February 23, 2025
As we continue celebrating this Jubilee Year of Hope, today we commemorate the Jubilee of Deacons. The Greek word diakonia can means “service” or “care.” Deacons have served the Church, especially through the ministry of service to the poor (collecting, administering, and dispensing alms) and within the liturgy (proclaiming the Gospel and assistance at the altar and with baptisms) since the earliest days of the Church. We read of the first seven deacons receiving the imposition of hands for the ministry of service (the Sacrament of Holy Orders) in the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible. One of those first seven, Stephen, a mystic and powerful preacher, was soon thereafter stoned to death. As he gave his life as a martyr, he prayed as Jesus did from the cross, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60) Other famous deacons included St. Philip, who instructed and baptized the Ethiopian eunuch in the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order (Friars Minor) who received the wounds of Christ in his hands, feet, and side after dedicating his life to proclaiming the Gospel and living a life of radical poverty while serving the poor.
Another well-known deacon and martyr is close to our hearts here at Assumption Parish. Most Catholic altars have the relics of saints (a piece of bone or hair) embedded in the altar stone or placed beneath the altar: rooted in a mystical vision of John in the Bible (Revelation 6:9), the history of Eucharist being celebrated in underground Christian burial sites (cata-combs) during times of persecution under the Roman Empire, and our belief in the resurrection of the dead and that angels and saints surround us unseen wherever Mass is celebrated. One of the relics in our altar is from the body of St. Lawrence. He was a deacon in Rome in the mid-3rd Century. He was responsible for the care and distribution of alms to the poor. When the Roman prefect demanded from him the treasures of the Church, Lawrence gathered the poor together and presented them to the prefect as the true treasure of the Church. This so enraged the prefect that he ordered Lawrence to be burned alive on a gridiron. Deacon Lawrence then reportedly said at one point while being grilled alive, “You can turn me over. I’m done on this side.” You can see why St. Lawrence is the patron saint of both cooks and comedians.
The ministry of ordained permanent deacons declined during and after the 5th century for a variety of reasons, so that by the 9th century ordination to the diaconate was almost exclusively a “minor orders” step to eventual ordination to priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church. However, Vatican II in the 1960’s called for a reinstatement of the permanent diaconate. Now there are transitional deacons who are preparing for ordination to the priesthood, such as Deacon Dan Christe who will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Saginaw this spring, and permanent deacons who serve the bishop such as Deacon Al Oliver, who is retiring from his service at St. Brigid Parish, Deacon Ken Kochany, Director of Parish Life at Our Lady of Peace Parish in Bay City, Deacon Rick Warner, Director of Parish Life at Nativity of the Lord Parish in Alma/St. Louis, and Deacon Todd Lovas, Director of Parish Life at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Shepherd. From our own parish, Bob Zondlak has been in deaconate formation for the past several years and will be ordained as a deacon later this year by Bishop Gruss.
Permanent deacons are ordained to “assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1570) Deacons can preside at baptisms and often visit the sick and dying. Married men may be ordained as deacons, so their wives and family often aid them in their ministry.
On this Jubilee of Deacons, we give thanks for this unique ministry in the Church, and we pray for more men to answer the call to this vocation. In a special way, we pray today for Bob Zondlak and his wife Sandy as they prepare for his ordination and for whichever service the bishop asks of him in our diocese. We also pray for Deacon Dan Christe as he prepares for his ordination to the priesthood this spring. We give thanks to them and to God for their willingness to answer God’s call.
May the Lord bless them both and all deacons abundantly and may many people be brought into a more intimate communion of love with God and neighbor through their ministry of service.