The National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and the Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States (Ascension)

90 NDPD

The Ministry and Life of Deacons

deacon is to observe faithfully the rubrics of the liturgical books without adding, omitting or changing of his own volition what they require. . . . For the Sacred Liturgy they should vest worthily and with dignity, in accordance with the prescribed liturgical norms. The dalmatic, in its appropriate liturgical colors, together with the alb, cincture and stole, ‘constitutes the liturgical dress proper to deacons.’” 94 Specific liturgical functions of the deacon in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church are con tained in chapter one of this National Directory . The Church’s Ministry of Charity 90 As an ordained participant in the Church’s ministry of charity, the dea con assumes the duties entrusted to him by his diocesan bishop with humility and enthusiasm. At the core of his spirituality, a deacon puts on Christ and is guided by the love of Christ in caring for all in his charge: “Charity is the very soul of ecclesial communion.” 95 This charity is universal, and the deacon looks to human need in its broadest sense. The deacon is to cultivate an imagination that takes him to the heart of human need. In a real sense the ministry of a deacon is not limited to any particular service; instead his missionary service is agile and delib erative. The deacon is attentive to human pain in all its forms as he dis cerns that portion of the Gospel to be poured into the wounds of human suffering (Lk 10:34). As Pope Benedict XVI noted, “In these years new forms of poverty have emerged. . . . Beside material poverty, we also find spiritual and cultural poverty. . . . Be servants of the Truth in order to be messengers of the joy that God desires to give to every human being.” 96 As a man sent from the diocesan bishop in the name of Christ the Ser vant, the deacon holds within his heart a vision of charity as wide and deep as the one held in the heart of Christ.

94 95

DMLPD, no. 30. DMLPD, no. 55.

96 Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Permanent Deacons of Rome (February 18, 2006), www.vatican.va/content /benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2006/february/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060218_deacons-rome.html.

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