Day 215: Deacons and the Diaconate (1569-1576)

• It’s Day 215!!

• THE ORDINATION OF DEACON-”IN ORDER TO SERVE”

• How is this sacrament celebrated?

• Deacons are the third part of the hierarchy

• The bishops and priests participate in the priesthood of Jesus in a unique way

• Deacons are ordained to serve

• DIAKONIA is that ministry of service

• IT IS REALLY REMARKABLE!!

• This goes all the way back to the Acts of the Apostles

• SUCH AN INCREDIBLE GIFT!!

• If you know some deacons who serve so well, they are so generous in their heart

• The heart of a deacon is the heart of a servant

• We will also talk about two other mini-sections: How do we celebrate this sacrament and who can confer the sacraments of Holy Orders, bishop, priest, and deacon?

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ your Son, I ask you to please send your Holy Spirit upon us. Remind us of who we are. Remind us of your love. Remind us of your goodness so that we can trust you even more fully today. Help us to renew our faith, hope, and love in you. Those gifts of faith, hope, and love are truly graces from you. Lord God, pour them out upon us. Help us to say YES and respond to them in a powerful way, and never let us be separated from you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• Paragraph 1569 says, “‘At a lower level of the hierarchy are to be found deacons, who receive the imposition of hands ‘not unto the priesthood, but unto the ministry.’”

• One of the essential parts of ordination is the imposition of hands, the laying-on of hands from the bishop to the person being ordained

• They don’t receive ordination to the priesthood, but unto the ministry, into service

• What are the tasks that a deacon is supposed to be part of?

• Paragraph 1570 says, “Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity.”

•  Why the various ministries of charity?

• Go back to the Acts of the Apostles

• The order of deacon was brought to us because there was a need

• The Apostles were so busy trying to take care of everyone that they said, “It is not good for us to abandon the ministry of the Word to wait on tables.”

• So they selected seven men and laid hands on them and consecrated them to do that service 

• They were ordained into service

• SO POWERFUL!!

• Another part of the ministry is the deacon going on and preaching

• We have a thing in the West that has been restored, the permanent diaconate

• In the East they have always had the permanent diaconate

• Hopefully our parishes have been blessed by the ministry of the diaconate

• THE CELEBRATION OF THIS SACRAMENT

• Paragraph 1572 says, “Given the importance that the ordination of a bishop, a priest, or a deacon has for the life of the particular Church, its celebration calls for as many of the faithful as possible to take part. It should take place preferably on Sunday, in the cathedral, with solemnity appropriate to the occasion.”

• Fr. Mike’s diocese does ordinations on Fridays because his diocese is so vast 

• Still, it is a massively important celebration for the entire diocese

• Paragraph 1573 says, “The essential rite of the sacrament of Holy Orders for all three degrees consists in the bishop’s imposition of hands on the head of the ordinand and in the bishop’s specific consecratory prayer asking God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his gifts proper to the ministry to which the candidate is being ordained.”

• Only a validly ordained bishop in line of apostolic succession can validly confer any of the three degrees of Holy Orders

• WHAT A GIFT!!

• We need to pray for the bishops we have

• We need to pray for the priests we hae

• We need to pray for the deacons we have

• God wants to continue blessing His Church

• So let’s pray for those men that God is calling to be bishops, priests, and deacons

• This the Church that God has given to US

• These are the graces that God has given to US

• This is the sacrament of Holy Orders that God has given to US

• WHAT AN INCREDIBLE GIFT IT IS!!

• We find ourselves in this Church that Jesus Christ has given to the world and lets us be a part of it

• SO AMAZING!!

• SO INCREDIBLE!!

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!