There are things that a deacon does outside of Mass that most people dont see.
I can't get into specifics since I took an Oath of Confidentiality for some of these, but generally speaking this is how my Sunday looked. This is not typical.
My purpose in writing this here is to encourage Catholics regularize an irregular situations where a marriage is not in good standing with the Church.
930am
Arrived with family in separate cars;
Helped visiting couples complete Form B for couples seeking convalidation; administered request for Dispensation for Catholic marrying non-Catholic which I later submitted to Tribunal
10am
Assisted visiting priest for Mass
1115-12pm
Signed Mass attendance cards for kids;
Prepared couple with their Form A seeking convalidation
12pm
Assisted another visiting priest for Mass
115-230pm
Signed Mass attendance cards (where I interact w young families);
Spoke to family of dad undergoing kidney dialysis;
Asssited RCIA marriage case of doubtful baptism and need to convalidate marriage before receiving Sacraments;
Asssited another parishioner filing a Lack of Form from previous civil marriage;
Counsled parishioner re: spiritual healing
3-430
Went home and ate late lunch;
Took care of kids
430
Departed for parish and waited for paperwork for civilly divorced couples seeking correct way to marry in Catholic Church
5pm
Assisted visiting priest at Mass
615-645
Spoke to former student about her mom's health/blessed her children;
Was asked to bless a car;
Ffup to listening to recently divorced man and counseled filing Lack of Form as well as ffup for baptizing his teenage son
Was that you at 5 o’clock Mass On Sunday? I didn’t hear
the introduction but I thought it was your voice. Although pro-life issues are
pretty standard for sermons, I want to commend you on the presentation. The
opening, relating the subject to voting, was powerful. But what I noted was the
structure, the organization of this particular homily. The movement from point
to point, the relationship between issues and comments, was noticeably good,
better than many similar presentations. I looked for you after Mass, but it was
dark. I was impressed, and so I need to comment on it.
- M.
Homily #145
All Social Issues
are Secondary to the Number #1 Priority of
Protecting Innocent
Unborn Life in the Womb Absolutely
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 3, 2018
In leadership theory for time management, Stephen Covey
distinguishes between something that is “important” versus something that is a “priority.”Something may be important, but it is not a
priority. In other words, something
that is important but not a priority does not need our attention right now.
In today’s Gospel, similarly, a scholar of the law asks
Jesus which commandment is the priority over all the important commandments.While all commandments are important for this
scribe, some commandments were simply a priority over others.Jesus summarized the priority as, first, love
of God and then, second, love of neighbor.Our Lord said, “There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Love of God summarizes Commandments #1-3.Love of neighbor summarizes Commandments 4
thru 10.It’s by loving God first and
foremost that we can then properly love our neighbor in an ordered way.Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (cf.
Proverbs 9) and right ordering of priorities.It is written in today’s First Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, “Fear
the Lord, your God, and keep…all his statutes and commandments.”If love of God is not in our hearts first,
then the next priority about a correct love of neighbor will not make sense.
Having reflected on love of God as the first priority,
let us now look at love of neighbor.Today,
within the important social issues for love of neighbor, there is a hierarchy or
similar ranking of social issues that are the priority.This ranking by Jesus is important for us people
of faith because this Tuesday is Election Day.It is necessary for us to have a proper formation of conscience informed
by the great Catholic social doctrine of the Church.This is not partisian politics but just good theology
and the sound moral teaching of the Church that comes from Christ.While the Church does not publicly endorse
specific candidates for office, the Church still has the duty to speak on moral
issues that affect the salvation of souls.
Thus, while the many moral social issues are
important, many of them are not the priority.This is called the Principle of the Hierarchy of Truths.Just as Jesus taught in today’s Gospel that
there is a ranking or hierarchy or correct order of moral truths, where God
comes first and neighbor comes second, so too there are social issues today
that are ranked more important than others.According to Pope St. John Paul II in his encyclical letter The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae), “First
and fundamental among these is the inviolable right to life of every
innocent human being” (EV 71.3).To
correctly love our neighbor, the highest priority above other important social
issues is the absolute protection of innocent human life.The key words here are absolute and innocent.Absolute means 100% or no exceptions—all or
nothin’.Our own Declaration of Independence states that we hold these truths to be
self-evident and that the Creator endows inalienable rights, among which life
is listed as first, followed by liberty and happiness second.
It is not just simply human life that should be
protected, but innocent human life that should be protected.And not only is innocent human life
protected, the Church teaches that innocent human life must be protected absolutely(cf. EV 54).Absolutely means always
and everywhere.It is a moral absolute,
not relative, under no circumstance may it be violated.It is intrinsically evil, in and of itself.
Thus, all social issues are secondary to the number
one priority of protecting innocent unborn life in the womb.There are other important social issues, but
these do not involve intrinsic evil and are not absolute.Rather, they require what is called “prudential judgment” that depends on
the circumstances or grey areas.That is why they are
secondary.Prudential judgment social
issues are definitely lower in rank and priority than the first priority of protecting
the rights of innocent human life in the womb.Prudential judgment is about the best decision where reasonable people
can reasonably disagree.While there are
important social issues where Catholics may legitimately disagree with each
other, there are priorities where all Catholics cannot support the harming of
innocent human life in the womb.
Jesus said that when we receive these little ones in His
name, we receive Him and the One who sent Him.But if we reject these little ones, we reject Jesus and the One who sent
Him.St. Mother Teresa, the great
servant of the poorest of the poor, used her hands to remember Christ’s words: You.
Did. It. To. Me.She also said that world
peace begins in the womb when she received the Nobel Peace Prize.For a resource on what you can do for the
least vulnerable go to PriestsForLife.org.
In closing, normally, Jesus is harsh with the scribes
and Pharisees, but to this scribe that had the right ordering of priorities
Jesus praises as being not far from the kingdom.May we too be like this scribe and love God first
and then love our neighbor second.And
when we do love our neighbor, let us prioritize our neighbor’s right to life,
from womb to tomb.May the words of the Responsorial
Psalm be ours, too: “I love you, Lord, my strength.”O Mary, mother of the Baby Jesus, obtain for
us the grace to receive the Gospel of Life anew. Amen.
