The Deacon. Thomas Fargnoli

course, that takes more than pushing a power button. If fact, it may take years to build that connection. It’s like building a garden—it takes time and effort to build it and to transform it into a healthy, fertile state, keeping the soil rich with nutrients. And you have to water it and pull the weeds when necessary. Gardens not maintained become dry and full of weeds, and if let go for an extended period, they become unrecognizable as a garden.”

      Rick seemed to be following my explanation, so I continued, “Jesus describes ‘states’ best in his parable of the sower who went out to sow. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once but, because the soil was not deep, the sun scorched it, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. Jesus is indeed the sower and when he whispers to us, he is sowing seeds. If we have no relationship with him, or have not maintained a relationship with him, then we are in a ‘rocky-ground’ state. But, Jesus, who never gives up on us, continues to whisper again and again. We always have the ability to build our relationship with him and to evolve ourselves into a ‘rich-soil’ state.

      “But, we are all human. Even though we have built a good relationship with God, sometimes the world forces us back into a ‘rocky-ground’ state. It could be that we are preoccupied with our job, our children’s activities, etc., etc. We may just not be receptive to any whispers from God on a particular day or at a particular time, but they will come if we stay receptive.”

      Rick looked at me. “You have a very unique way of describing things. You would have made a terrific teacher.”

      “I love teaching. I taught computer science at the community college for eleven years and spent much of my time in engineering teaching. I’ve always been driven to simplify things, perhaps because I view myself as simple. It seems to me that everyone makes things more complicated than they need to be. I wrote a book about this, entitled, A Bridge to Simplicity through Diagrams. In it, I used diagrams to facilitate understanding, such as understanding cholesterol levels, a work or school assignment, or just a desire to get your point across more effectively. I traveled for my company teaching these visual concepts of systems analysis and design across the country. I thoroughly enjoyed that.”

      “So, your diagrams help simplify information to facilitate understanding?”

      “That’s the idea. The quote I like to use is, ‘Simplicity renders the obscure understandable.’”

      Rick surprised me with a challenge, “Can you show me an example? I would love to see a diagram that depicts your journey to get closer to God.”

      Grabbing some blank paper, I drew a quick diagram, “This is rather simplistic, but here is a diagram that depicts a journey toward God. As we move closer to God, learning more about him through prayer, meditation, reading, attending church service, contemplation, with each step we take, he reveals a little more to us.”

      Rick looked at my rather quickly drawn diagram, “Very good! Did you get a chance to apply your simplification and visual techniques when you were a deacon?”

      Smiling and remembering how much I loved creating homilies, I told Rick, “Absolutely, I always tried to make my homilies understandable by both young and old. Holy Scripture is certainly profound and involved, but it isn’t complex. In fact, it was inspired by God and he intended it to be understood and applied across generations. There is so much beauty and simplicity in the Bible, especially in the teachings of Jesus. But, for most people, the Bible isn’t a book you just pick up and find answers. It can be, but you must have a hunger for God’s words—a hunger to achieve peace—a peace that you get only from Christ.”

      “How about magic? Did you get a chance to use your magic tricks as a deacon?“

      “On occasion, yes, especially when I was involved in helping with religious education. Both children and adults love magic and it helps to convey the particular theme I was focusing on. For example, when talking about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or Confession, I would cut a length of rope into two pieces, explaining how sin affects our relationship with God and with others. After explaining how God hates sin but will never stop loving us, I talk about the power of forgiveness and how it can mend our relationship with others. As I explain that, I tie the two lengths together and they look at me with the expression, ‘So, big deal, you tied the ropes together and now there is a knot holding them together.’ Then I talk about the power of the Sacrament and how it can heal our relationship with God. As I explain this, I slide the knot off the rope and throw it out to the audience, showing the now restored rope which reflects our restored relationship.”

      Rick smiled. “I want you to show me that trick eventually and, in fact, I would like to learn how to do it. But, for now, I have one outstanding question about being ‘called.’ What if we hear God’s call but choose not to heed his call?”

      I smiled in return. “That’s fine—we are not meant to respond blindly at once. Unlike all the other creatures in the world, we are the only ones that can weigh the pros and cons of a situation and make a decision. As I said, I received a few calls to consider the diaconate but, at the time, I choose against going down that path. But God is a master seed planter, and our answering the call may have to wait a while. Whether we wait or act immediately, we have to trust and totally surrender to God. Surrendering to him is not about giving in immediately, becoming a puppet, being naïve, irresponsible, or stopping all planning and thinking. Surrendering is about trusting him and working to keep that channel open.”

      After a rather long pause, Rick continued, “So, let me just summarize some of the points I got out of what you said:

       As far as describing the concept of a call, you did a great job with that, thank you.

       You believe that we are all called in various ways and at various times, but we need to build and maintain a relationship with God to be receptive to his calls.

       You feel that once that channel is open, we will not only hear his calls but communicate and trust when to heed his calls.

       You evaluated your first two calls to the diaconate and you and your wife decided that raising a family was the best path to travel during those times. But eventually, as you maintained a relationship with God, that call continued, and you reached a point where you were ready to pursue it.

      Is that all accurate?”

      Nodding, “Yes, I think that captures the essence of my explanation. I know my explanation of a call was rather involved, but this concept runs deep with me and I want your readers to know that God speaks to all of us and wants to have a relationship with all of us. Knowing that will do them more good than reading that a particular deacon felt that he was called.”

      Rick continued, “So this brings us to your third call to the diaconate. I would like to know how you developed your garden, so to speak, how you established and maintained a relationship with Christ, and how you achieved a rich-soil state, as you termed it, where you were able to discern and heed that third call.”

      I poured us both some more coffee, took a deep breath, and then addressed his question, “Well, everyone has a different story as to how they established a relationship with Christ or, as my Protestant friends would say, found Christ. My relationship with Christ was a product of three main influences in my life. It started in my childhood, it grew in college through a hunger for spiritual insight, initiated by the books I mentioned, and then found a home through a special priest in my early twenties.”

      “The books you mentioned earlier, you mean The World’s Great Thinkers?”

      “Yes, they actually triggered many other books while in college, but yes, they started me off. Before that, however, as a child, we had this huge Bible in the living room. I never read it, but always looked at the pictures—pictures of all the main events that fascinated me, such as Samson and Delilah, Daniel and the Lions, David and Goliath, and above all, Christ’s Passion