Deacon Calling

 

As a Preacher's Kid (PK), it seems like much of my life has revolved around service. This was the primary focus that would eventually lead me to a Commission in the United States Coast Guard. When I separated from the military, my new career as a Technology Consultant didn't quite provide the same level of satisfaction, so I dove into the lay ministries of the Church to serve in several capacities, such as Lector, Communion Minster and Catechist (aka Religious Education Teacher).  After several years of this, while facilitating a small study group, one of the participants mentioned that she thought I would make a good deacon ... and when I casually mentioned this to my wife, she agreed.

For those of you who might be curious as to the connection between service and the deacon ... the word deacon itself comes from the greek diákonos (διάκονος), which is generally translated as "servant", "waiter", "minister", or "messenger".  This makes perfect sense considering how they were first introduced in the Acts of the Apostles (6:2):

So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table."

In other words, the Church had grown to the point that the Apostles needed help running the day to day needs of the faithful ... And so I begin to explore how to become a deacon.  First up was to attend an information session; in this case one of three (3) they were to hold that year.  It all sounded like a good fit, but when I went for one of the inquiry sessions and I indicated that I could not meet the required twice a week physical attendance in South Boston because of my required travel as a consultant (I was commuting to LA at the time), the response was to reapply later when my situation changed.  Strike one.

Not long after that, I changed jobs to something with almost no travel and I decided to try again.  This time the problem was my wife's job, which required 24/7 shift work.  Unfortunately, for some reason, she was also required to attend all the formation sessions with me for [at least] the first year, and when she could not commit to that (ref: shift work and mandatory overtime), I was once again told to reapply later.  Strike two.

By this time I was pretty much convinced that I had misread the tea leaves so to speak, and I figured that becoming a deacon was just not in the cards; so I started to look for alternatives and I thought that I had found what I was looking for as a [third order] Lay Dominican (In truth I sort of did).  In the mean time, my wife had changed to an administrative position that was more or less bankers hours, so the last known impediment to becoming a deacon disappeared at the same time.  Somewhat skeptical that I would be admitted into formation, I decided to pursue both opportunities together ... especially since I was quickly approaching the age limit for applying to become a deacon.  Well ... third time must have been the charm, because I was accepted into the four (4) year formation program for both.