Vocations

This sacrament includes three orders: Bishop, Priest and Deacon. They can either be part of a Diocesan or Religious Order.

The ministry of the deacon is described as one of service in three areas: the Word, the Liturgy and Charity. The deacon’s ministry of the Word includes proclaiming the Gospel during the Mass, preaching and teaching. The deacon’s liturgical ministry includes various parts of the Mass proper to the deacon, including being an ordinary minister of Holy Communion and the proper minister of the chalice when Holy Communion is administered under both kinds. The ministry of charity involves service to the poor and marginalized and working with parishioners to help them become more involved in such ministry. As clerics, deacons are required to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. Deacons, like priests and bishops, are ordinary ministers of the sacrament of Baptism and can serve as the church’s witness at the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, which the bride and groom administer to each other (though if the exchange of vows takes place in a wedding Mass, or Nuptial Mass, the Mass is celebrated by the priest and the deacon acts as another witness). They can preside over various services such as Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and they may give certain blessings. They cannot hear confession and give absolution, anoint the sick, or celebrate Mass.

At Mass, the deacon is the ordinary minister of the proclamation of the Gospel and of Holy Communion. As ordained clerics, and if granted faculties by their bishops, deacons may preach the homily at a public Mass, unless the priest celebrant retains that ministry to himself at a given Mass. 

In the Catholic Church, a parish priest (also known as a pastor) is a priest appointed by the bishop to represent him to the local parish. The Pastor is responsible for the administration of the Parish and for seeing to the spiritual needs of parishioners who belong to the parish. A priest is one who presides over a sacrifice and offers that sacrifice and prayers to God on behalf of believers. This involves performing ceremonies for the seven sacraments and counseling people. The pastor is helped by a parochial vicar and/or a permanent deacon, religious sister, or lay parishioners. A parish priest celebrates daily Mass, hears confessions every week, gives marriage counseling, provides prenuptial counseling, gives spiritual direction, anoints and visits shut-ins and the sick in hospitals and nursing homes, teaches catechism (a book that contains the doctrines of Catholicism) to children and adults, baptizes, witnesses marriages, performs funerals and burials, attends numerous parish and diocesan meetings, prays privately every day, does spiritual and theological reading, and finds time to relax now and then with family and friends. And once a year, he’s expected to make a five-day retreat in addition to doing his regular spiritual direction and daily prayer.

For more information about vocations, please visit the Office of Vocations, Diocese of St. Petersburg or the USCCB – United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.