My Joy in Being a Deacon

In 2018, Rev Walter Middleton was ordained a permanent deacon. For this month’s Jubilee of Permanent Deacons, he tells of his sometimes difficult journey to the diaconate, his work in the ministry, and the joy it brings him.

My life as a deacon has been a source of joy and fulfilment — and a story of miracles.

Perhaps the seed to become a deacon was planted when I became an altar server at the age of 11 in a small town in rural India with only a handful of Catholic families. The parish priest, Fr Sebastian Carvalho, would arrive on Saturday evening by train from Ajmer, a town about 75km away, to conduct the Sunday Mass.

We were two altar boys and prone to mischief — we always withheld a little wine when pouring it into the chalice, allowing us a swig each after Mass. To this day I do not know if Fr Sebastian knew what we were up to, as he never confronted us. If he did notice our indiscretion, he chose to overlook it.

Fortunately, that childish prank did not lead us astray. Little did I know that many years down the road I would be drinking the sacred wine (blood of Christ) while purifying the sacred vessels after distributing Holy Communion in my role as deacon.

From the age of 14 I felt a strong call to serve the poor and needy with my life and prayed that the Lord would provide me with opportunities to do so. I followed this call throughout my life, and I believe it culminated in my becoming a deacon.

When I grew up, I had never heard of the position of “deacon” — after all, the permanent diaconate was revived only after the Second Vatican Council. It is an office based on servitude. The word “deacon” comes from the Greek word diakonia, meaning servant, service, or messenger. It is a calling, and it is a gift from God.

Hearing the call

I first felt that calling by the Holy Spirit in December 1987, and I put it on a “bucket list” of 12 things I hoped to achieve in life.

At that time I was fully engaged working for large international humanitarian organisations. I worked for 46 years for CARE and World Vision International. My job was to manage large-scale programmes feeding the poor and the hungry. God heard my prayers as a teenager and he provided these opportunities.

It was in 2011 that I made the firm decision to become a deacon. In my career I had to travel extensively, and my concern was that I would be unable to attend all of the required classes. However, since it was a calling, the good Lord helped me — I managed to attend 95% of the classes during the entire duration of my diaconate training. It was a miracle.

Another obstacle was the age requirement, namely that one be no older than 65 years at ordination. I would be 70 at ordination, so this would require another miracle. I would face additional challenges in my path to becoming a deacon.

Illness gets in the way

Prior to my final steps to ordination, I had one of the worst experiences of my life. In mid-July 2017, I developed a rare disease called myasthenia gravis. As a result, I could not swallow, and my voice was significantly impaired. I could not speak clearly nor make full sentences. This bothered me terribly as my interview with the archbishop, which was the final step before ordination, was imminent. I saw several doctors before a neurologist finally identified my problem and put me on very heavy medication. After a couple of weeks, I was able to eat liquid food and my voice slowly returned.

My interview with the bishop was scheduled for August, but I had to inform the archdiocese that I was on medication and needed some more time. By the second week of September, I received a frantic call from the archbishop’s secretary, asking me to come for an interview at the earliest, or else I would not be ordained. My interview with the archbishop was scheduled for September 19, 2017.

On the day of the interview, I stormed heaven. It was only through the intervention of the Holy Spirit that I did well in the interview. It lasted 40 minutes. For the first 30 of these, my voice was fine, but during the last ten minutes I started to struggle a bit.

Happily, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale was impressed, and gave the letter of approval for ordination that very day.

I was overjoyed. Another miracle!

That evening my wife and I went to Mass, and the reading happened to be about deacons. I was ordained a permanent deacon on February 10, 2018. It was the greatest joy and blessing for me.

Serving as a bridge

As a deacon, I act as the bridge between the altar and the street. As most deacons are married men, we are ideally suited to perform this role, with one foot at the altar and the other in the street. My mission is to bring Christ from the sanctuary to the everyday men and women in the community. I do this by taking Holy Communion to the sick and housebound. I assist with Communion services, as well as benediction and memorial services for the deceased, should the priest be unavailable.

I also prepare couples who are planning to get married and have run baptism classes. I administer the sacrament of baptism, and at times assist at weddings, with a deacon who is a marriage officer. From time to time, when asked by the parish priest, I proclaim the Gospel and give homilies. I assist in administering blessings of homes, offices, cars, and individuals.

I also coordinate our parish’s various charity works and help with raising funds to feed the poor and the hungry.

As a deacon I have been successful in raising a significant amount of funding from a small NGO in the United States called Grassroots Heroes International (GHI). As a result, we fund sewing and computer classes at St Patrick’s in La Rochelle, training over 400 women. In addition, we provide funding for soup kitchens at the parishes of St Patrick’s, Our Lady of Fatima in South Hill, and Good Shepherd in Soweto.

We give assistance to Little Eden in Edenvale as well as the Missionaries of Charity in Yeoville. We provide blankets and sleeping bags for the poor and homeless, and shoes for school children. Through the sales proceeds of my book Born to Serve (The Southern Cross’ review of the book is at www.scross.co.za/2020/12/born-to-serve-review/), we donated uniforms and blankets to recyclers (or so-called waste-pickers). I have also sourced funding from GHI to provide food parcels for the past few years on World Food Day on October 16 as well as the World Day of the Poor, on the last Sunday of November.

Meeting two popes

I have had the great privilege of meeting two popes: St John Paul II on October 2, 2002, and Pope Francis on June 3, 2017. For the latter, I was with the late Ambassador George Johannes who informed Pope Francis that I was training to be a deacon, and the Holy Father gave me his blessing.

Being a deacon gives me boldness to serve the Lord, because I firmly believe that service in the name of the Lord is a blessing. In fact, being a deacon is a double blessing. Feeding the poor and the hungry and bringing a smile to their faces is the greatest joy in my life, especially in a world with broken and lonely people and struggling families.

My daily prayer is to create a world where every child is fed, and hunger is not tolerated. In short, the deacon’s work gives me joy. It is the work I want to do in serving the Lord until my last breath.

Deacon Walter Middleton serves in the parish of St Patrick in La Rochelle, Johannesburg.