The annual Deacon Assembly, which provides a chance for deacons in Maine to celebrate together, build community, and grow in knowledge was held on Saturday, September 25, at St. Joseph Church in Brewer (two pictures below).
“It was the first time we were able to be together, grow together, and support each other in person in two years,” said Deacon Peter Bernier, director of the Diocese of Portland’s Office of the Diaconate. “It was a wonderful day.”
Monsignor Marc Caron, moderator of the curia and vicar general in the diocese, offered two presentations to the deacons and their wives in attendance: “Deacons and the Ministry of the Bishop” and “Deacons and the Ministry of the Presbyterate.”
“Deacon Frank Daggett, the director of parish social ministry in the diocese, also spoke about the many ways in which parish social ministry is alive and flourishing in Maine parishes and described some of the things that deacons can do to participate in that ministry,” said Deacon Bernier.
The gathering also included a Mass, celebrated by Bishop Robert Deeley, who said that what Jesus told the apostles is what they, as deacons, and we, as Christians, must do: find the meaning of their lives in the will of the Father.
“It very well may lead in directions they do not want to go, it may include suffering and death, but just as the Israelites were assured by Zechariah that the Lord would surround them and protect them like an ‘encircling wall of fire,’ the apostles and the community they would gather, would always know the protection of God,” said the bishop.
Bishop Deeley pointed out the assembly that in the months of this pandemic, there have been times when we were in the same situation as the people of the Scripture.

“We wondered where God is in all of this loss and suffering. We pray for our people, for their health and safety, but we wonder how this has happened,” he said. “We do well to pay attention to the Scripture and its message. It is always a message of hope. It is always an assurance that God is present and gathering his people. It is always a saving message. Jesus’ foretelling of his passion and death was difficult for the disciples to comprehend, but they came to know that this sacrificial suffering was precisely what would lead to his resurrection and the promise and hope that eternal life opens for us. Jesus’ resurrection is a whole new horizon.”

The bishop said that it is the task of ministers of the Gospel and servants of God’s people to strengthen people’s trust in God.

“It is our mission to help people to know that we will best deal with the crisis which is ours in this pandemic by caring for each other and cooperating in our efforts to deal with the effects of this terrible virus. The words of the psalm this morning are an answer to our uneasiness with the difficult time in which we find ourselves: ‘The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.’ We pray today that we might live in this hope.”
Deacons and their wives will also participate in a special retreat in Biddeford on October 15-17 with Deacon Dominic Cerrato, editor of The Deacon magazine and director of diaconal formation in the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, serving as the keynote speaker.
For more information about the diaconate in the Diocese of Portland, visit www.portlanddiocese.org/vocations-office/diaconate.