Sermon by Father Alex McAllister SDS        Index

Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year A—2005 Homily

In the Church, today is known as Good Shepherd Sunday and it is a Day of Prayer for Vocations; and by vocations we mean vocations to the Priesthood, Diaconate and the Religious Life. There are certainly many other vocations such as those to the married life, or vocations to various other professions such as nursing or teaching but today we are thinking about vocations for service specifically within the Church.

Only a few years ago we would probably have just said it was a Day of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood and the Religious Life—we’d have forgotten about the diaconate altogether. But today we cannot forget the diaconate since it is the fastest growing area of vocations in the Church.

And particularly here in Thornbury we are very conscious of the diaconate since Kingsley and Lawrence will be ordained as Deacons on 16th July this year. They have been studying very hard for the last four years and we have already benefited from all that work in the excellent sermons they have given us over the last few months.

We shall surely benefit from their ministry much more once they have been ordained and can devote themselves less to their studies and more to the parish.

At this moment it is also appropriate for us to express our thanks to their wives, Nicola and Ruth, and to their children who have also made many sacrifices to enable Lawrence and Kingsley to get to their ordination day.

As I said, the ordination will take place on Saturday 16th July in Clifton Cathedral. We will, of course, be having a special celebration at the 11.00 Mass in the parish on Sunday 17th July and I am sure it will be very well attended.

Maybe this is a good time to answer some questions about the diaconate. We all know that deacons were right there at the very beginning of the Church and that St Stephen, the first martyr, was a deacon. They came into being because the Apostles needed helpers so they could devote themselves entirely to the preaching of the Gospel and how this came about is specifically recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

The deacons were initially to look after administrative duties and to specifically care for the poor, but as representatives of the Apostles they were also engaged in preaching the Gospel and many other duties.

The Sacrament of Ordination is divided into three levels, that of Bishop, Priest and Deacon. Sadly, for many centuries the diaconate fell into abeyance and only those who were preparing to be priests were ordained as deacons. They exercised this ministry only for a few months or perhaps a year before being ordained to the priesthood, it was a sort of apprenticeship or practical phase of the training—we call this the Transitional Diaconate.

In the 1960’s the Second Vatican Council made many much needed reforms to the life of the Church and one of its most important reorganisations was to the diaconate. The Council reintroduced what we now call the Permanent Diaconate and permitted married (or single) men to be ordained as deacons to serve solely in that capacity and not as just as a stage to the priesthood.

This has meant great changes in the ranks of the clergy and in our own Diocese of Clifton we have about 100 active priests and now about 50 deacons.

In the beginning those who came forward to present themselves for training as deacons tended to be older men who had taken early retirement or were coming to the end of their career. But it is noticeable that today many more younger people are coming forward and this is surely a welcome development.

In the Church today a deacon is able to perform baptisms, marriages and funerals and to preach at mass. He is able to lead all kinds of devotions and trains others in the faith and in preparation for the reception of the sacraments. It is his special duty to read the Gospel at mass no matter how many other priests or bishops are present. In communities without a resident priest the deacon can also be appointed to exercise leadership in the parish.

We are very proud indeed to have these two fine men from our parish ordained to this important ministry and we certainly support them with our prayers and good wishes. However, I am sure of one thing and that is that they will not be the last to be called to serve the parish as deacons; undoubtedly there will be others who will follow them in the not too distant future.

Perhaps today is a good time to think seriously about vocations to the priesthood and the religious life and also, of course, to the diaconate. Maybe there are those among us who God is calling to serve him in these ways. Maybe it is you.

Or maybe you know someone who has all the necessary qualities and whom you imagine would make a good priest, deacon or religious. If so you should tell them. Don’t be shy about it because this might be just the encouragement they need to take that important step, that leap of faith, in order to test their vocation.

And you should, of course, pray for them. Indeed we all should pray for more vocations in the Church and especially we should pray for those who are trying to discern their vocation.

If it is you who is hearing God’s call and you think that he wants you to serve the Church in a more radical way such as a religious sister or brother, or as a deacon or priest, then let me give you this apparently contradictory advice—ignore God’s call, put it on the back burner and try to forget about it!

However, if you do try to ignore God’s call but still the idea keeps coming back again and again, or people like me keep on bringing it up, then you will have to face the possibility that yours might be a genuine vocation.

And if it is a genuine vocation you will certainly not be able to ignore it because God will keep on knocking at your door. And there is one thing that God can do very well and that is persistence. Here I am speaking from direct experience because that is just how it was for me.