Diaconia
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Volume XX
Number 2
July 2000

Freedom For Prisoners

This is the fourth in a five part series on the Great Jubilee

How many times have we read or meditated on the words from Matthew 25"I was in prison and you came to me" and figured it applied to somebody else. That someone else would look in the face of someone in prison and say, "Look at my face... I will be the face of Christ for you today and you will be the face of Christ for me today".

In this Jubilee Year, we now have two million people in prison. Two million! In the Archdiocese of Boston alone there are almost 16,000 men, women and children in our prisons, jails and youth detention centers and almost 50 % of them are Catholic. These are the invisible and the "unworthy poor". Invisible because our efficient secular culture hides our serious social problems behind walls so we do not have to remedy how they got there in the first place. And they are the "unworthy poor" because we sometimes and unwittingly measure a man or women only by the worst thing they have done in their life.

Of what consequence should any of this be for the Christian notion of freedom in the Jubilee Year? Well, to begin with, it was Jesus Himself who said that He had come to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord with the "recovery of sight to the blind" and "freedom for prisoners". And isn't it interesting that the notion of blindness precedes freedom as a Jubilee Year theme.

I began my ministry in our prisons eighteen months ago with a visit to the women's prison in Framingham. As I walked through the prison, a familiar face startled me. It was the face of Katherine Ann Powers. For the many years I was FBI agent, I saw that face on the Ten Most Wanted List and vainly dreamed of how I would be admired if I captured her. On this day, however, our long conversation was only about our humanity, our weaknesses.

From that conversation came freedom from the blindness of my hostility towards her and freedom for her from a fear of rejection and judgment. In a sense, God allowed her to capture me.

If it is true that our prisons reveal the blindness of our nation towards the sins of our society like poverty and racism then our personal attitudes toward prisoners reveal the blindness of our individual selves. At the end of the letter to the Hebrews, there is the exhortation: "Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment". I think that understanding freedom demands that we first understand the bondage of our own sins. St. Paul offered his own form of pastoral counseling to the Galatians when he wrote to them that they were "called for freedom" but not to use that freedom for selfish things but as an opportunity to serve through love. So the freedom that Christ offers me from the imprisonment of my own sins must compel me to recognize the same freedom for those our society despises the most.

I have come to believe that, for deacons and anyone who ministers, our prisons are seminaries of freedom. They are places to witness that "nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ" and places to find the face of Christ in our own individual bondage.

"For I was in prison and you came to me" and together we recognized our freedom in the face and love of Jesus Christ.

Deacon William F. X. Kane, '90

What's Happening

These past few months have been very busy in the office as this is the time of the year when we are working with four classes.

The Class of 2000, all twenty-two of them, are completing their studies, writing self-evaluations and being interviewed individually by the staff and Evaluation Boards. In early June we should be ready to present their names to Cardinal Law as candidates for ordination. In addition, Deacon Leo is working with the Regional Bishops and the Personnel Board to place these men in appropriate parishes. Eleven of the twenty-two men are from the South Region; two from the Central Region; two from the North Region; four from the Merrimack Region; three from the West Region. The ordination is scheduled for September 9, 2000 at the Cathedral. Please keep these men, their wives and their families in prayer during the final days of preparation. We hope to see many of the ordained deacons at the ceremony to welcome these men into the Order of Deacon.

Most Rev. Emilio S. Allue admitted the four men in the Hispanic Class of 2001 to Candidacy on March 23, 2000 at the Pastoral Institute. Rev. Alvaro Silva, the leader of the Hispanic Program and Deacon Leo Donoghue, assisted the Bishop. With their wives and children present, the Liturgy was another experience of the richness and diversity of the church in the Archdiocese of Boston. The Hispanic classes meet at the Pastoral Institute each Tuesday and Thursday evening. During the Fall semester Ms. Pilar Latorrre taught History of the Church and Father Alvaro taught New Testament. In the second semester Father Alvaro taught a course on the Theology of Grace and one on Christian Anthropology, Father Luis Duque taught Introduction to the Sacraments. The Hispanic and Anglo classes interact each class night at break time. Together they are building a vibrant diaconate community in the Archdiocese of Boston.

The Class of 2002 is completing their first year of academic work. This year Fr. Paul Ritt, with his excellent teaching skills, inspired the men to appreciate the theological foundations of our faith; Brother Paul Feeney taught Old Testament, Celia Sirois, New Testament, Mr. Anthony Keaty, a professor at St. John's Seminary taught Christology. The men seemed equal to the challenges and from all appearances enjoyed the sessions. We have been blessed with extraordinarily fine teachers. This class is also preparing self-evaluations and will meet with the Staff and Evaluation teams during the months of May and June.

The Class of 2004 is beginning to take shape. We anticipate a class of approximately 18-20 men. We have been interviewing couples, doing the SRI (Selection Research Interview) as well as a reading and religion test. Thanks to many of you, we have some wonderful aspirants coming forward. Please continue to pray for vocations to the Diaconate and encourage those men who have the necessary qualifications and the desire to serve the Church.

In addition to the work with formation we have been setting up the programs for the next year. Presently, we are procuring speakers for the Year of Spiritual Formation and teachers for the Class of 2002. Also, as we think about the ordained deacons, we are working on an agenda for Continuing Education and Retreats. While life in the office is predictable, for sure it is never dull. The goodness of the deacon families we serve and the good news we hear about meaningful ministry carried on by deacons in the parish, prisons, hospitals is an inspiration to all of us.

Sr. Clare O'Keefe

Proclaiming The Gospel In The New Millennium

How important is it now, and how critical it has always been to make the message of Jesus understood by each succeeding generation.

Though we proclaim an unchanging truth, how necessary it is to speak in terms understandable by those who are living in a time some might say is unprecedented. Jesus did not compel his hearers to reach for the meaning of his words, but rather, he spoke in phrases and illustrations they clearly understood and with which they were familiar.

In Jeffrey Sobosan's book, Romancing the Universe, he relates the words of the New Testament scholar C.H. Dodd, on the parables of Jesus. He says that the realism of the parables..."arises from a conviction that there is no mere analogy, but an inward affinity, between the natural order and the spiritual order....Jesus therefore did not feel the need of making up artificial illustrations for the truths he wanted to teach. He found them ready-made by the Maker of man and nature."

May we look carefully at the world around us and find there the stories which point to the love and mercy of God.

Deacon Leo A. Martin '77

Diaconate Pilgrimage

To celebrate the Great Jubilee, 5 Boston Archdiocesan deacons, their families and friends began a ten-day pilgrimage to Rome on February 15. They united with eight hundred other deacons and families in Rome from around the world to enter into a profound conversion of heart and to strengthen their Christian lives.
Highlights of the pilgrimage included side trips to Florence, Venice and Assisi. These locations offered one vast attraction, particularly in the form of a rich artistic heritage of museums and churches, not to mention a few prayerful moments with the Holy Father. The time spent at Vatican City was as close to being in heaven as one could imagine. Ralph Waldo Emerson said of Vatican City, "I love St. Peter's Church. It is an ornament of the earth."

Deacon Richard Gindel '92

Deacons Richard McLaughlin, Leo Donoghue, Thomas Raymond, and Richard Gindel prepare for the Deacons' Jubilee Celebration Liturgy with the Pope at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

From the Director

On September 9, 2000, twenty-two men will be ordained Permanent Deacons for the Archdiocese of Boston and many of these men will be assigned to parishes that have never experienced the ministry of a deacon. Perhaps a few words should be devoted to setting expectations.
All of these new deacons are married. They have been through a process of formation in which many of their wives accompanied them to classes. So the first expectation is that you will be meeting a married man whose wife fully supports his ministry. Some wives even choose to actively join their husbands in the new assignment. Many deacon couples work as teams in baptismal catechesis, marriage preparation, or as ministers to the sick and/or elderly.

More than fifteen roles have been identified for deacons in their ministry. These are: evangelizer, missionary, steward of resources, one who focuses on the Gospel dimensions of life, negotiator, responder to human needs, homilist, motivator, facilitator, animator, organizer, counselor, institutional representative, teacher, and ritual leader. Add these to the roles these men assume as husbands, fathers, in their work in the marketplace, and it is safe to say that you can expect your deacon to be a busy man.

In addition, you can expect your new deacon to be a "team player". Although the deacon has a special relationship with his Bishop as a result of his promise of obedience given at ordination, most deacons work for a priest. A collaborative bond exists between a priest and a deacon in that both are ordained to share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. The deacon's roles are complimentary and not competitive with the priest's roles. If the priest is the "right arm" of the Bishop, then the deacon is the "left arm". Both arms are necessary, yet both are very different. The fullness of the sacrament of orders consists of the Bishop, the priest and the deacon. The Bishop serves as teacher, the Priest as leader of worship and prayer and the Deacon as the sign of service.

Finally, come September, at the beginning of the millennium here in the Archdiocese of Boston, twenty-two parishes will be meeting their new deacons. Please welcome these men because, as you would expect, they might be just a little nervous.

Deacon Leo Donoghue '92

Deacon Assembly and Dinner with Cardinal Law - June 2, 2000
(click for larger images)

Coming Up

Save January 19-21, 2001 for a retreat for deacons with Fr. James Moroney, the Executive Director of the NCCB Secretariat for the Liturgy. In addition to his outstanding work in Liturgy, Fr. Moroney is a superb retreat master, as any of the men in the classes of 2000 and 2002 can attest from their retreat with him. Every one of their evaluations rated him excellent!

Diaconia Editorial Staff

Coordinator of Publication: Sister Clare O’Keefe

Editors: Charles A. Cornell, Leo Martin, Carolyn S. O’Neil, Richard F. Radford,

Members of the Diaconate Community are encouraged to submit ideas, articles, photography that might be of interest to the Community. Submit by mail to the office or by email to cac@stisidorestow.org.