Permanent Diaconate Convocation

BY DEACON BEN LOCASTO

This year’s permanent diaconate convocation was held on Nov. 18-19. The convocation is a yearly gathering of deacons and their wives who come together to worship, to discuss timely topics affecting the Church and their ministries, and to re-connect.

In attendance this year were 23 deacons and 17 wives. As is customary, the convocation began with Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael R. Cote at the Cathedral of St. Patrick. This year’s convocation topic was the “role of the deacon in the National Eucharistic Revival.” Diocese of Norwich chancellor Rev. Peter Langevin presented the topic and led the discussion.

Father Langevin explained that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) initiated a three-year National Eucharistic Revival on June 19, 2022, on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, (Corpus Christi). Its mission is to “renew the Church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.” The revival aims to inspire people to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist.

Father Peter stated that the USCCB launched this initiative in response to rather sobering statistics gathered over the past 15 years concerning the waning belief in the true presence of the Lord Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist. In the summer of 2019, the Pew Research Center published the results of a study they had conducted earlier that year, regarding both understanding and belief among selfdescribed Catholics, about the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist. The survey focused on the core teaching of transubstantiation, i.e., that through the ministration of a validly ordained Catholic priest, the substance of bread and wine is transformed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. The study found that 7 in 10 self-identified Catholics do not believe, or did not know, this core teaching.

“We can all agree that this teaching is vitally essential to our Catholic faith...in fact, this teaching is the distinguishing factor which differentiates Catholic teaching from other Christian traditions.”

In light of these lamentable statistics, the focus of Father Langevin’s presentation was to outline what we as a diaconate community can do to assist in the National Eucharistic Revival’s important work of inspiring, educating, and showing to everyone the wonders of True Presence.

If it were possible to encapsulate Father Langevin’s talk into one word, it would be intentionality, or an attitude of purposefulness within the Liturgy and especially regarding the Eucharist, which is “the source and summit of Christian Life.”

“I think that it is particularly important to avoid the temptation to think that these challenges will be solved through programs alone.”

Quoting an old Latin adage, nemo dat quod non habet (one cannot give what one does not have), Father Langevin made clear that words have their place, but actions speak louder. It is up to us, deacons, priests and lay faithful to, by our actions, demonstrate our belief that Christ is truly present in the Holy Communion we receive. Familiarity can breed laxity, and too often we can take the Eucharist for granted. We must be “intentional” in how we speak of, and especially how we act in regard to and in the presence of, the Blessed Sacrament.

Father Langevin referenced the wonderful example of intentionality demonstrated by Blessed Carlo Acutis. Carlo Acutis is best known for documenting Eucharistic miracles around the world and cataloging them onto a website which he created before his death from leukemia, at the age of 15. He was noted for his cheerfulness, computer skills and especially for his deep devotion to the Eucharist, which became the core theme and focus of his life.

“The Permanent Diaconate is primarily a ministry of charity (love), ... the Eucharist is the sacrament of love.”

From a young age, Carlo had a special love for God, even though his parents weren’t devout. After he made his First Communion, he went to Mass as often as he could, and he made Holy Hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament, before or after Mass. He asked his parents to take him on pilgrimages to the sites of Eucharistic miracles (where bread and wine visibly turned into flesh and blood).

Blessed Carlo Acutis said it best on his website, where he wrote, "The more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.”

Ifirst heard of the Camino de Santiago (the Way of Saint James) while studying Spanish as an undergraduate at the University of Connecticut. I learned about the exchange of cultures, ideas and material goods along this historical route starting from southern France to northwestern Spain.

While in Spain for a semester abroad, I spent a week traveling to Santiago de Compostela, staying in some of the major cities along the way. Similar to the mustard seed parable, God planted a seed of faith within me. At the time, I did not realize how much it would grow or in what direction, but it was growing. As time marched on, I had a growing desire to go on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. As my discernment grew closer toward the priesthood, I felt a particular attention being given to the moments when Jesus entered my life and beckoned me to follow Him (Mt 9:9) or the struggles of the rich man in Luke 18:18 and renunciation of wealth within that chapter of Luke.

Finally, it was time for me to place my trust in the Lord and His providence. During 2018, I made preparations to apply to seminary and go on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

I invited my mother along as a chance to spend some time before my departure for seminary. We procured our pilgrim passports, books, backpacks and boots and set forth on a mission to Santiago de Compostela. With full trust in the Lord, we left by bicycle