The gospel reading, we just heard couldn’t have come at a better time. This current situation that we find our society in; this pandemic, which is keeping us all at home, only venturing out when absolutely necessary and when we do, taking the protective measures that are being prescribed wearing masks, social distancing, etc.; and to top it off, having our churches closed, being unable to gather as the Body of Christ. All these things that seem to be completely out of our control can that sometimes cause fear and anxiety. But what we hear in today’s gospel should give us some comfort. It gives us the simplest of solutions, and that is simply to have trust in God. That is something that, as Christians, should come to us naturally all the time anyway, but sometimes when we’re confronted with strange situations that we have no control over, we do get fearful to some degree, we get anxious, and that’s OK, those are natural human emotions, but I think it’s time we turn the table on this one and make use of what we do have control over; make this a time for strengthening our faith.
I’ve got a lot more to say on that subject in a bit, but before I go too far down that road, I want to go back to our 1st reading from the Acts of the Apostles. The entire book of The Acts of the Apostles is an extraordinary read. If you haven’t sat down and just read the entire book, or if it’s been a while; this is the perfect, when we seem to be at home with extra time on our hands. This book isn’t just the story of the Apostles, but it’s the story of the early Church as it came to grow in its identity and it’s understanding of itself as a community of believers; and what that meant as they tried to put into practice all that they had heard, seen, and learned from Jesus. But today’s reading specifically is close to the heart of every deacon, and I find it a privilege to be able to preach today when we hear this specific reading, because it’s a record of the call of the first deacons of the Church; and tells us why there was a need for those first deacons, and thus the ministry of the diaconate. And so, this reading often reminds us deacons of our own calling. And so, I’ll share my own story:
About 17 years ago, at a time when life was very good and comfortable; Annie & I were doing well, our kids were growing up and leaving home, career was good, I started getting this urge, or a feeling that I needed to be doing something more, giving back in a more substantial manner. Then one night I had a dream—- about being a deacon. And it was a strange dream for two reasons. First of all, I usually don’t remember my dreams. When I wake up in the morning and you know you were dreaming, but as you become fully awake your dream fades away until you don’t know what it was about. Well, this dream I remembered very vividly. The second reason it was strange was because 17 years ago I had no Idea what being a deacon meant. I had only vaguely known of one or two other deacons, but I knew absolutely nothing about the ministry. So, I brushed it off and tried to forget about it. But over the next year I had the same dream 4 or 5 times. And each time I brushed it off, tried to forget. Then one Sunday morning I was here at church, in the sacristy preparing for Mass. I was a sacristan, when someone came in and out of the blue asked me, “Have you ever thought about being a deacon?” That moment hit me like a ton of bricks. Because this just happened to be a morning after I had had one of those dreams. I realized that God was giving me a swift kick in the rear saying, “What do I have to do to get your attention.” So that’s when my life took a sharp turn, along with Annie’s life, because a deacon’s wife is just as much a part of this as the deacon. Then began the long process of learning what the deaconate was all about; which, after a few meetings when I found out that deacons are often called upon to preach, I said, nope, no way, not for me. Those who know me well know that I’m usually a quiet, shy and reserved type of person, and I told God, “You’re fishing in the wrong sea.”, but it was too late by then. He had me hooked and he just reeled me in. By the way, preaching still frightens me, but I’ve learned to not only trust the Holy Spirit, but to depend on the Holy Spirit for my ability to stand up here and preach.
Preaching however is just one of many jobs of a deacon. The deaconate is primarily a ministry of service. If we look again at the first reading and why those first seven deacons were needed; we’re told that the Christian community was growing rapidly. The Apostles were increasingly finding themselves tied down taking care of mundane tasks in the communities of people; quarrels were breaking out; widows and the poor were being neglected in certain communities. So, as we’re told in today’s reading seven men were chosen, they laid hands on them ordaining them as the first deacons of the Church. so that they could take care of the earthlier matters while the Apostles, as we’re told, could devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. They could once again continue their pastoral role as shepherds of the faith.
As the Church grew, so did the importance and the role of the deacon. An early Church document describes the deacon as “the ears and eyes, the mouth, heart and soul of the bishop. They played increasing important roles regarding Church property and in administrative functions. The office of the deacon grew so much that in one 250-year period between the years 432 and 684 of the 37 popes that were elected, only three of them were known to have been ordained priests. The rest were all deacons. But as it is with the weak human nature, with power came corruption. And the role of the deacon soon fell from its position of grace. So much so that by the time of the Council of Trent in the 1500’s the office of deacon was relegated to little more than a ceremonial status or as a steppingstone to the priesthood.
Then that changed once again at the 2nd Vatican Council when the Church thought if fitting to restore the order of deacon to its original intent. So today the diaconate is primarily a ministry of service. That early description of the deacon still applies in our duty as the eyes and ears of the bishop, to identify the needy and report their needs to the bishops and priests. And if we’re doing it right, our very lives should proclaim the Church’s call to serve the needs of others. As ordained clergy we function in the parish in the celebration of the sacraments. We can administer baptism, assist at and witness marriages, preside at certain worship services, preach homilies and preside at funeral and burial services. But whatever you see a deacon do up here at the altar should only be representative of the service that we perform out in the rest of the world. All of us deacons have various ministries that we’re involved in. Deacon Kevin, being a transitional deacon, therefore unmarried and with no other career, has been an invaluable source of help and energy here at St. Michael’s. Deacon Harry and I, being permanent deacons, therefore unpaid in our service, have other careers. We’re both married and have families, but we’re also very dedicated to our ministry as deacons. Besides our liturgical and sacramental duties here at St. Michael’s we’re involved in other forms of service. I would have to let Deacon Harry speak for himself as to the many ministries he’s involved in. For myself I serve other remote parishes that do not have a resident priest, namely Holy Family Parish in Glennallen and occasionally St. Bernard Parish in Talkeetna and St. Phillip Parish in Trapper Creek. I’ve also been involved in prison ministry for 15 years, since my 2nd year of deaconate formation. After an unfortunate hiatus from the ministry after the closing of the nearby prison at Sutton a couple years ago I had recently resumed the ministry at one of the prisons on Goose Bay Rd. These ministries that we’re involved in are just the surface of our diaconate. Being a deacon becomes part of who we are and how we live our lives. And that will never change. But the various ministries we’re involved in have come to a halt with the current situation that we find our society in. We find ourselves just as frustrated not being able to function in our diaconate duties.
And that brings me back to the beginning of my homily. What do we do when it seems that we have no control over the circumstances we find ourselves in? So, let’s listen to Jesus and what he tells his disciples in today’s Gospel, he tells them: “Do not let your hearts be troubled……Have faith in God. Have faith also in me.” It wasn’t just a suggestion; it was a command…. Because he knew what was going on in the Apostles hearts and in their heads. He had just told them for the last time what was going to happen to him and that he would be leaving them. They couldn’t bear the thought of his death. How could they go on without their teacher, their mentor, and their inspiration? How could they carry on his mission of spreading the Good News to a hostile world? All they could see ahead of them were the terrible troubles & trials that Jesus had been warning them about. Just like us in our current situation; there’s a lot of fear and anxiety in the world. So, Jesus tells them what they had to do as they faced an uncertain future: “Trust God…. Trust Me.” It was a reminder of what he had told them earlier: “When you’re in trouble, you won’t be alone. I’ll be there. Trust me.” He didn’t promise them that nothing bad would happen. He doesn’t promise any of us a life full of nothing but sunshine. But he does promise that if we put our trust in him, he will be there to hold us up, to give us the strength and the courage to face all the troubles that come our way. Nor does he promise us that things will always have the outcome that we would like. Things don’t always go according to our plans, but things always go according to God’s plan. And that too should give us comfort, if we just put our trust in him.
I’m sure we’ve all had other times in our lives when we felt we had no control over the situation we were in. Many of you may remember the health issues that I had six years ago. There too came a time when all I could do was to simply put my trust in God. Sometimes that’s all we can do is turn it over to God. But turning our troubles over to God doesn’t mean we Can just sit back and tell him, “You take care of it.” Our prayer shouldn’t be “Lord fix this for me.” It should be, “Lord, show me what to do.” There’s a verse from the Book of Proverbs that says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and he will direct your path.” Six years ago, as I lay in the hospital, doctors telling Annie that I wasn’t going to make it, she simply pulled out her rosary and began to pray. And maybe that is all we can do sometimes… is to pray. But what’s important whenever any problem comes our way is not to focus on the problem, but to focus on the Lord. We hear Jesus in today’s Gospel tell us, “I am the way…. the truth and the life.” If we focus on Jesus instead of our problems, our fears and anxieties will fade away. So, during this time of pandemic, first of all let’s follow the advice of the professionals, God puts them in our lives for a reason; then let’s spend the extra time we have at home in prayer, spend more time reading our bibles… We’re all facing this challenge together, making tough decisions, but let’s do it with confidence knowing that God is in control.