Search
Welcome to Diaconal Ministry
-
Thank you for your interest in diaconal ministry. To assist you in your discernment of God's possible call to Holy Orders, below you will find some documents for your prayerful reading and links to other resources. Bring all the learning and insights you find in these materials to prayer, discuss them with our Lord, ask if He is calling you to diaconal ministry, and listen for His response.
Be sure to meet with your pastor about your potential call. With his approval, you may move forward in your discernment and attend the monthly Project Stephen sessions.
Please share how God is moving in your heart with your wife and discuss what you read with her (and your family). A wife's consent to the diaconal journey is essential.- Pray about your sense of call with:
- our Lord-for example, [Eucharistic Adoration]
- your wife and family
- your pastor (his consent is required to enter and continue in diaconal formation)
- deacons in your parish and elsewhere
- a spiritual director (ask your pastor about suggestions for a spiritual director, or click here for a list)
2. Begin and maintain a daily prayer life. Add prayers suggested by your pastor or spiritual director. Add daily Mass if possible. Pray as much as you can with your wife and family. Some find that praying the rosary, keeping a prayer journal, practicing lectio divina, engaging in contemplative prayer, and attending in Eucharistic Adoration deepens their discernment efforts.
3. Review the National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and Life of Permanent Deacons of the United States to obtain a sense of what formation will be like.
4. Attend Project Stephen monthly meetings with the consent of your pastor.
5. Review these other resources:- Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, Washington, D.C. United
States Catholic Conference, Inc. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Sections 1536-1589. - Code of Canon Law-English Edition. New English Translation. Washington, D.C.: Canon Law Society of America, 1999., esp. Can 232-293
- Second Vatican Council. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church [Lumen gentium] (21 November 1964) in Flannery, 350-440.
- Ditewig, William T. 101 Questions and Answers on Deacons New York/Mahwah, N.J. Paulist Press, 2004
- Keating, James, The Heart of the Diaconate: Communion with the Servant Mysteries of Christ. Paulist Press New York/Mahwah, N.J. 2015
- Turner, Paul and Puhala, Bob Guide for Deacons Chicago, IL Liturgy Training Publications, 2012 (disponible en español como Manual para Diáconos)
Applications for the next diaconate class – the class of 2028 – will be accepted starting December 1, 2021; and formation will begin in January 2023. If you have questions, please call (512) 949-2459. We hope to see you at future Project Stephen sessions.