Aids to the Spiritual Life

50. The aforementioned points of reference emphasize the primacy of the spiritual life. The deacon, mindful that the diaconia of Christ surpasses all natural capacities, should continually commit himself in conscience and in freedom to His invitation: “Remain in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit unless it remain in the vine, so also with you unless you remain in me” (John 15:4).

Following Christ in the diaconate is an attractive but difficult undertaking. While it brings satisfaction and rewards, it can also be open to the difficulties and trials experienced by the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to live this ministry to the full, deacons must know Christ intimately so that He may shoulder the burdens of their ministry. They must give priority to the spiritual life and live their diaconia with generosity. They should organize their ministry and their professional and, when married, family obligations, so as to grow in their commitment to the person and mission of Christ the Servant.

51. Progress in the spiritual life is achieved primarily by faithful and tireless exercise of the ministry in integrity of life. (¹⁹⁴) Such ministry not only develops the spiritual life but promotes the theological virtues, a disposition to selflessness, service to the brethren and hierarchical communion. What has been said of priests, mutatis mutandis, also applies to deacons: “Through the sacred actions they perform every day....they are set on the right course to perfection of life. The very holiness of priests is of the greatest benefit for the fruitful fulfilment of their ministry”. (¹⁹⁵)

52. The deacon should always be mindful of the exhortation made to him in the Rite of Ordination: “Receive the Gospel of Christ of which you are the herald; believe what you preach, teach what you believe and put into practice what you teach”. (¹⁹⁶) For a worthy and fruitful proclamation of the word of God, deacons should “immerse themselves in the Scriptures by constant sacred reading and diligent study. For it must not happen that anybody becomes 'an empty preacher of the word of God to others, not being a hearer of the word in his own heart' (¹⁹⁷) when he should be sharing the boundless riches of the divine word with the faithful committed to his care, especially in the sacred Liturgy”. (¹⁹⁸)

Moreover, deacons, under the guidance of those in the Church who are true teachers of divine and Catholic truth, (¹⁹⁹) should strive to deepen their knowledge of the word, so as to hear its call and experience its saving power (cf. Rom 1:16). Their sanctification is based on their consecration and on their mission. This is true also with regard to the word and they should be conscious that they are its ministers. As members of the hierarchy, the actions and public pronouncements of deacons involve the Church. Consequently, it is essential for pastoral charity that deacons should ensure the authenticity of their own teaching. Likewise, in the spirit of the profession of faith and the oath of fidelity, (²⁰⁰) taken prior to ordination, they should preserve their own clear and effective communion with the Holy Father, the episcopal order and with their own bishops, not only with regard to the articles of the Creed, but also with regard to the teaching of ordinary Magisterium and the Church's discipline. Indeed, “such is the force and power of the word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigour, and the children of God for their strength, food for the soul, and for a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life”. (²⁰¹) The closer deacons come to the word of God, therefore, the greater will be their desire to communicate it to their brothers and sisters. God speaks to man in Sacred Scripture: (²⁰²) by his preaching, the sacred minister fosters this salvific encounter. Then, lest the faithful be deprived of the word of God through the ignorance or indolence of its ministers, deacons should devote themselves to preach the word tirelessly and yet be mindful that the exercise of the ministry of the word is not confined to preaching alone.

53. Likewise, when the deacon baptizes or distributes the Body and Blood of Christ or serves at the celebration of the other sacraments and sacramentals, he confirms his identity in the Church: he is a minister of the Body of Christ, both mystical and ecclesial. Let him remember that, when lived with faith and reverence, these actions of the Church contribute much to growth in the spiritual life and to the increase of the Christian community. (²⁰³)

54. With regard to the spiritual life, deacons should devote particular importance to the sacraments of grace whose purpose “is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ, and finally to give worship to God”. (²⁰⁴)

Above all, they should participate with particular faith at the daily celebration of the eucharistic sacrifice, (²⁰⁵) possibly exercising their own proper liturgical munus, and adore the Lord, present in the Sacrament, (²⁰⁶) because in the Blessed Eucharist, source and summit of all evangelization, “the whole spiritual good of the Church is contained”. (²⁰⁷) In the Blessed Eucharist they truly encounter Christ who, for love of man, became an expiatory victim, the food of life eternal and friend of all who suffer.

Conscious of his own weakness and trusting the mercy of God the deacon should regularly approach the Sacrament of Penance, (²⁰⁸) in which sinful man encounters Christ the Redeemer, receives forgiveness of sin and is impelled towards the fullness of charity.

55. In performing the works of charity entrusted to them by their bishops, deacons should always be guided by the love of Christ for all men instead of personal interests and ideologies which are injurious to the universality of salvation or deny the transcendent vocation of man. They should be ever conscious that the diaconia of charity necessarily leads to a growth of communion within the particular Churches since charity is the very soul of ecclesial communion. Deacons are thus obliged to foster fraternity and co-operation with the priests of their dioceses and sincere communion with their bishops.