20 Permanent Deacons For Trinidad

On Saturday 06 February 2010, in the archdiocese of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, history was created when the 20 men ordained as permanent deacons. A permanent deacon is somewhat different from a transitional deacon in that a permanent deacon will remain a deacon all his life, while the transitional deacon will move on to become a priest. It is the first time in the history of the archdiocese of Port-of-Spain, that so many men have entered the diaconate program and have been ordained as permanent deacons.

The journey for these men began three years ago. During this time, the men studied the Bible, did Psychology, Christology, Liturgy, Moral Theology, Church History, Canon Law and Social Justice as well as others. Classes were held every second and forth Saturdays of each month for the entire day. The initial class was made up of 24 men. However four could not finish the program for various reasons. Nonetheless, the journey was a very intense one and required a great deal of commitment from all of these men, all of whom are married with the exception one. It also required a great deal of support from their wives and the children as they went along their journey. Even though classes were twice per month, they were given a lot of written exercises and research on various topics to do.

Ordination of 20 Permanent Deacons -Part 1

Ordination of 20 Permanent Deacons -Part 2

Ordination of 20 Permanent Deacons -Part 3

Ordination of 20 Permanent Deacons -Part 4

Apart from being married, these men are also employed, some in executive positions in organizations. They range from teachers, to principals, to engineers, to CEOs of companies. I cannot emphasize this enough but it took a tremendous amount of commitment and hard work on their part to complete this program. It is really very heart warming to know that at this time in our church’s history, as well as that of our country and world, men of the varying ages and backgrounds – twenty of them – who are already committed to their families and their jobs, further committed themselves to the call of Jesus to come and follow me.

Now there are three steps to becoming a permanent deacon. These are:

• Installation as a Lector: – at this stage the men are officially given the title of proclaimers of the Word of God.

• Acolyte:- They were officially commissioned to visit the sick and take communion to them. This title must not be confused with that of an alter server who is someone who assists the priest on the alter.

• Admission to Candidacy :- At this stage, the individual is officially accepted as a candidate for the sacrament of Holy Order.

Now while a couple of the above titles may appear to be functionally similar to what you may have seen in your normal parish celebrations, they are different. For instance, the first step, which is the installation as a Lector; this may appear similar to those people at mass who proclaim the readings. The difference however, is that all three of the above stages of permanent titles, and all are meant to take the individual towards the stage of being a Permanent Deacon. The three stages listed above are only administered to men who are preparing to receive the sacrament of Holy Order. This sacrament is not only for priests, but is conferred also on deacons as well as bishops. It is important to note that the Catholic Church takes all of its sacraments very seriously. For anyone to be ordained a deacon or priest, they must, apart from going through all of the training exercises, and classes, gave their consent to be ordained in a writing to the Bishop. It must also be noted that like marriage, and all of the other sacraments in the church, ordination as a deacon is a permanent one.

The role of deacon is one that existed from the very early church. Acts chapter 6 verses 1 to 7, has an account where among the early Christians there was a particular need that arose. The problem was that in the daily distribution, some people were being overlooked. So important was this issue, that the 12 called a full meeting of the disciples and addressed them saying, “It would not be right for us to neglect the Word of God so as to give out food; you, brothers, must select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom; we will hand over this duty to them, and continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the Word.” This event in the Church’s history marked the first selection of deacons in the early Christian church.

The diaconate is about service, service to the people of God, under the direction of the priests and bishops whom they assist. After the second Vatican Council, the permanent diaconate was reintroduced into the Catholic Church as part of the sacrament of Holy Order. Guided by the Holy Spirit and based on the recommendation of the recent synod, it was decided to reintroduce the permanent diaconate into the archdiocese of Port-of-Spain. This program started in 2007 was done under the direction of Archbishop Edward Gilbert.

Photos Gallery of the 20 Permanent Deacons

All of us as Christians are called to lives of service, service to one another, service in and through the church, service to God. It requires a great deal of humility to serve others. Jesus, who is God with us, came not to be served, but to serve. Christian service is an attribute of today’s world that is desperately needed. It is needed to help bridge the widening gap between the church and many of the social ills of our society. But there can be no service if those who are called to serve – and that includes you and me – do not answer the call.

As mentioned earlier, the 20 men who were ordained as permanent deacons are from many different walks of life; engineers, CEOs etc. These men have answered the call to serve in spite of the commitment they already had. They have said a great big resounding “YES” to God to help make our world a better place. What a tremendous blessing this is for the archdiocese of Port-of-Spain and for the Catholic Church as a whole. While there is much rejoicing here, there are also some undertones of sadness elsewhere, in that the regional seminary here in Trinidad is struggling to remain open because not enough men are answering the call to the priesthood. Our society has become so secularized, that fathers and mothers no longer encourage their sons and daughters to consider religious life as a vocation. The incredible thing about all of this is that everyone wants a priest to bless their homes, bless their cars, bless them personally, to pray for them, to baptize their children, and later to confirm them; but no one wants to encourage their children, their sons to become priests or deacons. We pray that the call of Christ to follow Him will find fertile soil in your hearts, and that many many young men will hear and answer the call, the call to follow Jesus Christ as permanent deacons or as priests.