"the Church" and "the mission"

The Pope is calling upon "the Church" to have a "change of mentality" about its identity. Two days ago at a conference in Rome he said, "There is still a tendency to unilaterally identify the Church with the hierarchy, forgetting the common responsibility, the common mission" of all the baptized. He continued, "In Christ, we become really the People of God," which, he affirmed, means everyone, "from the Pope to the last child." More on this at ZENIT. A brief video reporting on the conference can be seen below:

Unfortunately its seems that the "clergy" - "laity" divide that reached a height in previous generations (known as clericalism) - still maintains a hold on mentality of much of the Church (both clergy and laity alike).

Post Vatican II there was a shift upon emphasizing the laity - but the Church was a bit confused about how to do this and what to do - and there was a movement to highlight "laity" in pastoral ministry (lay participation in the apostolate of the hierarchy) - which tended to liberalize certain essential truths about the ministerial priesthood - rather than emphasize the "apostolate of the laity" - which is the laity's commitment to evangelization.

Two important articles on this:

• What Should the Laity be Doing?
  This article, excerpted from Russell Shaw's book Catholic Laity in the Mission of the Church, discusses various ineffective attempts in incorporating the laity into the Church's mission and offers valuable insight into how laity can revitalize the Church in the future.


• What is the lay apostolate?
  This brief article explains what the lay apostolate is and why it is essential to the new evangelization. Following the article are several useful links on the apostolate.

What has your experience been? What do you like about what the Pope is saying? What challenges you?

No ordinary people, no mere mortals!

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities… that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations — these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” - C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

My dear friend Bert Ghezzi quoted this section of C.S. Lewis’ sermon in one of his books and it has had a profound and lasting impact on with me. In fact I carry a copy of it in my wallet and another inside the cover of my prayer journal. I do that to remind myself daily of the reality of what happens in my interactions with others and especially to re-read at times when I am tempted to be less than loving with others. I am called to relate in the love of Christ towards all I encounter. To relate to others as if Jesus were living my life and relating to them through me.

This can mean exercising patience at times, say with a grumpy customer service representative. Or being a truth teller with a friend who is veering into sin in her sharing about a mutual friend. In all our interactions with others it calls us to bear in mind the truth that I cannot be neutral in attitude towards anyone. No “ordinary” people. No mere mortals. Everyone is on the way to heaven or hell – no exceptions. Everything that I say or do can help or hinder them.
That is a real reason for seeing all that we do as evangelizing others to the love of God.

“Father, open our eyes to see people as you do and as they really are, created for eternity. Through Christ our Lord we pray, Amen! “

Redemptorist Superior General speaks on laity

Our friend, Fr. Rast'o, a Redemptorist from Slovakia, sent us this video. It is a Q&A that Slovakian lay Catholics and Redemptorists had with the Superior General of the Redemptorist Order - Fr. Joseph Tobina. He makes some excellent points on the role of the laity in evangelization and encourages his religious order to collaborate with laity in the mission of the Church.



What did you like about what Fr. Joseph said?

I personally was impressed by his warmth of personality and clear statements about concentrating on Jesus Christ. Without which the mission of the Church comes down to planning and strategies only - and isn't fired by the love of Jesus for those that are lost and far from Him.

Missionary Parishes

This is a great article from ZENIT that came out last Wednesday.

Vatican Aide: Evangelization Not a Choice, But a Mandate

By Gisèle Plantec

ROME, JAN. 30, 2008.- If a parish does not evangelize, it is nothing more than a building, said a Vatican official, who offered four practical steps for transforming a parish into a missionary center.

Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, affirmed this today at a conference under way in Rome on "The Parish and the New Evangelization."

The congress is organized by the Emmanuel Community and the Pontifical Institute Redemptor Hominis. It ends Friday.

"Why should a parish be missionary," Archbishop Ranjith asked.

He explained that God's call of love mandates a missionary character for Christians: "Jesus loved his brothers and sisters to the extent that he was dedicated totally to their salvation -- this is the basis of evangelization."

The archbishop, who led the Diocese of Ratnapura, Sri Lanka, before being named to the Roman Curia, called evangelization a "sign of the maturity of our faith."

"The Church exists only if it evangelizes, and the same is true for the parish. If a parish does not evangelize, it is only a building," he said. “Evangelization is not a matter of free choice. It is an obligation of our faith, the perfect expression of our charity."

Eucharist-centered

Archbishop Ranjith highlighted the importance of the Eucharist for a parish focused on the mission.

He offered the example of an Irish parish that organized "Eucharistic adoration in all the parishes. As a result, there are more vocations now. The Eucharist attracts -- the Lord attracts people."

"The Eucharist is at the center of evangelization," the archbishop affirmed. "The Eucharist must generate faith. In some parishes it is celebrated in such a manner that it does not generate faith."

The 60-year-old prelate also focused on the role of parish priests. He said that priests should understand their role by saying, "'I am useless by myself but useful in his hands.'"

Archibishop Ranjith also contended that parishes should not focus on their community alone, but "make a determined effort to reach the lost ones."

Hints

He offered some "practical steps" for giving parishes a missionary character.

"The parish community must move away from a maintenance model to a missionary model -- if the only thing we do is repair the buildings, this will kill us spiritually," the archbishop said.

Secondly, he continued, parishes need "to move away from a spirit of pessimism to a spirit of optimism." And he noted the danger of becoming the Gospel's example of a "lazy servant."

The third practical step dealt with the role of laypeople. Archbishop Ranjith encouraged priests who still think the “mission is the sole responsibility of clerics," and that "priests should decide everything by themselves" to "share with the laity."

“Each layperson is a potential missionary," he affirmed.

The fourth step was related to the third. The archbishop encouraged involving as many people as possible: "associations, groups, men, women, youth and even children -- and be courageous to go into uncharted areas, look for new methods and means."

Why not me?

Archbishop Ranjith answered questions from the conference participants after his address.

A priest from the Netherlands, who presented his country as “the most secularized country in the world," asked for encouragement "because we are so marginalized -- we try to find any kind of means, like the media, to show our presence."

Archbishop Ranjith answered, "It is good to use all the means available and to think that sometimes 'dreams can become reality'" but "the most important thing is to feel strong and trust in God … and to pray."

He gave the example of his diocese in Sri Lanka, which has a large non-Christian population. Catholic laypeople go and visit the Muslim or Hindu families, he explained, and "they have tea together and discuss about religion."

"The sad thing would be to give up," the archbishop affirmed. "Be strong, be courageous, you will succeed."

A priest from Belgium asked if closing parishes reflected a lack of faith. Archbishop Ranjith offered the example of a spiritual partnership between a Sri Lankan diocese and a German one. When a German priest died, Sri Lanka offered: "I will send you the best priest I have."

The German diocese considered the proposal but eventually decided to close the parish. This "'we are managing on our own’ means closing churches," Archbishop Ranjith lamented.

Following his address, the archbishop told ZENIT that parish priests' zeal and spirit of love are key. He offered the example of St. John Vianney, patron of priests, as an example. He also suggested Blessed Teresa of Calcutta and St. Francisco Xavier as models. If St. Francis could go to the other side of the world and proclaim Christ without even knowing the language, "if it was possible for him," he said, "why can't it be possible for me?"

Checkout Sharing Christ for a practical resource on how to share your faith with others and Church teaching on the new evangelization.