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From: Acts 6:1-7
The Appointment of the Seven Deacons
[7] And the Word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied
greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
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Commentary:
1-6. A new section of the book begins at this point. It is introduced by reference
to two groups in the early community, identified by their background prior to their
conversion — the Hellenists and the Hebrews. From this chapter onwards, Chris-
tians are referred to as “disciples”; in other words this term is no longer applied
only to the Apostles and to those who were adherents of Jesus during His life
on earth; all the baptized are “disciples”. Jesus is the Lord of His Church and
the Teacher of all: after His ascension into Heaven He teaches, sanctifies and
governs Christians through the ministry of the Apostles, initially, and after the
Apostles’ death, through the ministry of their successors, the Pope and the bi-
shops, who are aided by priests.
Hellenists were Jews who had been born and lived for a time outside Palestine.
They spoke Greek and had synagogues of their own where the Greek transla-
tion of Scripture was used. They had a certain amount of Greek culture; the He-
brews would have also had some, but not as much. The Hebrews were Jews
born in Palestine; they spoke Aramaic and used the Hebrew Bible in their syna-
gogues. This difference of backgrounds naturally carried over into the Christian
community during its early years, but it would be wrong to see it as divisive or
to imagine that there were two opposed factions in early Christianity. Before the
Church was founded there existed in Jerusalem a well-established Hellenist-
Jewish community — an influential and sizeable grouping.
This chapter relates the establishment by the Apostles of “the seven”: this is the
second, identifiable group of disciples entrusted with a ministry in the Church,
the first being “the Twelve”.
Although St. Luke does not clearly present this group as constituting a holy “or-
der”, it is quite clear that the seven have been given a public role in the commu-
nity, a role which extends beyond distribution of relief. We shall now see Philip
and Stephen preaching and baptizing—sharing in some ways in the ministry of
the Apostles, involved in “care of souls”.
St. Luke uses the term “diakonia” (service), but he does not call the seven “dea-
cons”. Nor do later ancient writers imply that these seven were deacons (in the
later technical sense of the word)—constituting with priests and Bishops the hier-
archy of the Church. Therefore, we do not know for certain whether the diaconate
as we know it derives directly from “the seven”. St. John Chrysostom, for exam-
ple, has doubts about this (cf. “Hom. on Acts”, 14). However, it is at least pos-
sible that the ministry described here played a part in the instituting of the dia-
conate proper.
In any event, the diaconate is a form of sacred office of apostolic origin. At ordi-
nation deacons take on an obligation to perform—under the direction of the dio-
cesan bishop—certain duties to do with evangelization, catechesis, organization
of liturgical ceremonies, Christian initiation of catechumens and neophytes, and
Church charitable and social welfare work.
The Second Vatican Council teaches that “at a lower level of the hierarchy are
to be found deacons, who receive the imposition of hands `not unto the priest-
hood, but unto the ministry’. For, strengthened by sacramental grace they are
dedicated to the people of God, in conjunction with the bishop and his body of
priests, in the service of the liturgy, of the Gospel and of works of charity. It
pertains to the office of a deacon, in so far as it may be assigned to him by
the competent authority, to administer Baptism solemnly, to be custodian and
distributor of the Eucharist, in the name of the Church to assist at and to bless
marriages, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read Sacred Scripture to the faith-
ful, to instruct and exhort the people, to preside over the worship and the prayer
of the faithful, to administer sacramentals, and to officiate at funeral and burial
services” (”Lumen Gentium”, 29).
2-4. The Twelve establish a principle which they consider basic: their apostolic
ministry is so absorbing that they have no time to do other things. In this parti-
cular case an honorable and useful function — distribution of food — cannot be
allowed to get in the way of another even more important task essential to the
life of the Church and of each of its members. “They speak of it ‘not being right’
in order to show that the two duties cannot in this case be made compatible”
(Chrysostom, “Hom. on Acts”, 14).
The main responsibility of the pastors of the Church is the preaching of the Word
of God, the administration of the Sacraments and the government of the people
of God. Any other commitment they take on should be compatible with their pas-
toral work and supportive of it, in keeping with the example given by Christ: He
cured people’s physical ailments in order to reach their souls, and He preached
justice and peace as signs of the Kingdom of God.
“A mark of our identity which no doubt ought to encroach upon and no objection
eclipse is this: as pastors, we have been chosen by the mercy of the Supreme
Pastor (cf. 1 Peter 5:4), in spite of our inadequacy, to proclaim with authority the
Word of God, to assemble the scattered people of God, to nourish this people on
the road to salvation, to maintain it in that unity of which we are, at different levels,
active and living instruments, and increasingly to keep this community gathered
around Christ faithful to its deepest vocation” (Paul VI, “Evangelii Nuntiandi”, 68).
A priest should be avid for the Word of God, B John Paul II emphasizes; he
should embrace it in its entirety, meditate on it, study it assiduously and spread
it through his example and preaching (cf. e.g., “Addresses” in Ireland and the
United States, 1 October and 3 October 1979 respectively). His whole life should
be a generous proclamation of Christ. Therefore, he should avoid the temptation
to “temporal leadership: that can easily be a source of division whereas he
should be a sign and promoter of unity and fraternity” (”To the Priests of Mexico”,
27 January 1979).
This passage allows us to see the difference between election and appointment
to a ministry in the Church. A person can be elected or designated by the faith-
ful; but power to carry out that ministry (which implies a calling from God) is
something he must receive through ordination, which the Apostles confer. “The
Apostles leave it to the body of the disciples to select the [seven], in order that
it should not seem that they favor some in preference to others” (Chrysostom,
“Hom. on Acts”, 14). However, those designated for ordination are not represen-
tatives or delegates of the Christian community; they are ministers of God. They
have received a calling and, by the imposition of hands, God — not men — gives
them a spiritual power which equips them to govern the Christian community,
make and administer the Sacraments and preach the Word.
Christian pastoral office, that is, the priesthood of the New Testament in its va-
rious degrees, does not derive from family relationship, as was the case of the
Levitical priesthood in the Old Testament; nor is it a type of commissioning by
the community. The initiative lies with the grace of God, who calls whom He
chooses.
5. All the people chosen have Greek names. One of them is a “proselyte”, that
is, a pagan who became a Jew through circumcision and observance of the Law
of Moses.
6. The Apostles establish the seven in their office or ministry through prayer and
the laying on of hands. This latter gesture is found sometimes in the Old Testa-
ment, principally as a rite of ordination of Levites (cf. Numbers 8:10) and as a
way of conferring power and wisdom on Joshua, Moses’ successor as leader of
Israel (Numbers 27:20; Deuteronomy 13:9).
Christians have retained this rite, as can be seen quite often in Acts. Sometimes
it symbolizes curing (9:12, 17; 28:8), in line with the example given by our Lord
in Luke 4:40. It is also a rite of blessing, as when Paul and Barnabas are sent
out on their first apostolic journey (13:3); and it is used as a post-baptismal rite
for bringing down the Holy Spirit (8:17; 19:5).
In this case it is a rite for the ordination of ministers of the Church—the first ins-
tance of sacred ordination reported by Acts (cf. 1 Timothy 4:14; 5:22; 2 Timothy
5:22). “St. Luke is brief. He does not say how they were ordained, but simply
that it was done with prayer, because it was an ordination. The hand of a man
is laid [upon a person], but the whole work is of God and it is His hand which
touches the head of the one ordained” (Chrysostom, “Hom. on Acts”, 14).
The essential part of the rite of ordination of deacons is the laying on of hands;
this is done in silence, on the candidate’s head, and then a prayer is said to
God asking Him to send the Holy Spirit to the person being ordained.
7. As in earlier chapters, St. Luke here refers to the spread of the Church—this
time reporting the conversion of “a great many of the priests”. Many scholars
think that these would have come from the lower ranks of the priesthood (like
Zechariah: cf. Luke 1:5) and not from the greatly priestly families, which were
Sadducees and enemies of the new-born church (cf. 4:1; 5:17). Some have
suggested that these priests may have included members of the Qumran sect.
However, the only evidence we have to go on is what St. Luke says here.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.