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LAITY AND CHURCH

Bishop: Come to Convening to further lay ministry

There has been an explosion of lay ministries since the renewed vision of the Church and ministry generated by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. This phenomenon was brought home to me very meaningfully several years ago at a liturgy in our Diocese commending the 150th anniversary of St. Mary's parish in Glens Falls. 

In the entrance procession, there were banners representing the various ministries exercised in the parish. I counted 31 banners representing the array of liturgical, catechetical and service ministries in which parishioners are engaged. 

If that same motif had been followed at the parish's 100th anniversary, there probably would have been five banners representing the Altar Rosary Society, the Holy Names Society, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Parent-Teacher Association and the ushers.

Yes, the past four decades have witnessed the flowering of lay ministries. 

Host of roles
In the liturgical life of the Church, laypersons proclaim the Scripture lessons and act as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, which in many places includes taking communion to the sick. 

All of the liturgical rites have been revised to provide for more active participation by the worshiping community, while implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults virtually requires that laypersons fill many roles to make it work. Also, there is now the provision for a layperson to preside at the celebration of the Sunday Liturgy in the Absence of a Priest.

The most dynamic spiritual renewal movements in the last four decades have been led and often initiated by laypersons: for example, Cursillo, the Charismatic Renewal, Marriage Encounter, Life Teen, Focolare, the San Egidio Community, Opus Dei, Communion and Liberation, ministry to divorced, separated and widowed Catholics, and other similar groups. 

Along with their traditional involvement in the faith formation of children, adolescents and young adults, laypersons are now being challenged to expand their activity as evangelists.

In many parishes, dioceses and Church agencies, laypersons have the opportunity to contribute to policy and decision-making through structures like parish/pastoral councils, liturgy committees, finance boards, boards of education, boards of directors, state Catholic Conferences and ecumenical or interfaith committees.

Laypersons are employed in full-time positions on parish and diocesan staffs, especially in the areas of education, human services and pastoral care to specialized groups like the elderly and disabled, as well as in the areas of social action, liturgical music and finance. 

Educated laity
In light of this, a growing number of laypersons have pursued graduate degrees in theology and ministry as preparation for full-time ministerial careers. Indeed, we have the newly-defined category of lay ecclesial ministry to reflect this reality of full-time lay professionals serving in the Church.

Finally, there are innumerable laypersons who now interpret their daily lives and responsibilities in family, business, civic community, neighborhood, school, interest groups and culture as occasions for ministry, for Christian witness and for extending their beliefs into the world.

As we look to the future of the Church in our Diocese, it is critically important to build and expand upon these opportunities and approaches to ministry which Vatican II opened for us. 

This is especially important as we seek to implement the seismic changes which have emerged from our "Called to be Church" pastoral planning process. This venture will have fulfilled its purpose only to the extent that it brings about a further commitment by all members of our Diocese to mission and ministry.

That is why the theme chosen for our annual parish convening is "Ministering with the Heart of Christ." To be held Nov. 7 at Christian Brothers Academy in Colonie and sponsored by our Diocesan Pastoral Council, the day will feature a keynote presentation by Rev. Gerald Fagin, SJ, who is a professor of theology, spirituality and ministry at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Father Fagin has an engaging, visionary and pastoral approach to contemporary ministry which needs to be heard by all who minister in the Church: priests, deacons, parish life directors, pastoral associates, and lay ministers, both salaried and volunteer.

The keynote presentation, held on the context of prayer, will be followed by the opportunity to select (from among more than 20 offerings) two 90-minute workshops which will provide practical insights for those engaged in marriage and family ministry, Catholic school education, youth and young adult ministry, distance learning, faith formation, pastoral care, evangelization, parish council development, social justice advocacy, prayer and worship, volunteer coordination and more. 

If someone doesn't know how his or her gifts and talents can be utilized best, or just wants to be renewed and refreshed spiritually, this will be the place for you.

Last month, The Evangelist presented a complete listing of workshops and their presenters, plus a registration form. I urge all who are ministering in the Church or who desire to do so to attend and participate in this carefully planned Convening. 

(For further information, call David Amico at 453-6670.)

Painful time
I realize that some in our Diocese may feel overwhelmed by the emotionally-laden Called to be Church process, by the closure of Catholic schools, by the lingering scandal of clergy sexual abuse, by the drop in Mass attendance and by the glaring absence of youth and young adults in the life of the Church. 

However, in the face of feeling overwhelmed or that we are failing, we must remember, as Dominican theologian Rev. Timothy Radcliffe notes: "The archetypical Christian community was the Last Supper. Think what a dismal failure that community was. One of the disciples sold Jesus; another went on to deny Him, and the rest ran away. Jesus failed to gather them into a community on that last night (after three years of intensive formation), so we should not be surprised that we do better than He did. 

"What Jesus did was to offer the sacrament of communion; a sign of the kingdom that is to come as a gift in its own good time. If the Church is not the great and dynamic community we want it to be, then, this may not be a sign of pastoral failure at all. Sometimes we can do no more than enact signs of what is to come."

Yes, as Father Radcliffe suggests, the Last Supper is our foundational story, the story of God's covenant with us and with all. The paradox of this story is that our community was founded just at the moment it was in the process of breaking up - and that has been true down through the course of Christian history.

However, just as at the Last Supper the moment of betrayal and shame became a moment of gift and grace, our present challenges can be ones of rejuvenation and joy. 

They can lead us to become a Church where it is clear that Jesus came to call sinners, not the righteous; they can help us be a community which finds a place at the table for those who have been excluded by virtue of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and marital or immigration status. 

They can bring to birth a Church that is less closed and secretive, and enable us to be a more transparent Church in which the laity are recognized and empowered to exercise their full dignity as baptized Christians. They could mark the end of a Church functioning as kind of a distant bureaucracy and lead us to become more evidently a community of disciples. 

This is the type of renewal we need. Hopefully, this year's convening focused on "Ministering with the Heart of Christ" will be a positive and helpful step in that direction.

(10/01/09) [[In-content Ad]]

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