Celebrating the Feast of St. Lawrence and the Vital Role of Permanent Deacons in the Church

This day is his feast because it was on Aug. 10, 258 A.D. that he was martyred by being fried on a griddle under the Roman Emperor Valerian. Lawrence was a deacon of the Church of Rome.

At that time the deacons cared for the poor, and therefore they were in charge of all the material wealth of the church. They held the purse strings. Knowing this, the Romans arrested Lawrence and ordered him to bring all the treasures of the church the next day, so the state could confiscate the property of the church. The next day Lawrence showed up with a crowd of poor, elderly, sick and needy people. When asked what this was, and where was the cash, Lawrence responded that these poor, provided for by the church, are the treasure of the church. This did not make the Romans happy. And so he was martyred in a particularly gruesome way. He was 32 years old.

Since the time of the Apostles deacons have played an important role in the church (cf Acts 6:1-7) And they were in charge of the physical property and goods of the church.
Later, as the bishops and priests wanted control of the physical property, goods and money of the church, the deacons got pushed to the side and the diaconate disappeared for several centuries, only existing as a step on the way to being ordained a priest. However, the Second Vatican Council restored the permanent diaconate, and
we are now blessed to have permanent deacons in the church. The U.S. church has more permanent deacons than any other country, and here at St Austin we are truly
blessed to have Deacons Billy Atkins, Dan Wright, and John De La Garza assisting us. I realized just how much we have come to rely on the deacons here the last several weeks when they were gone and we had no deacons to assist with the Mass. We need more permanent deacons. If you have thought about the possibility of being a permanent deacon please speak to one of our deacons, or Fr Paolo or myself. All
inquiries are welcome.

In October there will be the first session of the world Synod of the Church. Much input has been solicited from all over the world from all dioceses, then countries, then continents. Now the world synod begins in October. One of the issues that is sure to be discussed is the permanent diaconate, and extending the diaconate to include women. There is much evidence of women deacons early in church history (like St Phoebe whose statue graces our sanctuary). It should be an interesting discussion. Please keep the Synod in your prayers.
In any case we are glad we again have permanent deacons, and ask the Holy Spirit to continue to increase the number and ministry of deacons. 

God bless,

From Fr. Chuck