Gentlemen: Is God calling you to be a minister of the word? A minister to the altar? A minister of charity?

Explore these questions in a Zoom webinar meeting titled with another question – “Are You Called to be a Permanent Deacon?” – Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. at a permanent diaconate information night.

Catholic men and their wives, if married, with a deep spiritual life who are between the ages of 29 and 55 are invited to the webinar to discern a call to serve Jesus Christ and his church within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as permanent deacons.

The live webinar will include a panel of permanent deacons and members of St. Charles Seminary’s School for Diaconal Formation. The discussion on discerning a vocation to the permanent diaconate and the program of formation will also include time for a Q & A.

Register for the Zoom webinar here.

What distinguishes the lay person from the permanent deacon is that he is a member of the clergy, who may be married, and shares in the hierarchy of the sacrament of holy orders. He has been ordained to assist the bishop in his doctrinal, sacramental and charitable ministry both publicly and permanently.

Through the sacrament of holy orders, the ordained deacon is configured to Christ the Servant, who acts through the ministry of the deacon.

Deacon Thomas Shurer serves as deacon of the Eucharist during the 2017 permanent diaconate ordination Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia. (Sarah Webb)