Well, the responses to these articles on the diaconate in America have started to trickle in, and my personal favorite just might be this one, from Ron Hansen:

The adjective “busy” seems to be increasingly attached to “deacon” because while the priest’s role is clearly demarcated in a parish, the deacon’s role is more fluid, an open basket to drop obligations into, and the majority of us have full-time jobs and family concerns as well. The Vicar for Clergy in my diocese wisely instructed me to resist any task that interfered with my job or my marriage, and so far I haven’t really noticed any pinching in those areas. I have noted only a loss of time in front of the television, which is not a loss I mourn. In the meantime, there are so many gains. After presiding at my first wedding, I reported to my spiritual director the surprising ebullience I felt, and he said, “Yes; nobody ever tells you that celebrating the sacraments can be fun.”

We are not overworked; we are overjoyed.

If you can, pop over America to read the rest. Feel free to comment, too!

UPDATE: The editors tell me that my essay is no longer blocked by the firewall that closed it off from non-subscribers. You can read it for yourself at this link.