Scottish Catholic Observer

It seemed like a good idea to write about a typical day in the life of a deacon. Or is it a day in the life of a typical deacon? But it turned out it was not a good idea at all. You see there is no such thing as a typical deacon and no such thing as a typical day.

That is the thing about the diaconate. It is so diverse, and that is its strength, not its weakness. In Scotland we have had permanent deacons for 25 years, since James Douglas, John Futers and Jacques Cooke were ordained in 1986. We now have nearly 60 deacons in all eight of our dioceses, and the range of backgrounds, skills and experience that they bring to the diaconate is remarkably vast. It should surprise no one, then, that the roles they fulfil in the Church are also very varied. But we do have some important things in common too.

Service and commitment

The key to understanding the diaconate is the attitude of service— the name actually comes from the Greek word for service. Now, it is true that all Christians are called to service. But because he has received the Sacrament of Ordination, the deacon is a Sacramental sign of the service of Christ—just as all Christians are called to love, but those who have received the sacrament of marriage are a sacramental sign of the love of Christ for His Church. And the forms diaconal service can take are many and varied.

One key thing to remember is that the deacon promises respect and obedience to his bishop. This is important, because it says something about the way he will serve. It is not about working harder necessarily. It is about serving in the way I am asked to serve, which may not always be the way I would choose. And it is a permanent commitment to a particular diocese.

One of the things all deacons do have in common is a commitment to the prayer of the Church. So that is one thing that could be said to belong to a typical day—it will always include Morning and Evening Prayer from the Divine Office, whether said in public with others or in private. This is also part of the deacon’s ministry of service as this prayer is said on behalf of the Church rather than on the deacon’s own behalf.

My calling

If I may speak from my own experience—I am not typical either, being single when most deacons are married with children and sometimes even grandchildren, and living in a parish house when most deacons live in family homes. But I’m sure every deacon in Scotland could tell you ways in which their ministry is different from most. In some ways, that is the point. And even within my own experience, it’s not always the same. So I find looking back, after ten years as a deacon, that the way I serve now is totally different to when I was first ordained. That is only partly due to changes in circumstances, though there have been plenty of those. It is also about growing in experience and understanding. So I find myself routinely dealing with situations that I am sure  I wouldn’t have been able to handle a few short years ago—but somehow, those situations never came to me then. God never asks us to do more than he has equipped us to do.

Deacons in Scotland do not earn a living from their ministry—yes there are exceptions to that too. We all, or nearly all, support ourselves, and our families as the case may be, from other employment, or for those who might be older, from pension income—just like the rest of the people in our parish communities. So as I have moved from one job to another, or gone through a period of unemployment, that has affected the way I go about my ministry.

Sometimes our paid work complements our ministry—when I was ordained I was a principal teacher in a Catholic secondary school, and later I was employed by the Scottish Prison Service as a chaplain, so it was easy then to make the link between ministry and work. But it is a link that all deacons in employment make, even if it’s a very secular job with a very secular employer.

Parish, home and workplace

Deacons are members of the clergy, and known by all and sundry to be so, but we are members of the clergy who are out in the workplace and that can have a profound effect. It has an effect in the workplace, for one who is known to be a minister of religion can hardly leave his Christian principles at home when he goes to work, and that can be an encouragement to others. When I asked for leave of absence for religious observance, for the recent Papal Mass or on Good Friday afternoon, it was the first some of my colleagues realised that they were entitled to do the same. And it has an effect on the deacon himself, who can bring his knowledge and experience and insights from the world of work and place those too at the service of God’s people.

For me, the bulk of my diaconal ministry is carried out in the parish, but I do have responsibilities to the national diaconate programme as well. Other deacons will have a different mix of responsibilities. I may be asked to conduct a funeral service if it is on a day when I am not at work. This involves meeting the family before hand to prepare them and make arrangements for the service as well as liaising with the funeral director and then conducting the funeral service itself. And of course it’s important that families know I am available if they need any further support afterwards as well. This is a good example of where the way a deacon exercises his ministry has to be balanced with his other commitments—when I was working full time during the day, funerals were something I could not really help with. If my work situation changes again, then the way I serve in the parish may have to be looked at afresh, but there will always be some appropriate way in which I can be asked to serve. I really do not think I would feel able to accept any form of employment that would preclude that.

Catechesis

Another aspect of ministry that I am heavily involved in these days is Catechesis. I help prepare families for the Baptism of their children, and co-ordinate the parish RCIA programme for adults who wish to joint the Church. We also have another group between those two ages, for older children and teenagers who wish to receive the Sacraments for the first time. So I spend a fair bit of time both delivering the formal sessions and visiting the individuals and families as required. It’s something I really enjoy and I consider it a great privilege to be involved in these key moments of people’s lives. Again though, it has to be stressed that other deacons have different roles. No two deacons’ ministries are the same.

Of course most Catholics will think of deacons in terms of their Liturgical role, especially at Mass. It is the deacon’s role to read the Gospel and, usually, to distribute communion from the chalice. He may sometimes be asked to give the homily as well. Unlike the Mass, some other services can be led by a deacon alone if a priest is not available—such as, baptisms, weddings, funerals, benediction among others. It is always important to remember though that the deacon does what he is asked to do— he does not have an automatic entitlement to preside at liturgical services just because he wants to. It is the parish priest’s place to ask the deacon to serve in these ways if it is in accordance with the needs of the parish.

As the diaconate in Scotland grows and develops, I would expect to see deacons in an even wider range of settings and situations that will enrich the Church’s ministry of service. For my own part, in ten years I have never once regretted responding to the call. What about you? Might He be calling you too?

— For further information go online and visit http://www.scotsdeacons.org.uk. Catholics interested in finding out more about the permanent diaconate should contact their parish priest or diocesan diaconate vocations director in the first instance.