Quote of the day, on deacons

Actually, this quote comes from a blog posting last week, but I just discovered it today (thank you, Deacon Scott Dodge!).

From Deacon Bob Yerhot’s blog Catholic Faith and Reflections:

Diaconal ministry is not about always doing more.

It is about doing what is right in front of you with the grace of the diaconate.

Remember, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council envisioned the restored diaconate as a ministry largely focused on bringing the sacramental presence of Jesus the Servant into the secular world…. this means our workplaces and our families.

Regardless of what your occupation is, or the particulars of your family structure and life, our primary ministry lies in our occupations and families, not in trying to keep busy with “real ministry.” For many of us, our real ministry is being Christ the Servant in our offices, factories, union shops, businesses and schools…. all places where we work and to which we are sent as deacons by God and our bishops.

Those of us who are married know full well (if we don’t we are in real trouble) that it is in the context of our marital relationship we first discover our diakonia. We fail as married deacons if we forget or neglect this foundational aspect of ministry.

So the concern, “Am I doing enough?” belies, I think, a misunderstanding of the deacon’s call. We are not primarily parochial. We are diocesan and we are to go where our bishop cannot often go…. into the places of the laity who hunger for the presence of Jesus… into marriage and family life…. and we are to go as deacons conformed to Jesus the Servant and in the name of our bishop.

Read it all.