When the first seven deacons in Acts of the Apostles were selected, it was because there was a need in the Church.
The Order of Deacon has roots in the Levites from the Old Testament. We see in the Easter Exultet how only the deacon uniquely proclaims, "...that He who has been pleased to number me, though unworthy, among the Levites..." In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the priests and levites passed the injured man while the despised Samaritan rather was neighbor to the beaten man.
Deacons, as the Levites of the New and Everlasting Covenant, stepped up as needed.
The focus here from Acts of the Apostles is not so much on the poor and needy themselves -- as important as they are -- but rather on the neglected needs of the early Christian community.
At the time, the widows were being neglected. Later needs included orphans and the temporal goods of the Church (like St. Lawrence). It is said that St. Stephen brought food to Pontius Pilate's wife while she was in hiding from him after her baptism. In the East, deacons fulfilled the liturgical needs of Divine Liturgy and had more of a liturgical function than the priest. Later, the diaconate was needed as a stepping stone to the priesthood in the West. In mission territories, deacons have administered baptism and matrimony where priests are a rare sight. The diaconate in Christ has evolved since the first seven deacons to serve the needs of the Church.
In our time, with the issue of ordaining married men to the Order of the Presbyterate being discerned, the diaconate once again is at the service of the needs of the Church. The sheep of God's flock ask their pastors to feed them, much like the widows that were being neglected in the daily distribution.
As such, the thousands of married men in the Order of Deacon around the world are a ready pool of candidates to fulfill the needs of those being neglected today in the daily distribution of the Holy Eucharist at Mass and the sacraments of healing.
If allowed to be ordained priests, married deacons would continue to fulfill perhaps the great neglected need of our time-- the very ranks of the priesthood itself.
Domine, non sub dignus...
The Order of Deacon has roots in the Levites from the Old Testament. We see in the Easter Exultet how only the deacon uniquely proclaims, "...that He who has been pleased to number me, though unworthy, among the Levites..." In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the priests and levites passed the injured man while the despised Samaritan rather was neighbor to the beaten man.
Deacons, as the Levites of the New and Everlasting Covenant, stepped up as needed.
The focus here from Acts of the Apostles is not so much on the poor and needy themselves -- as important as they are -- but rather on the neglected needs of the early Christian community.
At the time, the widows were being neglected. Later needs included orphans and the temporal goods of the Church (like St. Lawrence). It is said that St. Stephen brought food to Pontius Pilate's wife while she was in hiding from him after her baptism. In the East, deacons fulfilled the liturgical needs of Divine Liturgy and had more of a liturgical function than the priest. Later, the diaconate was needed as a stepping stone to the priesthood in the West. In mission territories, deacons have administered baptism and matrimony where priests are a rare sight. The diaconate in Christ has evolved since the first seven deacons to serve the needs of the Church.
In our time, with the issue of ordaining married men to the Order of the Presbyterate being discerned, the diaconate once again is at the service of the needs of the Church. The sheep of God's flock ask their pastors to feed them, much like the widows that were being neglected in the daily distribution.
As such, the thousands of married men in the Order of Deacon around the world are a ready pool of candidates to fulfill the needs of those being neglected today in the daily distribution of the Holy Eucharist at Mass and the sacraments of healing.
If allowed to be ordained priests, married deacons would continue to fulfill perhaps the great neglected need of our time-- the very ranks of the priesthood itself.
Domine, non sub dignus...
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