A New Friendship: The Spirituality and Ministry of the Deacon (review)

The restoration of the diaconate as a permanent order in the Catholic Church has presented and continues to present an ongoing problem for many bishops, in large part because the spirituality and identity of the deacon is neither well developed nor well understood. Questions abound, beginning with: what is a deacon? What does a deacon do? With his new book Monsignor Edward Buelt attempts to answer some of those questions. Buelt entered priesthood for the Archdiocese of Denver in 1982, after the restored diaconate was well underway. A liturgist and canon lawyer, he is founding pastor of a large suburban Denver parish that has one additional priest and three deacons on clerical staff. A New Friendship is the result of a retreat Buelt offered to Denver deacons—there are 171 at this writing—in which he interwove themes of diaconal ministry with traditional Gospel themes of service. He defines diaconal spirituality in conversation with the Scriptures and church teaching on the diaconate, presenting practical discussion regarding the ministry of the deacon in the liturgy of the eucharist.

Central to the ministry and spirituality of the deacon—and therefore to understanding of ordination—is the deacon's identification with the Word, the liturgy, and charity. The typical understanding of diaconal spirituality is that in the service of the Word, the deacon lives a life of charity (service, especially to the poor), and therefore stands at the altar both assisting the priest and representing the people of God at eucharist. Looking internally, Buelt writes "the deacon works out his salvation and most radiantly shines as the icon of Christ the Suffering Servant when he is in hands-on and arms-embracing service to sinners and the poor" (118). Buelt writes that the deacon's preaching is only credible when it reflects and represents prior and ongoing diaconal ministry of service.

This thematic explication of the deacon as servant follows exegesis of several Gospel passages: the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), which Buelt traces as representative of the relationship between God the Father and deacons both sons and servants; Mark's story of the anonymous "almost apostle" (Mark 10:17-31), who is willing to follow but weighed down with posessions, used to discuss the relationship between Jesus and the deacon, who is invited to "a type of 'apostolic' relationship with him" (43); and the role of the Spirit in baptizing and annointing (Mark 1:9-11; Matt 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-22).

It is the central concept of deacon as "almost apostle" that skews, perhaps, the view of diaconal spirituality and ministry here presented. That is, an underlying theme of the book is that the diaconal function is adjunct to priestly ministry. The deacon is an almost-priest, but not quite. Hence, rather than belonging to a separate order in service to the bishop, as in the ancient church, the deacon is presented as adjunct clergy to the parish priest.

One can argue both sides of this equation. If the order of deacon is separate and distinct, responding to the needs of the bishop for charity in the diocese, then the order of deacon—to recover its ancient tradition completely—must serve the bishop. But the development of the parochial system over the centuries places the pastor in the position of "bishop" of his parish. So the deacon often works within the parish structure, often part-time and mostly as a volunteer. On the other hand, the diaconate in the Archdiocese of Denver is distinctive in that its members are more than encouraged to give witness to and evidence of a clerical status. They are encouraged to wear clerical attire with the deacon's cross and stole pin when in the conduct of ministry, especially when visiting and consoling the ill and the bereaved and when participating in liturgy.

Toward the end of the book, Buelt presents an exegesis on the story of the wedding...