A Deacon's Retreat Book

The only sector of clerical and religious growth in the Catholic (Latin) Church is that of the deacon. To these men--and to those in formation--Professor James Keating (a deacon himself) addresses this "self-directed" retreat. Though deacons are many in number, their responsibilities--to their bishop, pastor, diocese, parish, parishioners, families, and the sundry other souls whom they guide--are often overwhelming. A Deacon's Retreat is not a mere stop-gap for a full-fledged 30-day Ignatian retreat into the wilderness, but a marvel of how a compressed "taking-time-for-one's-own-soul" can revivify and reanimate the body and soul of the deacon. Its structure based on the deacon's faculties and functions at Holy Mass, the book guides the deacon to prepare for Christ's effectiveness in his life to becoming an icon of peace to those he preaches to. The book concludes with an appendix of prayers for the deacon.