Deacons from across the Archdiocese travelled to the Diocesan Mother Church for their annual Mass of renewal and promises.

Around 30 Deacons attended St Chad’s Cathedral on Saturday 7 June for the Mass, celebrated by Bishop Timothy Menezes.

He was supported during the Mass by Deacon Mike Skidmore of Our Lady of the Angels, Nuneaton, who celebrates 25 years ordination this year, and Deacon Andrej Rusnak, of St Mary and St Egwin, Evesham, who was ordained last year.

Music was provided by the Diocesan Choir.

Saturday’s invitation was also extended to friends, family and parishioners where the Deacons serve, followed by a light buffet lunch and refreshments.

This special Mass brings together Permanent Deacons to celebrate their ministry and renew the promises of faithful service they made at ordination.

In his Homily Bishop Timothy said:

We gather for this Annual Mass of Diaconal Renewal during the Jubilee Year, as Pilgrims of Hope.

I thank those who represented the Deacons of our Archdiocese at the Jubilee for Deacons in Rome in February. I hope that it was an encouraging moment for your ministry and in solidarity with this important ministry of Word and of service exercised in many different parts of the world. 

Your life as Deacons is modelled on Christ the Servant.

I wonder whether there is something in this life of service that sometimes presents more as a huffing and puffing Martha rather than a content - and sometimes misunderstood - Mary?

In the homily of Pope Francis delivered at the Jubilee for Deacons, we heard this of three themes pertinent to your ministry:

Forgiveness
Self-sacrifice 
and gratuitous or freely given work of service.

A world that feels nothing but hatred towards its adversaries is a world without hope and without a future, doomed to endless war, divisions and vendettas. Sadly, this is what we are witnessing today, on many different levels and in all parts of the world. Forgiveness means preparing a welcoming and safe future for us and our communities. Deacons, personally charged with a ministry that carries them to the peripheries of our world, are committed to seeing – and teaching others to see – in everyone, even in those who do us wrong and cause us suffering, a hurting sister or brother, and hence one in greater need than anyone of reconciliation, guidance and help.

For you as deacons, selfless service is not a secondary aspect of your activity, but an essential dimension of your very being. Indeed, through your ministry, you devote yourselves to being “sculptors” and “painters” of the merciful face of the Father, and witnesses to the mystery of the Triune God.

Brother deacons, the “gratuitous” work you carry out as an expression of your consecration to the charity of Christ thus becomes your primary proclamation of God’s word, a source of confidence and joy for those who encounter you. As often as possible, perform it with a smile, without complaining and without seeking recognition, supporting one another, also in your relationships with bishops and priests, “as the expression of a Church committed to growing in the service of the Kingdom by appreciating all the grades of the ordained ministry”. 

Through your cooperation and generosity, you will be a bridge linking the altar to the street and the Eucharist to people’s daily lives. Charity will be your most beautiful liturgy and the liturgy your humblest service.

Read Homily in full

After the Homily Bishop Timothy led the Renewal of Commitment to Diaconal Service - inviting the deacons to renew their own dedication.

There are approximately 90 Permanent Deacons across the Archdiocese, with around 60 active in ministry, and they all play a vital role within the Diocesan family and the communities they serve.

Permanent deacons are mature men, aged 35 or over, married or celibate, who by virtue of their ordination are members of the clergy. The word 'deacon' means servant. Their ministry is one of service to the Church, and with the Church to the world, with a special concern of the poor and marginalised. The majority are in secular employment or retired.

Deacons are ordained to the ministry of service, which from the early days of the Church has been characteristically associated with the service of those in need in society. The diaconate as a permanent Order in the Church was restored following the Second Vatican Council, and the ministry of the deacon must always respond to the needs of his time and place.

The Permanent Diaconate

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