"What It Means To Live Out My Vocation" (Vocation Panel)

VOCATIONS PANEL

"What It Means To Live Out My Vocation"

by Deacon Dennis Purificacion

St. John Vianney Catholic Church, Rancho Cordova, CA, USA

Monday, January 22, 2018

As a married permanent deacon, I have received both the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony and the Sacrament of Holy Orders. 

I am going on 15 years of marriage and 4 years of diaconate ordination.  I am the father of 5 children, and my wife is pregnant with our 6^th child.

The diaconate enriches my marriage, and marriage and family life enriches the diaconate.  Both sacraments have been mutually beneficial to each other.  They are strengthened by each other.

When reflecting on what it means to be a married permanent deacon, my thoughts first turn to my wife and kids.  As we were told during diaconate formation, there is an order of priority where time and energy are placed:

First, God.  Second, marriage and family.  Third, work (to support the family).  And fourth, being a deacon in the parish.  One cannot stand before the parish as a married deacon if one’s marriage and family is in a wreck. 

This is why in a certain sense the deacon’s wife is the deacon’s “first bishop” because the deacon must learn how to love and honor his wife even before learning how to love and honor the bishop after ordination as a deacon.  The deacon’s wife is vital to his vocation.  She sanctifies him and vice versa.

Both sacraments are meant for the service and sanctification of others. 

In matrimony, I am called to give my life to the woman for whom I have taken a vow until death.  My wife, Tove Ann, likewise strengthens my life in the permanent diaconate.  As St. Paul said, the love of husband and wife reflects the love of Christ for His Church which is his Bride and Body.  Married men are called to love their wives as Christ did, and the Church is called in turn to lay down her life for Christ.  It is in marriage that I live out the universal call to holiness called forth by the Second Vatican Council.

In the diaconate, I give myself in service not after Christ the Priest but after Christ the Servant.  Deacons are not ordained to the priesthood but unto the ministry of charity, especially the most neglected of our society, and to assist the bishops and priests in their vocation to teach, govern and sanctify God’s holy people, the Church.  The diaconate reminds those in the Church that we are all called to serve and minister to others, just as Jesus Christ laid down His life on the Cross.

The first married permanent deacon I met was when I was in high school.  His name was Deacon Eugene O’Sullivan, an Irishman from Kansas and a nuclear engineer.  He and his wife, Lois, made a great impression on me as a teenager.  I would serve Mass with him, and I wanted to be like him.  Both of them were the start of my attraction to marriage and diaconate.

At World Youth Day 1993 in Denver, seeing Pope St. John Paul the Great reinforced my desire to serve the Church even more.  The Holy Father said, “The family is under attack!”  Over the years, I would give my life to the Church as a layman and catechist teaching the Faith, and I knew that I wanted to be married and raise a family. 

I would help protect marriage by studying and doing my best to live the Church’s teaching on marriage and family. 

For those of you who feel a vocation to Christian married life, I encourage you to do your best to learn God’s plan for marriage and family.  Start now.  It is not too late.

And for those of you who feel an attraction to the permanent diaconate as I did, I encourage you to do your best to nurture that and follow through with it.  The permanent diaconate was not intended only for those who are retired, but it is meant for those with busy lives raising families. 

I myself wish there were younger permanent deacons.  The average age of permanent deacons in the Diocese of Sacrament is age 69.  So be open, and feel free to contact me for more questions.

I close with the words of St. Therese of Lisieux would said, “My vocation is love!”  No matter how God is calling you, He calls you to love and to be saints today.

Thank you and may the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady, the queen and mother of deacons, keep you always close to her Son!  Amen.