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‘The Luminous Mysteries are the mysteries of the permanent diaconate…’

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Ondřej Vaněček CC

Deacon Greg Kandra - published on 04/13/17

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This is a great reflection from my friend T.J. Burdick:

The Luminous mysteries are the mysteries of the Permanent Diaconate. It would seem that since their introduction by St. Pope John Paul II in October of 2002, each and every bead prayed during for the Luminous mysteries has inspired the vocation of a new Permanent Deacon. Diaconate vocations have risen significantly since 2002 and I have every reason to believe that it is because of the Luminous mysteries. Allow me to elaborate using the mysteries themselves as my bulwark: The Baptism of our Lord One of the greatest privileges Deacons have is the grace to celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism. Here, the Deacon has the same grace as a priest through Holy Orders in that he is able to welcome people of all ages into Christ’s universal family. As the celebrant of this Sacrament, the Deacon takes on the persona of St. John the Baptist and builds the body of Christ using the living stones of the children of God as his bricks and the sacred chrism and holy water as his mortar. The Miracle at the Wedding at Cana The other sacrament that the Deacon has been called to celebrate is that of Marriage. He takes his place as servant to the true celebrants, the bride and groom, who are representative of Christ and His Church. The Deacon, then, concelebrates the unity of minds, bodies and souls into one unified declaration of love. As the witness in this celebration, the Deacon takes on the role of Mary at the Wedding at Cana who works tirelessly so that others may enjoy their time of festivities. He mimics her orders to invite Jesus into their marriage so that the couple may “do whatever He (Jesus) tells” them (John 2:5). As an aside, the Deacon also is a true witness to the conversion of water into wine through the sacrament of the Eucharist, which we will get into later in this article. The Preaching of the Kingdom Another aspect of Diaconate ministry is that of preaching. As the herald of the Gospel, the Deacon is the one who carries the Gospel lectionary during the procession and exit, reads the Gospel during the acclamation, and speaks to the people (when given permission) through his homily. More than words, the Deacon also preaches through his constant acts of servitude. His practice of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy identify him as a leader in his community for the simple reason that he has forgotten about himself. In essence, it is the holy Spirit that speaks through him in both word and deed.

Read it all and pass it on. It’s excellent.

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