{"id":297385,"date":"2019-04-11T13:38:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T17:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=297385"},"modified":"2019-04-11T21:50:45","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T01:50:45","slug":"when-the-pastor-tells-you-hell-be-singing-the-exsultet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2019\/04\/when-the-pastor-tells-you-hell-be-singing-the-exsultet\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Pastor Tells You He’ll be Singing ‘The Exsultet’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A deacon friend writes:<\/p>\n

Well, this is a first for me. The new pastor at the parish put out the Holy Week and Triduum outlines for himself, the other priest and myself.<\/p>\n

And lo and behold, he is doing the Exsultet.<\/p>\n

Now, I do not have a professional voice, but it is passable. And I didn\u2019t challenge him in the meeting, I just asked if that was correct and he said, \u201cYes, I\u2019m doing the Exsultet.\u201d When he asked me if I had done the whole thing before, I said yes, but I\u2019ve also done the short form and I\u2019ve also done a short version of the short form. and I\u2019ve done the \u201cold form,\u201d and I\u2019ve even done the \u201cChrist Be Our Light\u201d version.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cOh, okay,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m doing the long form.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discussion over.<\/p>\n

When I was doing my thesis on the diaconate, I remember running into a phrase that has made so much sense ever since: the omnivorous presbyterate. So many of these guys just don\u2019t get how to allow deacons to be deacons.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Worth noting here are the rubrics for The Exsultet<\/a><\/strong> (also known as the Easter Proclamation):<\/p>\n

The Deacon, after incensing the book and the candle, proclaims the Easter Proclamation (Exsultet) at the ambo or at a lectern, with all standing and holding lighted candles in their hands. The Easter Proclamation may be made, in the absence of a Deacon, by the Priest himself or by another concelebrating Priest. If, however, because of necessity, a lay cantor sings the Proclamation, the words up to the end of the invitation are omitted, along with the greeting.\u00a0 The Proclamation may\u00a0 also be sung in the shorter form.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is similar to what is prescribed for the Gospel:\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

By tradition, the function of proclaiming the readings is ministerial, not presidential. The readings, therefore, should be proclaimed by a lector, and the Gospel by a deacon or, in his absence, a priest other than the celebrant. If, however, a deacon or another priest is not present, the priest celebrant himself should read the Gospel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I tell the men in homiletics class that if a priest insists on reading the Gospel \u2014 usually he\u2019ll say, \u201cSince I\u2019m preaching, I\u2019ll just do it\u201d\u2014 it\u2019s prudent to remind him, respectfully, that the Gospel rightly belongs to the deacon. In my experience, they usually are happy to oblige. Most just don\u2019t realize it\u2019s part of the deacon\u2019s job.<\/p>\n

Back to The Exsultet issue. A couple years ago, Bill Ditewig offered this beautiful reflection<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0on the deacon\u2019s role during The Easter Vigil:<\/p>\n

The message of the Exsultet for the Easter people is nothing less than a joy-filled proclamation of the Gospel of Christ.\u00a0 All of creation is called to rejoice at the end of \u201cgloom and darkness.\u201d\u00a0 This is the night, we hear repeatedly, that everything has changed through the power of Christ.\u00a0 In its most powerful passage, we are told that this is the night that \u201cdispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty.\u201d \u00a0In short, the great Easter Proclamation is a shout of unrestrained joy over the Good News of our God.\u00a0 It is, in a very special way, the Gospel itself.\u00a0\u00a0 It is the Deacon who has \u2013 from the charge received at ordination \u2013 a primary responsibility for the proclamation of that Gospel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

None of that, evidently, would occur to the pastor in question \u2014 or, I suspect, to most pastors.<\/p>\n

If the pastor wants to sing the great Easter Proclamation, that\u2019s perfectly reasonable. It\u2019s his call. But there are good, constructive ways of letting that be known.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t one of them.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong> A priest left this response on Twitter\u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0My experience had been the diaconate lacks the training and ability to even proclaim in a worthily way the Gospel much less execute key liturgical acts such as the Exsultet. Sunday after Sunday we hang our heads at the lackluster execution of the \u201cdeacons job.\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s just easier to do it yourself than to allow it to be ruined. \u201cSing to the Lord\u201d says good music enhances prayer while bad music destroys prayer. The same can be said about the proclamation of the Gospel and\/or the Exsultet.\u00a0Humility would help everyone understand their limitations. In a perfect world, each would do their role flawlessly, including the laity. Lastly, you\u2019re venting to the echo chamber when you should talk to him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A deacon friend writes: Well, this is a first for me. The new pastor at the parish put out the Holy Week and Triduum outlines for himself, the other priest and myself. And lo and behold, he is doing the Exsultet. Now, I do not have a professional voice, but it is passable. And I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":11807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[306,1070,11179],"class_list":["post-297385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deacons","tag-easter-vigil","tag-exsultet","tag-liturgy"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen the Pastor Tells You He'll be Singing 'The Exsultet'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A deacon friend writes: Well, this is a first for me. 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