Ordination Day

On Saturdays I usually get up at 6 A.M. to attend the men’s Bible group at St. Ann’s. It’s an extremely casual group, so normally I just throw on sweats and a T-shirt. Last Saturday, I got up at the usual time – but instead of putting on wrinkled sweats, I dressed in a suit and tie, because I was attending the Permanent Diaconate ordination of the class of 2010 at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

Five men were being ordained that day. They were receiving the sacrament of Holy Orders  after six years of study and discernment, responding to a call they had all heard, in different ways, from the Lord – asking them to serve Him and the Church.


During the ordination rite’s Liturgy of the Word, we heard about the origins of the first deacons, in the earliest years of the Church, from the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. At that time, the apostles identified the need for other men to help with the more practical tasks of attending to the poor and the widowed. The apostles did not take this need lightly. They chose wise and spiritual men, who they ordained through prayer and laying on of hands.

Acts 6:1 At that time, as the number of disciples continued to grow, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table. Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. " The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them. The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith. (Act 6:1-7 NAB)

The word “deacon” means servant – literally, one who waits on tables. While the role of the deacon has varied throughout Church history, its purpose is still to serve.

During the ordination rite I attended, the bishop addressed those being ordained and stated the qualities that today’s church expects from them:

“Like the men the apostles chose for works of charity, you should be men of good reputation, filled with wisdom and the Holy Spirit. Show before God and mankind that you are above every suspicion of blame, true ministers of Christ and of God’s mysteries, men firmly rooted in faith. Never turn away from the hope, which the Gospel offers; now you must not only listen to God’s word but also preach it. Hold the mystery of faith with a clear conscience. Express in action what you proclaim by word of mouth. Then the people of Christ, brought to life by the Spirit, will be an offering God accepts. Finally, on the last day, when you go to meet the Lord, you will hear him say: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.’”

Then, the men being ordained knelt before the Bishop and had the Book of the Gospels placed in their hands. The Bishop then said,

“Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald
you have become.
Believe what you read,
teach what you believe, and
practice what you teach.”

In a way, those words best summarize the role of the deacon: to believe, teach and practice the gospel in the service of the church.

The five men being ordained that day had gotten into the program of formation for the Permanent Diaconate after a year-long application process consisting of interviews, psychological testing, and acquiring letters of reference and recommendation.

After acceptance into the formation program they spent their first year of study as aspirants - those who aspire or hope to become deacons but who have not been officially recognized by the church. During this aspirancy year they attend weekly classes at St. Charles Seminary studying a broad range of subjects and topics, which further help the discernment process for the aspirant and the church.

In addition to the weekly classes, aspirants attend monthly workshops and work with a mentor and spiritual adviser regularly throughout the year.

An interesting requirement of the formation process is that if the aspirant is married, his wife is expected to attend the classes and workshops with him. All who have completed the formation program say this requirement actually proves beneficial to the couples and to the community that is established with their classmates. The class nights can even double as ‘date nights’, providing time away from home, job and children.

If after one year the aspirant feels that his vocation to the Permanent Diaconate is a true calling, and he has the support of his wife, spiritual director, mentor and the office for the Permanent Diaconate, he requests acceptance as a candidate for Holy Orders from the bishop. Candidacy is official recognition from the church that he is a candidate for the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Acceptance into candidacy begins the five years of formation required for ordination. The formation process has three areas of focus: academic, spiritual, and pastoral. The academic formation consists of graded classes in topics such as the Old and New Testament, Christology, moral theology, ecclesiology (the study of the Church itself), liturgy, and canon law. Spiritual formation is accomplished through days of recollection, spiritual conferences, annual retreats, and continuing work with a spiritual director.

The formation process also provides an annual ministerial experience day, when candidates may work in senior care facilities, hospitals and homes for disabled youth. Additional activities in the candidate’s home parish provide ministerial experience as well.

In addition to all these activities candidates also study homiletics for three and a half years, preparing and delivering a homily every other week. The audience for these homilies is most often their classmates but, occasionally teachers will invite members of a parish or other clergy to listen and critique the candidate’s work.

After successfully passing oral and written comprehensive exams in January the five men being ordained focused on practicing the liturgical role of the deacon and ended the year with a week-long retreat preceding ordination day.

All the work by the candidates, along with the graces provided to them from this discernment process, allowed the following exchange to take place between Monsignor Parlante, the director of the office of the Permanent Diaconate, and Cardinal Rigali at the beginning of the rite of ordination:

Monsignor: Most Reverend Father, holy Mother Church asks you to ordain these  men, our brothers, to the responsibility of the diaconate.

Cardinal:   Do you know them to be worthy?

Monsignor: After inquiry among the Christian people and upon the recommendation of those responsible, I testify that they have been found worthy.

Cardinal: Relying on the help of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, we choose these, our brothers, for the Order of the Diaconate.

The five men ordained that day - Mike, Bill, Ed, John and; Dave - would process out of the cathedral changed men. The sacrament of Holy Orders, similar to Baptism and Confirmation, leaves an indelible spiritual mark on them. The sacrament configures them to Christ in a special way. The deacon has a unique relationship with Christ the Servant. Different from the ministerial priesthood or teaching role of the bishop, the deacon’s vocation is not realized in performing service for the church but in being a servant in the manner of Christ the Servant.

The sacrament of Holy Orders is exercised in three degrees: deacon, priest and bishop. Bishops receive the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders, while priests share in the consecration and mission of the bishop. Deacons do not share the ministerial priesthood of the priest or bishop but are ordained to ministry. Deacons can be transitional or permanent. All priests are ordained as deacons usually a year before their priestly ordination. Men pursuing the priesthood who are ordained deacons are referred to as Transitional Deacons. The Permanent Diaconate was restored as part of the Vatican II reforms when the church saw the need for the ministry of deacons on an on-going basis. Men ordained to the Permanent Diaconate are permitted to be married when they are ordained. 

During his own archdiocese’s ordination of permanent deacons Bishop Timothy Dolan of New York recently said that as bishops try to be the "head" of the Church, and as priests serve as the heart, deacons are "the hands of the Church."

"Their hands, the hands of deacons, will be holding high the Gospel...giving out sandwiches in our food pantries...bringing Holy Communion to our elders, our sick and our shut-ins...reaching through prison bars with prayer books," the archbishop said in a homily during the June 19th ordination rite in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Describing the range of ministries they'll undertake as deacons, he said their hands will pour water on babies in baptism, will bless the wedding rings at marriage ceremonies, will be "raised in prayer over a casket or a grave," and will fold the chairs after parish socials.

The five new deacons of our Philadelphia Archdiocese have received their assignments from the Cardinal and are all working within parishes performing a similar wide range of duties, serving however they are needed. They will baptize, proclaim the Gospel, deliver homilies, preside at wakes and funerals, and assist the priest at mass. Deacons may also officiate at weddings, but at the present time our archdiocese only allows deacons to officiate at the weddings of their own children.

God willing, and having been called by our Archbishop to the Order of Deacon, on the first Saturday of June 2011, I will once again have to miss the morning men’s group at St. Ann’s to put on a suit and tie and go to the Cathedral for the Rite of Ordination of Deacons. But this time I will be among the men ordained for service to the church. I have been on the same journey described above for the last five years, accompanied by my wife Chris and supported by my daughter Claire.

One of the hurdles in my own discernment process was identifying this desire to the Diaconate because I’ve never experienced the work of a permanent deacon in my parish life. If your parish life has been lived exclusively here at St. Ann’s you haven’t been exposed to this part of our church either. None of the parishes in our cluster have ever had a permanent deacon on staff.

During this last year of my formation I’d like to describe, in future articles, some of what I’ve learned about the Permanent Diaconate, and share with you some of the events of the coming year as they lead up to ordination.

God always makes the first move in our lives. Sometimes it is difficult to recognize that movement and respond accordingly. My vocation to the Diaconate is, I believe, my response to the Lord’s call. The response has only been possible because of the support of family and friends, along with the Body of Christ here at St. Ann’s. I’m grateful for your example, prayers and support.