Deacon Frank Zacka, 9 April 2026
A young man and his fiancé began attending Deacon Frank’s parish. They approached him about marriage and asked to undertake a marriage preparation program with him. Even though it was summer, the man would always wear long-sleeved shirts, which Frank thought was unusual. But one hot day, the man forgot and pushed up his sleeves, revealing tattoos of large knives covering his arms. Frank reacted, but not in the way the man expected: “I love your tats!” he exclaimed. This put the man at ease, and he began to share how he had done stupid things when he was young and had mixed with the wrong crowd. His fiancé “was delightful, a lovely, gentle soul”. As he got to know the couple, he began to understand the transformation that was taking place through love. “He looked like a big scruffy man, but underneath he was a gentle giant or rough diamond with a soft heart. He was a beautiful person embracing the faith and began to see his marriage as a new beginning both materially and spiritually.” Frank married them and they became good friends. They had some real challenges, including miscarriages, and a stillborn child named Grace whose funeral Frank celebrated. That was “very hard, and heartbreaking” as it was very personal. Since then, he has continued to connect with them through another child’s birth, sickness and recovery.
This story stood out over Frank’s 25 years as a Deacon of the Archdiocese of Sydney. Yet it was one of many tales he could tell. Over 25 years in particular, his “main ministry was centred around weddings” and he has officiated at over 300 ceremonies, in 33 different churches, including St Mary’s Cathedral. He feels that people warm to a deacon; a number expressed their view that he seemed to be an “ordinary guy, married and one of us.” They felt comfortable in what could have been a confronting situation. Frank had couples referring him to siblings and friends for weddings, as well as guests attending the wedding requesting his services. It became a slogan: “Have Deacon, will travel.”
In a marriage, Frank talked to those gathered about “love, sacrificial love.” In such a relationship, after God, the spouse is to put the other first. He encouraged them to say prayers thanking God for the gift of faith and the gift of each other. Upon waking each day, he would say: “Ask God to bless your spouse, seek His guidance to live your life bringing joy and happiness into their life.” He reminds them that in marriage they are continuing God’s work of creation, bringing new life into the world, which “is something very sacred, special and unique to their relationship.” At the end of the day, they can stand before God and say that they have spent their life loving their spouse and children serving those to whom they have been sent. In this way, Frank hopes to convey that “God works through all of us… You are saints, you are the Church. God is calling us all to spread the good news according to our circumstances and station in life. Therefore, don’t worry about what someone else is called to do. Do your best and persevere to the end and you will obtain your heavenly reward.”
The whole process started for Frank in 1984, when he was installed as an acolyte by Bishop David Cremin. For 16 years he had served not just in church, but visiting nursing homes and leading communion services. In 1990, in Confession, he told the priest, “I feel like there is something more I’m being called to do.” The priest learned that he was married and an acolyte already and sent him away. Frank heard about deacons in the Parramatta Diocese and persisted.
With some trepidation, he returned to the priest again. At that time, Archbishop Edward Clancy had a pilot program, experimenting with deacons as a permanent vocation. However, it was not easy or quick. Frank only got an offer to join the program over a year after he applied. Looking back, he sees it as a chance to test and mature God’s call. Frank had 5-6 years of formation, which was a serious business including a theology degree initially at St Patrick’s Manly, with formation including weekend gatherings and Masses. He quit his job for some time to study full-time, but had to return, after a while, to the business of importing garden equipment. Finally, Frank was ordained on the 15th of July, 2000.
Since then, he has been appointed to two parishes – the first being 17 years at Regina Coeli Parish Beverly Hills, where he had served as an acolyte, and the last 9 years St Bernadette’s Parish Carlton. Frank has performed many baptisms, funerals and weddings. He has helped with preaching, led prayer groups, RCIA, sacramental groups, and many other things. In all of this, he reflects on the specific role of the deacon. At the beginning, he felt a sense of achievement and status, but he has discovered that it is more about feeling a sense of blessing, privilege and gratitude at the task of service, ministering to the people and the priest. It is not “about honour and glory”, but humility.
In the Mass, Frank explains that he is actually ministering to “our divine Lord – and what a wonderful privilege it is!” He works alongside the priest and refers people to them, for example with Confessions. When preaching on the sanctuary, Frank looks to the people and sometimes asks, “Lord, what am I up here for? I should be down there!” But he seeks to raise them up, saying that “there would be no Church if we didn’t have people of God with your faith.” He finds them “wonderful”, loves to serve them and cheekily proclaims to latecomers, “The most important people have arrived, we have been waiting for you!”
Frank was called on to speak to the Sydney seminarians at a celebration of 25 years of the seminary. He reminded them of St Paul’s words from Romans 14:7, “The life and death of each of us has its influence on others.” He went on, “We often don’t realise what the consequences of our actions will be, how we have helped others. But have faith – in time it will all be revealed.” Frank believes that we are all called to “plant seeds: seeds of God’s love. It is by the way we mirror God’s love to others, the way we share God’s love with others in need that our God becomes a reality for those we meet.” Thank you for your ministry, Frank. In living out your call with humility and joy, the spirit of ‘Have Deacon, Will Travel’ comes alive, as you share the loving presence of God wherever you are sent.
Liturgy on the Margins 