What is the Deacon's Ministry - From Pre-Ordination Retreat

Acts 6;3,6 (NABRE)

Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task; They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.

A lot of the following is information came from our first night talk given by Fr. Matthew Long. It is paraphrased and not the entire talk, which was truly inspiring.  

The Church and God call the deacon to his ministry. God calls us to the heart.  The Church, the people of Christ, calls from their ranks those that they see as filled with the traits of wisdom, faith, and filled with the Holy Spirit to be their deacons. 

St. Stephen was the first deacon.  He was chosen from among the disciples along with seven other men to work with the apostles and work with believers.  He was also the first martyr.  Stephen was the first martyr because he did what he was chosen to do by the Church.  He served as minister to the people.  He became less so that Christ could become more as he preach the gospel and worked for Christ.  Even in his martyrs death, he was doing nothing more than being a Christian.  He kept his faith until the end, forgiving those who executed him. 

Stephen preaching at his trial was simple, it was the story that he knew.  The story that every one of the people there knew as good Jews was what Stephen told.   The only difference was he showed that it was continued in Jesus Christ. Even though he was martyr, his simple preaching touched someone.  Saul of Tarsus was one of the witnesses.  It changed him so much that he had a vision of the risen Christ.  He became Paul and was responsible for converting and bringing most of the Gentile world to Jesus.

Now, the diaconal candidates from the Diocese of Shreveport are here to become deacons.  Maybe, we will not end up as martyrs like Stephen, but we must still surrender our life to Christ.  In Holy Orders we are giving ourselves totally to God.  We are to be Christ’s ministers here on earth, to love like Christ, to be like Christ, to touch others like Christ in the name of Christ.

Each of us knows we are called, we feel it in our hearts.  But we will need prayers of those around us.  Let us pray for the sixteen diaconal candidates from the Diocese of Shreveport who will be at a pre-ordination retreat this week. This retreat is also a silent retreat.  We are here not to hear each other talk, but to listen for God’s voice.  We are to listen for God’s direction in the silence and listen for that small whisper to our hearts.

The retreat attendees are: Chris Dominique, David Nagem, Mike Wise, Jack Lynch, Tom Deal, Robert Ransom, Mike Whitehead, Charles Thomas, Marc Vereen, Bill Kleinpeter, Orlando Batongbakal, Ricardo Rivera, Bill Goss, Scott Brandle, Danny Lemoine, Steve Lehr

Please pray for the retreat leaders: Father Matthew Long, Deacon Clary Nash, and Deacon Oscar Hannibal.  

Prayer: 

Let us be so in love with God that we breathe, think, speak of that alone. Amen