Growing in Humility - A Brief Reflection on the Diaconate

In his homily on May 18, 2014, Pope Francis said the following regarding the first seven deacons of the Church (emphasis are mine): “[These] deacons will provide for the service of the tables for the poor. These seven men are not chosen because they are experts in business, but because they are honest men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom; and they are established in the service through the imposition of hands by the Apostles.”

The word “deacon” comes from the Greek diakonos, meaning “servant.” As Pope Francis mentioned, deacons are called to serve the poor. Of course, this doesn’t mean only those who are materially poor, but—more consistently with Jesus’s own examples—those who are spiritually poor, as read in the beatitudes of Matthew’s gospel. And in the second chapter of Mark, Jesus came not to heal those who are well, but those who are sick, for He has come “not to call the righteous but sinners.” In other words, Jesus enters the hearts of those who are willing to admit their need for Christ, to acknowledge their state of spiritual poverty. This is why He leaves the ninety-nine to find the one who goes astray.

When we honestly reflect on our weaknesses and deficiencies, we come to the realization of our need for Jesus’s healing, for all of us can be regarded as the one that went astray. Too often, however, we subscribe to the pharisaical mindset that others around us are the real sinners, and that we are “good enough.” Like the Pharisees, we judge and look down upon those whose lifestyles we disapprove of.

I mention all this in way of getting to the point of humility versus pride. As a deacon, I am called to humble service and not to pridefully lord it over those I am called to serve. But in order to authentically serve humbly, I must be constantly willing to truly experience in the depths of my heart my own spiritual poverty. For without genuinely acknowledging my own weaknesses and deficiencies, I resemble the Pharisees who believed they had no need of Jesus. But by prayerfully growing in the virtue of humility, by getting more in touch with my own spiritual poverty, I may be able to serve more from a place of humility rather than pride. After all, I can’t give/serve what I don’t have/know.