Can A Deacon Confirm? No. Well...Except...

The Bishop,picked up the Deacon, put him in front while the rest of the team, two nuns and a seminarian/secretary, piled in the back. A half hour, up winding roads with beautiful scenery, on to the parish seat of Maltrata,where children, parents and godparents waited for the Bishop, and the confirmation they had been assiduously preparing for.

The bishop took one look at the 300 children waiting (In this case, I'm not exaggerating), turned to the priest and said, "Well, in this case, I'll have to commission the two deacons to help confirm, and you, too, of course, Padre." A transitory deacon has been working there while awaiting ordination. So during the sermon, our Permanent Deacon sidled over to the book of Ritual and double checked how it was done.

The children were lined up in long rows, from the altar to the fence at the end of the church garden. The godparents were standing behind the children, candles ready to light from the great Christ Candle. The bishop sent PD (Perm. Deacon) to the very back, to start working forward. And told the TD to start at the front, halfway back and work toward the back. Traffic Control. The bish and the pastor did the front of the church.

So the answer is: SOMETIMES! If the Captain of the ship gives a direct order, that is law. The deacon was delighted, and positively giddy by the time he got home at 10 am, large basket of fruit in hand, and a stipend of $300 pesos. ($30 US)We fell asleep giggling over the wonderful ways of the Lord.

Today, at 8:00 am, more confirmations at the cathedral. These were students from the private schools in town, prepared for the Sacrament at the schools. A very different atmosphere. Everyone arrived in cars, not on foot. Parking lot full of cars, church half empty, filling gradually during mass. Many didn't kneel during Consecration (unheard of here)nor make any attempt to give the responses or even look interested.
And the kids didn't know the responses to the questions nearly as well.

And the Blessed Holy Spirit works in and through it all. HAPPY PENTECOST ALL YOU FRIENDS AND FAMILY OUT THERE. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit...