Blogito ergo sum! Actually, as N.T. Wright averred, "'Amor, ergo sum:' I am loved, therefore I am." Among other things, I am a Roman Catholic deacon. This is a public cyberspace in which I seek to foster Christian discipleship in the late modern milieu in the diakonia of koinonia and in the recognition that "the Eucharist is the only place of resistance to annihilation of the human subject."
This traditio is the result of finding my Cranberries greatest hits CD and listening to it in the car all week. Delores O'Riordan is the only rock star whose Irish accent carries over to her singing. She made her Καθολικός διάκονος debut in 2007. Her rendition of Ave Maria was my blog's 600th post.
Maybe it's the all the rain, but I'm feeling quite Celtic. Even though the video is in Paris, look at and listen to all the Irish ex-pats. I guess Joyce and Beckett paved the way, eh?
"Then I open up and see The person fumbling here is me A different way to be"
Deacon Greg Kandra, writing over at The Bench, and giving props to Dr. McNamara, reminds us that it was 42 years ago today that His Holiness, Pope Paul VI, promulgated the Apostolic Letter, given motu proprio, Sacrem Diaconatus Ordinem. This was one of Pope Paul's responses to Lumen Gentium, in which the council fathers, among many things, called for the re-establishment of the diaconate as a permanent order of ministry in the church:
"the diaconate can in the future be restored as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy. It pertains to the competent territorial bodies of bishops, of one kind or another, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, to decide whether and where it is opportune for such deacons to be established for the care of souls. With the consent of the Roman Pontiff, this diaconate can, in the future, be conferred upon men of more mature age, even upon those living in the married state. It may also be conferred upon suitable young men, for whom the law of celibacy must remain intact" (par. 29).
It is also in Sacrem Diaconatus Ordinem that Pope Paul permits married men to be ordained permanent deacons: "Older men, whether single or married, can be called to the diaconate. The latter, however, are not to be admitted unless there is certainty not only about the wife's consent, but also about her blameless Christian life and those qualities which will neither impede nor bring dishonor on the husband's ministry." When the revision of the Code of Canon Law was promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1983, the minimum age for a married man to be ordained a permanent deacon was set at 35 years (canon 1031, par 2). The average age of permanent deacons in the U.S. is around 62. In other parts of the world where the diaconate is established, the average age 20 years younger. I was ordained in 2004 at 38.
Nine and-a-half years after this motu, Bishop Joseph Lennox Federal, bishop of Salt Lake City, on 26 December 1976, the Feast of St. Stephen (my patron saint and the patron of this blog), ordained the first deacons for my diocese. These men were true trail-blazers and set a high mark for those of who are still following their lead.
Now, to answer Deacon Greg's question: I was eighteen months old and probably ambulating around our house and yard in South Weber, Utah. So, to honor this day, ask a deacon to get you a cup of coffee, or to serve you in a suitable manner, especially if you are on the staff of Currents.
This post is well worth reading. I gravitated toward this quote:
"Readers familiar with the writings of Hans urs von Balthasar or with the charism of Communione e Liberazione and its founder Luigi Giussani will see their influence in the following passage: 'So what is capitalism suffering from? It is not suffering only from its excesses and from the greed and egoism of the men operating in it. It suffers from its point of departure, from its functional principle and the power that creates the system. For this reason, it is impossible to heal this illness with marginal remedies; it can be healed only by changing the point of departure.' I confess I would be surprised if this finds its way into the encyclical, but it is powerful stuff, and its gets down to the level of theological analysis that few men are capable of. Pope Benedict, however, is one of those few."
I agree, he is and I cannot wait for his judgment on what has transpired since late last summer.
A diaconal bow to Fred posting over on la nouvelle.
I have so many things to do today. I awoke feeling weighed down. As I made my way to the kitchen and made coffee while looking out the window, a part of Mark's Gospel came to mind, perhaps the fact that it is raining contributed. It is the narrative from chapter four, in which Jesus calms the wind and waves with a simple command. I am very grateful for this today.
"On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, 'Let us go across to the other side.' And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?' And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!' And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, 'Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him'?” (v. 35-41 ESV)
I am convinced that Jesus' words, "Peace! Be still," are directed at the disciples as much as at the wind and the waves. Since Mark was most likely written in Rome during in the midst of the church being persecuted, a persecution that saw the execution of St. Peter, this account is as much about what they were experiencing at the time as it is about an event that happened during Jesus' life. This is important because it is easy for us, as we live, love, work, and suffer, to see Jesus as asleep, as unconcerned about what is happening to us, to say, "Lord, do you not care that I am perishing?" He cares. Our cry is a prayer that he hears and to which he responds. His question to us is "Why are you so afraid? I am with you. I will never abandon you. In me you are always already victorious over everything you face. Trust me and stop throwing yourself into the storm, against which you alone are powerless and likely to drown." Because Jesus initiates our journey-, "Let us go across to the other side"- he will see it safely through, if we but stay in the boat.
I am put in mind of another, very similar event in Mark, one that also takes place on the water, when the disciples saw someone walking toward them over the choppy waves and were scared. Jesus said to them "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid" (6:50). In the midst of life's storms, Jesus seeks us out. He is at work in all the circumstances of our lives, making all things work together for our good, which is for our sanctification. Christ does not love our destiny, He is our destiny and loves us.
In his remarkable book, Sacramental Theology, German theologian Herbert Vorgrimler writes: "In his person, the deacon makes it clear that the liturgy must have consequences in the world with all its needs, and that work in the world that is done in a spirit of charity has a spiritual dimension" (pg 270). This is a brilliant sentence on the order of deacons. As a deacon, I also find it a bit intimidating, at least until I remember what Vorgrimler goes on to state, namely that "ordination asks for and effects in deacons the grace to perform this service." Indeed, diakonia means service and to be an icon of Christ the servant can only happen by grace.
Deacon Owen Cummings has wisely observed, "the permanent diaconate cannot make sense in the church until the entire church is diaconal in its life." Building on this observation, I wrote recently for another endeavor that "[b]ringing about this transformation is the task of deacons because we are ordained not only to put our own gifts at the service of the church and the world, but also to foster the Spirit’s many gifts poured out on the people of God. Being configured to Christ in a particular way through his ordination to service, the deacon leads by example, showing how service is integral to the baptismal vocation of every Christian." As Pope Benedict XVI pointed out in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, exercising the ministry of diakonia, or charity, "is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally well be left to others" (par. 25a). Rather, it is "an indispensable expression of" the church's very being (par. 25a).
My interview did not make the cut for the movie Mormon Myth-ellaneous after all. Despite the fact that my footage wound up on the digital cutting room floor, I did get a screen credit. It is still an interesting film for anyone with a Utah or LDS background. Appropriately enough, when I was at Costco with my wife after our anniversary supper of Friday-appropriate sushi at the Mikado here in Bountiful, I ran into President Dieter Utchdorf, the second counselor in the LDS First Presidency, who was shopping with his wife, too. It was prior to eating and visiting Costco to purchase our anniversary present, a new digital tv for our bedroom so our nightly viewing of British comedies would not be interrupted (it also has built-in DvD player) that we went into LDS-owned Deseret Book and bought a copy of the film for $6.95. Coming out of the store, my wife wanted to hurry to the car so as not to be seen leaving that bookstore. I laughed and walked more slowly- for just a second.
Returning to Catholic stuff, Bishop Gregory Aymond, a native of the Big Easy, the local church for which he was originally ordained a priest prior to becoming the bishop of Austin, Texas, was named by the Holy Father to be the archbishop of New Orleans. He is the first native New Orleanian to be head the archdiocese. He replaces Archbishop Alfred Hughes, whose resignation, which he submitted in December 2007, when he turned 75, was accepted. With Archbishop Hughes' retirement, the Archdiocese of New Orleans has three living emeritus archbishops, including the 96 year-old Philip Hannan, who ordained Archbishop Aymond a priest, and the fabulously named Francis Bible Schulte, who ordained him a bishop.
The number of Latin rite bishops currently serving beyond the mandatory retirement age of 75 is now eight.
There are now seven vacant sees in the U.S.: Austin, Texas; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Duluth, Minnesota; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Ogdensburg, N.Y.; Owensboro, Kentucky, and Springfield, Il.
A truly classic song by a great group: Spirit of Radio by Rush is our Friday traditio.
glittering prizes And endless compromises Shatter the illusion Of integrity
The very first live concert I went to was Rush. I saw them in Salt Lake City at the old Salt Palace in 1982 on their Signals tour. It was life-altering. It is one of those events that I recall vividly. I can't believe that I have not posted a Rush song before. A song about radio and radio frequencies seems appropriate on this date of television digital conversion, with radio conversion to digital signals well underway. The fact is that my children will never understand how much radio meant to me.
I should probably post something more romantic for my 16th wedding anniversary. One of our favorite movies, which came out the year after we were married, is So I Married An Axe Murderer. In the film, the main character, Charlie, played by Mike Myers, goes to an anniversary party for his parents. In his speech, Charlie's dad, also played by Mike Myers, gives a speech. Here's my version:
Sixteen years ago, Holly and I said "I do" and we haven't agreed on one thing since.
Of course, this is not true, as we have agreed on plenty, but for those of us who are married, we catch the meaning.
Today also puts me in mind of the remarkable priest and our friend who witnessed our vows and celebrated our wedding Mass, Fr. Thomas Kraft, OP. As readers know, Fr. Tom passed earlier this year after a long, courageous and (dare I say?) inspiring and faith-filled battle with cancer. Cancer did not defeat him because Christ has overcome death! I cannot thank God enough that I had the chance to see him one last time when I visited Seattle last fall. It is Christ Jesus in whom Fr. Tom totally and completely trusted. On the day we learned of his death, with tears in her eyes, my lovely wife said: "There's another saint in heaven." So, on this our wedding anniversary:
