Diaconal Leadership in Real-Life Retreat
A great strength of the Seminary is its decade-old program for the formation of permanent deacons. Enrollment has grown not only in numbers but in diversity and quality. A strong faculty and the richness of professional and culture backgrounds makes the Center a true microcosm of the People of God.
In October 2022, the Center for Diaconal Formation offered a retreat for diaconal leaders, focusing on how to help deacons in “real life,” and to improve effectiveness in the training of permanent deacons in the Catholic Church in the United States.
Deacon Jim Keating, nationally renowned deacon and author of 28 books, enthusiastically remarked:
“As this retreat deepens and develops over time may it bring all deacons into a true simplicity of life, one conscious that life is a gift and that the gift of one’s life is to be shared as ministry.”
Integrated into day, Deacon Keating also delivered a special presentation titled, "Aflame with the Eucharist: "We Cannot But Speak…" about how the Eucharist –the Sacrament of Love – ignites evangelization within the nooks and crannies of secular culture.
As a follow-up to the "Real-Life Retreat”, a Diaconal Leaders Forum was formed comprised of the priests and deacons who are in charge of diaconal formation in the (Arch)dioceses of Newark, Paterson, Metuchen and Trenton. This gathering of leaders has brought about a new excitement and sense of collaborative teamwork across the dioceses, as witnessed to by the active engagement and enthusiastic discussion of the leaders themselves.