My Dear Friends,

Today’s first reading is about the beginnings of the diaconate. Seven men were chosen and the apostles laid hands on them. As we know in our Catholic faith, after Pentecost, the Catholic Church defined ordained ministry by the laying on of hands. The ordained ministries are deacon, priest and bishop.

Through the years, the Catholic Church added the orders of porter, lector, exorcist, acolyte and subdeacon. These seven orders were necessary for every bishop. Priests needed to have received the other five orders before the sixth order of priesthood. The first four orders were called minor orders and the subdeacon, deacon and priest were the major orders.

A bishop received the fullness of priesthood whereas a priest participated as a helper in the ministry of a bishop. Being a cleric began not with being ordained a porter but with tonsure, the cutting of a piece of hair from the top of the head.

Celibacy was not required until the subdiaconate. Subdeacons, deacons and priest were called to perpetual continence, which meant that a man who was married could be ordained to these orders but only if he promised to remain continent (no engaging in sexual matters) and live with their wives as brother and sister.

Celibacy, meaning that an unmarried man could be ordained, did not exist until the 1100’s, but before then in the Roman church they could not exercise their duties as a husband. In the Eastern Church, it was similar to the discipline of the Western Church. It was not until the 700’s that the bishops in the Eastern Church allowed married men to enjoy their married duties as a priest.

The only difference is that since a priest needed to be “pure” in order to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, he needed to abstain from sex with his wife three days before celebrating the liturgy. This is why outside of Western and Eastern monasteries, the Divine Liturgy was only celebrated on Wednesdays and Sundays.

In the Roman Church, because of perpetual continence, the Divine Liturgy (or what we call Mass) could be celebrated every day. In both East and West, from ancient apostolic times to the current day, bishops need to be celibate (not married).

There has been a lot of discussion since the 1970’s about the ordination of women as priests or deacons, and the constant answer from Rome (and the Orthodox Church as well) is that the Church has no authority to ordain women to either order.

Even though Rome has spoken clearly, every few years it seems that this issue keeps coming up, seemingly from the same people who do not like the answer and are constantly in a state of rebellion until they get their way. All three orders of deacon, priest and bishop are essential to the person who is ordained, a male who stands in the person of Christ.

Since Christ is the Bridegroom and the Church is his Bride, the person of Christ as head needs to be male, as a male marries his bride. If there is female priest-hood (and even female diaconate, which is only a step to what they women really want), then the Church would need to change her teaching on same sex marriage, for a female priest marrying the Church, which is feminine, symbolizes a marriage between two women.

This is not a popular teaching, and many feminist women outright reject it, but it is reasonable according to our theology. This is not about power. Deacons and priests are called to serve and to lay down their lives for the sheep.

God bless

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