Who is a Deacon?
• A deacon is an ordained minister of Christ. He is configured by the grace of the sacrament to Christ the Head in such a way that he allows Christ to act in him (“In persona Christi”) in the specific ministerial or sacramental acts for which he is ordained. • A deacon is ordained, not for the sacrifice, but for service. A deacon is not a priest to offer Mass and Penance; he is a servant (diakonos) as Christ was, who came “not to be served, but to serve.” • To serve as Christ means to prepare someone to receive Christ as Word of life (Gospel) and as Bread of life (Eucharist). A deacon’s service has three interlocking parts: liturgical, sacramental, and pastoral. • Liturgical service includes special roles during Mass, especially proclaiming the Gospel, inviting to the sign of peace, and sending forth in dismissal. Deacons might also lead the Kyrie (Lord have mercy), the prayers of the faithful, preach a homily, assist the priest as an acolyte, elevate the Chalice during the Consecratio
A deacon is an ordained minister of the Catholic Church. There are three groups, or “orders,” of ordained ministers in the Church: bishops, presbyters and deacons. Deacons are ordained as a sacramental sign to the Church and to the world of Christ, who came “to serve and not to be served.” The entire Church is called by Christ to serve, and the deacon, in virtue of his sacramental ordination and through his various ministries, is to be a servant in a servant-Church. • What are these “various ministries” of the Deacon? All ordained ministers in the Church are called to functions of Word, Sacrament, and Charity, but bishops, presbyters and deacons exercise these functions in various ways. As ministers of Word, deacons proclaim the Gospel, preach, and teach in the name of the Church. As ministers of Sacrament, deacons baptize, lead the faithful in prayer, witness marriages, and conduct wake and funeral services As ministers of Charity, deacons are leaders in identifying the needs of other
