Dr. PZ Myers of the University of Minnesota – Morris.

Dr. Myers is of the opinion that the Holy Eucharist is something to be desecrated. In fact he urges people to desecrate the Eucharist and further states that he will gladly do so himself if someone were to bring him a consecrated host (itself an act of desecration). Dr. Myers makes these assertions in his blog post: It’s a frackin’ cracker.

For my part I would like to alert Dr. Myers to the fact that we, the people of the Holy Church, consider ourselves to be members of the Body of Christ. St. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (RSV):

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
If all were a single organ, where would the body be?
As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable,
and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,
which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part,
that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Logically, if Dr. Myers would like to desecrate the Body of Christ, he should be perfectly willing to desecrate any member of the Body. Members of the Church should hold no more value for him than what he claims is mere bread.

Since I am ordained member of the Body I have a particular role of witness in the Body of Christ, and since in Dr. Myers way of thinking I am just a “frackin’ cracker” too, I would like to personally invite him to meet me (he’ll have to come here as I have no ability to travel to Minnesota).

At our meeting Dr. Myers can take the opportunity to desecrate me as he would the Holy Eucharist. I won’t fight back. He can feel free to film the whole thing. He can even bring friends if he wishes. When he is done he can put me under his microscope and prove that my flesh is merely human flesh – no observable scientific difference. Dr. Myers?

Jesus, my God, I adore Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love.

Divine Redeemer, Who in Thy infinite goodness hast been pleased to leave us Thy precious body and blood in the Blessed Eucharist, we adore Thee with the most profound respect, and return Thee our most humble thanks for all the favors Thou hast bestowed upon us, especially for the institution of the Most Holy Sacrament. As Thou are the source of every blessing , we entreat Thee to pour down Thy benediction this day upon us and upon our relatives, friends, and benefactors; upon the Holy Church, our bishops, priests, and deacons; and upon all those for whom we offer our prayers. Let Thy blessings go forth far and wide. Let it be felt in the souls of the afflicted who cannot come to receive it at Thy feet. Let the weak and tempted feel its power wherever they may be. Let poor sinners feel its influence, arousing them to come to Thee. Grant to me O Lord and to all the members of Your Holy Church, a strong personal love of Thee, a lively horror of sin, a higher esteem of grace, great zeal for Thy honor and glory, for our own sanctification, and for the salvation of souls. Amen.

My Lord and my God!

Blessed and praised every moment be the most holy and divine Sacrament.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Political,

Deacon dustup

The commentary across blogs over the recent conflict in the R.C. Diocese of Buffalo goes on.

Michael Liccione of Sacramentum Vitae has a pretty balanced take on this issue in Buffaloed. He comments on the root causes of the frustration felt by that deacon in Buffalo and lays the charge squarely at the feet of negligent pastors and weak bishops.

Babsnc of Daily Kos goes the way of the rest of the ultra-liberal elite. If you’re in a church or a member of a church please shut-up (ok, no please was said or intended, just shut-up). Only Babsnc and friends have rights, people of faith have none, Churches have none. See House Rep. Criticized by Deacon /During memorial mass/ for Yes Vote on Stem Cell Research. It appears, unbeknown to me, that the Founding Fathers intended that free speech rights only apply to some. We’re all equal on the farm, some are just more equal than others.

The writer concludes by making a plea for decency – if only that plea were made on behalf of innocent children.

The Society and politics Blog sticks a pin in Babsnc argument in Deacon calls out CINO*. The other pertinent quote taken from a commentator at The Cafeteria is Closed is:

WE NEED MORE PRIESTS LIKE THIS DEACON!

Of course, those neo-con Catholics who frequent sites like Cafeteria should understand that that would mean giving up the celibate priesthood… ooops.

*CINO = Catholic in name only

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political,

Of deacons, polls, and charity

The Buffalo News has featured two reports over the past two days regarding a R.C. deacon who publicly reproved Congressman Brian Higgins from the ambo (pulpit) last Sunday.

From today’s report: Deacon hailed for pulpit blast at Higgins

The Buffalo Regional Right to Life Committee on Wednesday hailed a deacon who criticized Rep. Brian Higgins during Sunday Mass in St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church.

Deacon Tom McDonnell’s rebuke of the Buffalo Democrat for voting for federal funding for embryonic stem cell research led Higgins to walk out of the church during his sermon.

“God bless the deacon a thousand times. He did his job. If every bishop, every clergy member of all faiths did their jobs, we wouldn’t have the shedding of innocent life in our country,” said Stacey Vogel of the Buffalo Regional Right to Life Committee.

The anti-abortion group’s position was in stark contrast with the phone calls and e-mails at Higgins’ Buffalo and Washington offices, which were running in his favor by a nearly 4 to 1 ratio, according to a staff member.

According to the latest polls people deem the earth to be flat – therefore it must be.

Higgins said his relationship with St. Thomas Aquinas Church, where he was baptized and married, is “very deep, very meaningful and very long.” He apologized earlier for the congregation’s having to be subjected to criticism of him during the morning Mass.

“The lesson here is that the Catholic Church has enough problems and should take greater care before allowing nonpriests to use the church as a forum to advance what clearly was a political agenda,” Higgins said…

Based on his long and loving relationship with the Church he has stepped to the fore in opposing attacks on human life… oops, maybe not.

Also, I see that he has taken a strong interest in his faith and that he has been properly catechized. See, there’s priests and non-priests, that’s about all there is to my faith. Also, life is a subjective good and no one can tell me what to do, unless of course they let Senator Clinton or some other womyn preach – and I’ll make an exception for Michael J. Fox.

All this being said, I do believe the deacon was wrong for the following reasons:

  • The deacon is not the pastor. Mr. Higgins’ pastor is the Rev. Art Smith, and as pastor this responsibility falls to him. The problem with some deacons (me especially) is that we want to step-up and fill-in wherever and whenever we see something lacking. We are not the answer. We need to be more humble, more in tune with our ministry, and this is a good reminder of that fact.
  • The homily serves two purposes, cracking open the scriptures in such a way so as to edify and teach all the people you minister to, and as a call to apply that scripture to our everyday lives. It is not an occasion for political showmanship or the airing of one’s personal grievances, regardless of how in-tune those grievances are with Church teaching.
  • Charity, scripture, and Catholic polity demand that one reprove one’s brother in private first, then in front of witnesses, and finally, if he is obstinate, before the community. If that communal reproof is to have any meaning it must come from the Church’s representative in the community – the Bishop.

In conclusion, the lack of leadership on the part of some Bishops and pastors and their acquiescence to political power provide fertile soil for these types of events. They also make taking sides in issues like this the go-to thing to do.

From the original story: Pulpit barb prompts walkout by Higgins

A deacon upbraided Rep. Brian Higgins during Sunday morning Mass in St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church for voting in favor of embryonic stem cell research, prompting the congressman and his family to walk out during the sermon.

The Rev. Art Smith, pastor of the South Buffalo church, said he felt “horrible” about the Higgins family’s departure on “Respect Life Sunday” and offered an apology from the pulpit after the congressman had left.

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo later issued a statement also criticizing Deacon Tom McDonnell’s action.

“I can’t tell you how terrible I felt,” Smith said Tuesday. “While we have to always uphold the church’s teachings regarding life, I don’t think it’s ever fair to publicly criticize someone who serves our community and our parish so well.”

The right-to-life community, with the deacon will be on one side, the congressman – obviously obdurate in error will be on the other, and the leaders of the Church will appear to be weak on the sanctity of life.

Please, pray for the protection of all human life and for us deacons.

All Right Reserved © 2005 - 2023