Convocation calls deacons to be ‘icons of Christ the Servant’
Around 220 permanent deacons, candidates for the diaconate, and men discerning a call to the diaconate, along with wives of deacons and candidates, gathered at Seton Hall University on Oct. 24 for a day-long convocation sponsored by the Archdiocese of Newark.
Centered on the theme, “Deacons: Icons of Christ the Servant,” the day aimed to renew and encourage deacons and their wives in their service to the Church. It was also a chance to reconnect with old friends, share and compare experiences, and experience the joy of community.
The day began with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark. Monsignor Gerard McCarren, Rector and Dean of Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, concelebrated along with other priests from the archdiocese. Msgr. McCarren also delivered the homily.
“The invitation is to understand your diaconal ministry more in terms of your identity than in the function of ministry, and to recognize that its symbolic resonance goes farther than we imagine,” the rector explained. Even simple tasks like organizing parish events or setting up tables are opportunities to reveal Christ as Servant, an image that still resonates today, he said.
Bringing Christ’s presence into everyday life
Permanent deacons serve the Church through ministries of liturgy, the word and charity. Their responsibilities may include assisting at Mass, preaching, celebrating baptisms, officiating at weddings, presiding at funeral services outside Mass, teaching the faith, visiting the homebound, evangelizing, and coordinating charitable outreach. Many also assist with parish administration and other pastoral needs.
Outside the parish, deacons minister in prisons, detention centers, nursing homes, schools, and hospitals. Some deacons are husbands and fathers, and many have active professional lives; in their communities and workplaces, they play a unique role in providing a bridge between the laity and clergy.
“Deacons, perhaps more than priests and more than bishops, are out in ordinary life, living this identity, showing forth the symbol of Christ in a place where it otherwise might be completely missed,” Msgr. McCarren said. “You might be seen as that guy who’s really into church, but there’s an opportunity here that we can easily overlook.”
He pointed to the fact that when a deacon is present at the celebration of the Eucharist, he is the one who dismisses the assembly:
“As you know, one of the most common words for the celebration we have, ‘Mass,’ comes from the Old English for the Latin ‘missa,’ dismissal. It’s odd that this wonderful celebration should be known for the smallest part of the Mass, the dismissal, and yet it’s fitting, because it’s what brings our faith literally into life. It’s what brings Christ to the people—and you as deacons have so much to do with that.”
The challenges and many rewards of ministry
During the Mass, the deacons renewed the promises they had made on the day of their ordination, reaffirming their commitment to Christ and their ministry of service.
The wives of married deacons also reaffirmed their support for their husbands and their ministry. The congregation then prayed that the deacons and their families would grow ever closer to Christ as they continued their journeys of service in the Catholic Church.
After Mass, the convocation participants gathered for breakfast and a series of presentations that deepened the theme of Christ-like service.
Several members of the diaconate class of 2002 sat together with their wives at one table, chatting happily. The men described themselves as “very tight, like family.” There were about 30 in their class and about half of those men remain in ministry, with the others having passed away or retired, they said. One of the men also served as the principal of an elementary school; he now presides at the weddings of his former students and baptizes their children. “It’s really remarkable,” he said with a smile.
Being a deacon’s wife can be challenging, as several of the women shared, but the rewards can be many. They described watching with joy as their husbands presided at their children’s weddings and baptized their grandchildren. “Sometimes people stop you after Mass and just say, ‘thank you,’ and that’s also very rewarding,” one of the women said.
Answering the call to serve
The discussion was interrupted when another classmate passed the table and the deacons rose to share warm handshakes and hugs.
At another table were three candidates for the diaconate. As such, they are engaged in a multi-year process of discernment and preparation. In addition to their daytime jobs, the men take two theology courses per semester at Seton Hall. Juggling work, family, studies, and service at the parish can sometimes be “a wild journey,” one of the candidates, Ryan, said, but he also believed it was important to answer the call to serve in his parish. “If I’m not there, then who?”
Like the men ordained to the ministry a quarter of a century ago, these candidates said that they were developing strong bonds of friendship with their classmates. “We really try to support each other,” one of them said.
Cardinal Tobin reflects on faith and mission
“It’s not enough to say, yes, I believe that the bread is not bread and that the cup is not a cup of wine,” Cardinal Tobin later told the convocation, referencing St. Augustine’s words about the experience of receiving Holy Communion. “Actually, I am part of the body of Christ. I’m receiving the one who makes me who I am.”
During his 40-minute address, the Cardinal acknowledged that there appears to have been “a massive loss of faith, or at least the practice of faith” in today’s world. But he said there are also signs of “a new, fragile flourishing,” as reflected in growing interest among people seeking to learn more about the Catholic faith and enter full communion with the Church.
He pointed to the archdiocese’s We Are His Witnesses initiative as a response to “the Holy Spirit that’s blowing through the Church,” and that is “revitalizing our parishes and awakening the missionary impulse.” The Synod on Synodality, which concluded in 2024, also inspired the initiative, Cardinal Tobin said.
“The Synod reminded us that before any of us are ordained as priests, bishops, or deacons, we are baptized,” he continued. “It is our common baptism that grants us a share of the Church’s mission,” calling us to live our faith not as “a spectator sport, where we sit up in the stands and watch the players down below.” He continued:
“Every member of the body of Christ, by virtue of her baptism, has a right and a duty to voice their insights, participate in discernment, and take responsibility for the Church’s growth and flourishing. This requires us to be a Church of open doors.”
That did not mean “to change doctrine or relativize dogma,” but to “change our way of proclaiming the Gospel,” he explained.
Standing at the threshold to welcome others
In this call to conversion as outlined by Pope Francis and reiterated by Pope Leo, the deacon plays an important role, the cardinal said. “I think the deacon is the minister who stands right at the threshold, right where people may first approach the Church out of curiosity, out of need, or out of whatever.”
Cardinal Tobin also insisted that deacons are not “administrative conveniences,” a source of easy labor or “half-priests or clerical assistants.”
“No, your order is a distinct sacramental sign of Christus Servus, Christ the Servant,” he said. As such, deacons are called to build bridges and especially to listen, recalling the words of Pope Leo XIV on the day after his election: “He said the first act of a synodal Church is to listen.”
“Your job is to empower, to encourage and to accompany lay leaders so that they can take their rightful place in the core responsibilities of parishes and the archdiocese,” the Cardinal emphasized. Deacons must therefore help parish communities “not run from reality, not close the doors (to change), but to welcome it and say, ‘How is the Spirit speaking to us through this?’”
A bridge between the Church and society
Cardinal Tobin also addressed the wives of deacons, comparing them to the perfume that Christ was anointed with in Bethany, which “filled the room” with its fragrance. Wives of deacons do the same thing for the Church through their marriages and families, he said. The cardinal thanked the women and said that their gifts “enrich the Archdiocese of Newark.”
A series of talks and discussions followed Cardinal Tobin’s address. Dr. Dianne Traflet, Department Chair and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary, spoke about the clergy who were imprisoned by Nazis in the Dachau concentration camp. Her talk, “Building the Body of Christ through Dachau,” explained how that experience eventually led to the restoration of the Order of Deacons as a permanent Order in the Catholic Church, building a “bridge” between the Church and society.
Later, a panel discussion addressed topics of concern to today’s deacons. Attendees had the opportunity to ask questions about the diaconate in the Catholic Church, particularly in the Archdiocese of Newark.
“I thought the day was an excellent opportunity to gather deacons, candidates, aspirants, and wives to connect and bond together as a community under our spiritual leader, Cardinal Tobin,” said Deacon John D. McKenna, Vice Chancellor and Director of Deacon Personnel.
To learn more about the Permanent Deaconate in the Archdiocese of Newark, CLICK HERE.
Featured image: More than 270 permanent deacons, candidates for the diaconate and men discerning a call to the diaconate gathered at Seton Hall University on Oct. 24 for a day-long convocation sponsored by the Archdiocese of Newark. (Photos by John Touhey / Archdiocese of Newark)
