Diaconate Ordination 2013
Bishop of Lake Charles
May 18, 2013
Diaconate Ordination
Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church
“[W]hoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” Matthew 20:26
The Gospel proclaims the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. He indeed came not “to be served but to serve” and in so doing “give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). As we know, this is a reference to the Suffering Servant in Isaiah (Isaiah 53:10-12). The servant gives his life for the master. The servant lives at the beckoning and call of the one he serves. There is a redemptive dimension to this servant. Jesus raises the task of being a servant to that of redeemer. As He has done, so also should we do, for in becoming a servant we imitate the Lord.
Recently a priest related an experience. Parishioners questioned his acts of service. He held a position which required that he perform certain tasks that these parishioners considered servile. So they asked him, “Don’t you feel demeaned, being a servant, performing those menial tasks?” The priest responded, and correctly so, that he did not. Quite the contrary, he considered it a privilege to perform his duties. He accepted wholeheartedly his role as a servant.
When the priest told me of his conversation with these parishioners, it reminded me of the fact that “servant” is almost a dirty word in the modern American vocabulary. In everyday life, we would never call anyone a servant nor would we wish to be called a servant. I humbly suggest that unless we overcome this tendency then we risk missing the lesson of the Gospel—which is, that in being a servant we share in the work of Christ. We must not let the fact that we find the word “servant” in the exalted context of the divine liturgy make us forget that the word is for most Americans not “nice.” But Jesus did not come to be “nice.” He came to redeem and that means He had to suffer. Suffering was the price He paid to be a servant in order to redeem. This we cannot forget.
This morning we are celebrating diaconia. The word means “service” and Matthew is being ordained to the diaconate. He is going to be a servant. Some will have to get over it. Matthew should not.
Now, and God-willing in the future as a priest, our brother and son will be called out late at night to attend the dying. He will visit the sick, prepare engaged couples, and distribute alms to the poor. He will educate children in catechism and spend hours of his time listening to seemingly endless complaints for which he can offer no solution. He will assist in the burying of the dead and console the bereaved. Some of these tasks will be quite rewarding. Others will bring only frustration. With some the results will be slow in coming. With others he will see no results at all. Our deacon-to-be will perform tasks that he never thought possible. For some he will be recognized and for others someone else will get the credit. He will simply be a servant, and all that he does must be in union with the chief servant, Jesus Christ.
What is it like to be a servant? The servants I have known are forgetful of self. They do nothing for recognition. They are virtually invisible. In fact, they want to be unseen. They go about their duties with no need for congratulations or thanks. In the words of Pope Francis describing how we can tell the true shepherds from the thieves, the true shepherd is not a social climber, in religion only for himself. The true shepherd receives his satisfaction from a job well done in fulfillment of the Father’s will, for which the Father “who sees in secret will repay” (Matthew 6:4).
This selflessness requires a depth of relationship with Jesus Christ, the servant and Lord, which the ordained minister must foster with the help of God’s grace. Jesus is your only friend, the example of the suffering servant, and the humble reward for a life well lived. That there is reward is the great paradox of Christian vocation, and reward it is because you have shared in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.