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The heart of the deacon’s ministry
Deacon Ralph Poyo 0
Despite the fact that the permanent diaconate has been around for over 50 years, the question, “What does a deacon do?” is still asked today. We are frequently mistakenly called “Father,” because many have no real working understanding of the role of the deacon in the life of the Church today.
The faithful understand the role of the bishop as shepherd and head of the diocese. He is the boss and carries the mantle of responsibility for the Church of Jesus Christ living within the boundaries of his diocese. He has been selected to shepherd the flock and is ultimately responsible for maintaining the integrity of the Church’s teaching, for the distribution of the sacraments and for the care of his people.
The people also understand the role of the priest. He is the one who is most often seen at the parish and carries the responsibility of providing for their needs within the parish boundaries. Most priests in parishes today are pastors and are tasked with the immediate distribution of the sacraments. In addition, they are charged with the financial management of the local parish. They are spread so thin that they can barely accomplish their tasks.
It is because of this reason, I believe, that the Holy Spirit moved the Church to restore the role of the permanent diaconate. The bishops and priests were going to need help after the clergy sexual abuse scandal emerged. The Church was in decline and many of the faithful were leaving. Will the deacon assume the vital role that is desperately needed in the life of the Church today?
The Servant King
Within the three images of Christ — prophet, priest, king — the deacon’s role is the king. He serves the people. In our formation, the major emphasis was placed on serving the people, which, of course, is absolutely true. However, our focus was not just to care for the widows and the orphans. While that was the impetus to get the apostles to establish the role of deacon, the Holy Spirit also had other uses in mind for this clerical role.
In Acts 6:1-6, we read about the selection of the first deacons. The apostles, experiencing the growing pains of a rapidly growing church, were led by the Spirit to establish the holy order of the deacon. In the following verse, we read, “The word of God continued to spread and the number of disciples increased greatly” (Acts 6:7).
It stands to reason that this would be the case since the apostles were now relieved of the task of caring for the physical needs of the people. They were free to continue the ministry of preaching the Gospel. If one stopped at Acts 6:7, one would assume that the deacons pulled up their sleeves and tended to the widows and the orphans. I am fairly certain they did what they were selected to do.
Only that wasn’t the entire picture. In Acts 6:8, we see Deacon Stephen preaching in the streets as he defends the teachings of Christ against men from the Synagogue of Freedmen. It was the Holy Spirit that both empowered him and compelled him to preach. Like the apostles, he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and did great miracles that accompanied his preaching.
After the martyrdom of Stephen, we read about Deacon Philip, who evangelized in Samaria. Now I know that I am not telling you something that you don’t already recognize, for as deacons we have the faculty to preach the homily at Mass. But we deacons are sent to the people, not just the parish.
Scope of Parish Ministry
As I travel around the country I see amazing deacons and laity doing great work in the care of the poor. This gives me great pride in our Church, because we do so many things that the local government can’t. That being said, my question is, “Why do we do it?” The quick response by most is because Christ calls us to care for the poor. I would wholeheartedly agree, but are we doing all that we are called to do?
Might I posit the idea that our care for the poor should be the vehicle where we accomplish the mission of the Church? We are charged with making disciples, and the first step in doing that is to evangelize. What is the value of handing out a loaf of bread and never leading them to the Bread of Life?
The heart of every ministry must be evangelization, leading people in whatever circumstance they are in — poor, rich, broken, wounded, hungry, cold, lonely, etc. — to encounter the living God in their hearts. For what is the value of doing all those great acts of service if, in the end, we never show them how to encounter Jesus.
For the deacon, evangelization is the heart of what we do. We responded to the call to serve because we were evangelized and grew to know Our Lord. It is from the depths of our hearts that we experience the profound love of God that compels us to look at the needs of our people. Their greatest need is Jesus! Let us not lose sight of that great poverty!
Let us cry out to the Holy Spirit and ask for the gifts we need to evangelize. Our preaching cannot be limited to the pulpit, like Stephen and Philip who responded to the Spirit’s promptings; let us go to the people and lead them to encounter Our Lord.
The workplace, the coffee shops, the grocery or hardware store become our pulpits, and our parish is the neighborhood where our church exists. As our churches diminish in number, we look with sad resignation that churches will close because no one is coming anymore.
Across the street from our churches are homes filled with people. We, my brother deacons, must regain the Gospel teachings and the conviction that Christ is real and has something to offer everyone. If I may be brutally honest, we must regain the vision and tools of our office as evangelists and return to the people. We must stop waiting for them to come to us. When you believe enough to talk about it, how Jesus has something to offer, the people around you will come to believe too.
My Journey into This Truth
As a permanent deacon for 16 years, I have been called into an unusual role as an Evangelist with a capital “E.” Instead of serving in the traditional assignment at a parish, I am truly sent out from my parish into airports, shuttle buses and planes, conferences, diocesan retreats and other parishes. Much of my time is spent on the road. In case you’re wondering, my five daughters are grown and gone and, yes, my wife is a saint.
On the feast of Pentecost in 2007, I launched New Evangelization Ministries Inc. (NEM). I consecrated this apostolate to Our Lady and trusted that her spouse, the Holy Spirit, would open up the doors for the ministry. In July 2007, we moved our five high school and college-age daughters to Steubenville with three speaking engagements and no job for Susan, my wife.
The Lord has built the ministry and we now provide evangelistic tools for dioceses and parishes across the country. We help parishes develop pastoral evangelization plans, preach evangelistic missions, provide training on evangelization and have a variety of tools for disciples and parishes.
We just launched a four DVD series entitled “Call to the Deep,” which is a professionally produced production of an evangelistic mission. In the fall of 2020, we will be launching a new small group process entitled “Walking on Water,” which is an entirely different way of doing small groups. Most groups are content-driven, but this new process is purpose-driven. Once someone is evangelized, they can then begin the challenging work of growing in faith with the Holy Spirit.
Embracing Full Role
After working in three parishes as a youth minister and director of faith formation for 23 years, and as an itinerant preacher/evangelist for 13 years, it has become quite clear that the need for evangelization on a parish level is at a critical stage. I can see why the Lord has asked me to go. There are so many who truly believe in Jesus but have no clue how to share him with others. Deacons should not only evangelize but also teach others to do so.
We have a great opportunity to exercise our role as the cleric who goes out to the people. Let us not be satisfied with our service at the altar but look beyond it to the very people who sit in our pews and may still not experience the life of the Holy Spirit in their hearts today.
During these uncertain days, we will certainly give someone a fish when they are hungry. However, as a deacon, I prefer to teach them how to fish! Then they not only can feed themselves, but feed others too. Brothers, the time has come for us to go fishing; let us take someone else with us.
DEACON RALPH POYO, founder of New Evangelization Ministries, has traveled extensively around the country serving as an evangelist and has served in both diocesan and parish venues for 35 years.
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