The Deacon

By Dr. Manolito S. Jaldon, Jr.

The Benedictine life and its Rule offers a balanced life for the deacon, forming him for holiness and sanity as he lives in his secular and diocesan vocation. Before bridging the world of the deacon and monasticism, let’s take a brief look at the life of Saint Benedict and his monks.

Benedictines have been present in the life of the Church since the fifth century. Benedict witnessed the demise of the Roman Empire and retreated from the deteriorating world to seek God. His Rule became the guiding ethos of Western Monasticism. All Benedictine houses are autonomous of one another. Some observe strict silence; others run seminaries in the countryside; still others run growing schools in urban centers. Some monks are scholarly, while others care for the earth, produce candles, make coffee, or prepare honey and other resources for sale in their gift shops. All follow the Rule of Saint Benedict in ways fitting to each house and its charism.

As a young Benedictine Oblate, I have had the humbling experience of being formed by a surprising community. Since the global pandemic began, I have joined a Zoom community to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. Today, this community consists of deacons, a bishop, laity (some of whom are candidates for the diaconate), and their wives. Each year, we reflect on the Rule of Saint Benedict. Benedict intended that his Rule be for beginners and is designed to be explored and read, little by little.1 It is a lifetime journey to wrap our minds and hearts around the Rule’s values.

In this article, I will present what I believe are four values that the Benedictine charism offers to a deacon or to a man preparing for diaconal ministry. While the deacon’s vocation is primarily secular and diocesan, the Benedictine charism offers a refreshing spiritual depth and renewal, as well as a sense of stability that is often challenging to maintain amid the demands of parish and family life.

A Specialized Way of Listening

The Rule opens with the primary task: listen. That statement tenderly reveals our relationship with God. The reader, addressed as son, is not merely a passive recipient but an active participant. The loving father gently calls the reader to heed the heart’s plea, a loving invitation to return to God willingly and faithfully.

Benedict invites us to interior listening, to listen with ears of the heart.2 In parish life, there is much to assimilate, whether as a representative of an ecumenical community, at parish events, or while serving the poor. The deacon is challenged to listen for God’s voice in every person and situation. It takes great care to listen to the right question or the proper request, and to respond graciously. Listening with ears of the heart places faith and trust above the desire to fix everything.

Listening with the ears of the heart is also about listening to your body. The deacon will never need to convince himself that he is tired because his body will tell him. Do not reach the point where your body flashes red signals, speeding you toward burnout. A deacon must balance parish and family life. He must care for his body, heart, and mind, and be attentive to what his heart and his wife are telling him. In this age of mental health, remember to get plenty of rest, re-evaluate how you eat both at home and in parish social settings, and walk frequently as little acts of sacrifice and prayer. For many, this is obvious but warrants repetition, as reminders are always helpful. To care for our bodies and listen with the ears of the heart bears fruit from the practice of silence. Benedict teaches: “…there are times when good words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence… Indeed, so important is silence that permission to speak should seldom be granted even to mature disciples, no matter how good or holy or constructive their talk…”3

A deacon is invited to welcome Benedictine silence, which is not the absence of noise, but a thoughtful posture to nurture his own well-being and, in turn, better serve his family and church.

We Are Always Teachable

What was new in Benedict’s day was this idea of mutual listening. Benedict states, “the Lord often reveals what is better to the younger.”4 Whether you have been a deacon for years working with a newly ordained priest who has been appointed your pastor, or whether you are new to a parish assignment, we are always students in the “school of the Lord’s service.”5

Never let pride lead you to believe you are always the expert in the field. Listening to understand a new perspective is a rich way of reverencing everyone’s journey with God. So the next time there is a disagreement, listen to understand.

Being a student at any stage of life requires humility. Benedict’s longest chapter anchors on humility. Chapter seven presents humility as a ladder to be climbed, thereby making it the central theme of monastic life. Humility roots us in God and our true selves. Humility is a gentle process, like a child being weaned on its mother’s lap. In today’s competitive world, Benedict invites us to deep and unconditional trust in God as we begin to climb this ladder.

The steps of humility are all rooted in scripture and are the work of a lifetime. The first step of humility reminds the deacon that the journey to God is unending, with many starting points, restarts, and failures. All these steps are necessary to deepen one’s spiritual life. The journey to becoming a saint, which should be at the heart of all our Christian aspirations, begins with the first step of humility.

The World Is Your Monastery

Another value that offers the deacon a life of holiness and sanity is the Benedictine approach to time management. Everything we do, no matter how menial, is an act of worship to God. The foundational motto, ora et labora, encapsulates the idea that work and prayer honor God.

Through work and prayer, the deacon lives out Christ’s diakonia. While he is “strengthened by sacramental grace”6 to serve the liturgy in communion with the bishop and his priests, his ministry overflows to the liturgy of work. Whether he is cleaning toilets, passing out plates at the parish social, quietly serving the poor, or removing water stains from the window, the deacon recognizes that these are all acts of worship that honor God. When the deacon serves his bishop and the priests well and balances it with the liturgy of work, the “assembly may see in their local deacon, living and serving among them, what they themselves are summoned to become.”7

Benedictine time management comes into sharper focus when we examine statio. Joan Chittister said, “Statio is being where you are supposed to be before you need to go there. In monastic parlance, it is about being consciously committed to what you are there to do, so that your mind isn’t partially distracted by the thing you left behind.”8 Statio is about internal preparation.

Statio is calming your heart, recognizing that what you are about to do – whether prayer, a meeting, or service to others – is God’s will for your life now. Benedictine time management helps us remember the sacramentality of the world. The world is charged with God’s loving presence, and through our prayer and work, it is being sanctified.

The Authentic Community

If there is one takeaway for a deacon to translate monastic life into his ministry, it is the cultivation of authentic community. Today, we can drop in on optional workplace events. The world calls it community building – the idea of dropping in fosters fluid, convenient relationships. The Benedictine vision proposes the key ingredient for a lasting community that is surprisingly at odds with this idea.

The Liturgy of the Hours is the key ingredient. Determine a time with a group of people to pray daily. Let the psalms form your heart. Be patient. In time, a genuine community will form and give root to your spiritual life. Even when you miss a day of meeting together in person or on Zoom, you can still pray alone and yet never be alone when praying the breviary. It is only through this regular rhythm and commitment to time, space, and prayer that vulnerability and renewed spirits are formed. If there is anything I have learned as a young Benedictine Oblate, it is that the love of community grows through daily practice; it does not grow out of preference.

TD

Footnotes
1 Rule of Saint Benedict 73:8
2 Rule of Saint Benedict Prologue 1-2
3 Rule of Saint Benedict 6:2-3
4 Rule of Saint Benedict 3:3
5 Rule of Saint Benedict Prologue 45
6 Lumen gentium, 29
7 Cummings, Owen. Deacons and the Church, page 21
8 Chittister, Joan. The Monastic Heart: 50 Simple Practices for a Contemplative and Fulfilling Life, page 8

DR. MANOLITO JALDON, JR. is the Director of the Lasallian Student Life Office at Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, an oblate and two-time alumnus of Mount Angel (BA ’10, DMin ’24). He is a dedicated writer who explores the intersections of theology and daily life on his blog: EnlargeMyHeartInLove.com.

Photo Credit:iStockphoto.com/Zoltan Tarlacz