Bishop’s Letter – Lent 2011

Diocesan Assembly 2010

Sharing the Face of Christ in the 21^st Century

Most Rev. Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I.

September 24, 2010

I have been pondering over the nature of us gathered here as a group; the composition of this group; the function of this group; the membership, cross section, team. I see myself as a playing coach on a winning team.

Tuesday was the Feast of St. Matthew and we reflected on the call of an apostle. As a group and as individuals we have been called as disciples of Jesus, as apostles of Jesus. We have been called as members of Jesus’ Body. We gather as laity and ordained and together we form one team. And what has been entrusted to us as a team, as a group, is the mission and ministry of Jesus. In this physical territory of the world we are the ones called and sent to carry on the work of Jesus. We are the ones who, together, are to show the face of Christ at this time and in this place.

What I would like to do now is have us reflect together, for the next few minutes, on how we form a team, a closely knit, interrelated and interdependent team.

Something which is very basic is found when we come to know ourselves in relationships. I am a son, a brother, an uncle (a great, great uncle!), a friend, a priest, a colleague and, of course, a child of God. In and through all these relationships I am always coming to understand myself more fully as a person. Each of you has a similar set of relationships that shape your personal identity.

Together we are all priestly people. In virtue of our baptism and confirmation we share in Jesus as priest, prophet and king. As such we have ecclesial relationships to one another. Some of us are ordained in addition to our baptismal priesthood, but we are all very intimately related in the Church. The Church in her official teaching is both clear and strong in affirming the ecclesial relationship that we have with one another. In the Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests we read:

“Priests, by their vocation and ordination, are set apart in some way within the people of God; this not in order that they should be separated from that people or any person, but that they should be completely consecrated to the task for which God chooses them” (#3).

The task for which God chooses them: teaching, sanctifying and shepherding (governing). In the decree the Church devotes several paragraphs to the priest’s relationships with others and how these relationships are essential for properly understanding who a priest is and what he does. No one is a priest only for himself or by himself; he exists and is continually formed in relationships.

The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church speaks of the two priesthoods: laity and ordained. In this official teaching, the first point that is made emphasizes the relationship of the two priesthoods, before pointing out their differences. “The common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood, although they differ in essence, are nonetheless ordained to each other” (#10). The Latin text uses the verb ordinantur to describe the relationship (rather than interrelated). Note that the connotation of the two being ordered to each other is stronger in that it indicates they are “meant” for each other. What is indicated here and what the Council intended to highlight is the significance and indeed the necessity of a truly ecclesial relationship between priests and laity. From this we understand that the Church teaches there is a fundamental, ordered relationship between the priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood. These two are in fact expressions of the one priesthood of Jesus Christ.

Now we will try to describe the ways in which the two priesthoods work together.

Carrying on Christ’s priestly work:

The Church sees the connection in carrying out the three works of Christ, the Priest: teaching, sanctifying and governing. Lay people do this as an unfolding of baptismal grace, the ordained function by reason of the power conferred on them in the sacrament of orders (CCC 1544-48). The Church’s documents on priestly ministry and the lay vocation use the three-fold priestly mission of Jesus to describe how the two vocations are lived and become a path to holiness for oneself and for others. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (901-913) uses examples from lay life such as parenting, standing up for justice in society and exercising lay ministries within the Church. These kinds of service and witness in lay people are not simply random good acts but are a sharing in the one priestly work of Christ; a sharing that is complemented and strengthened by the exercise of the same office of Christ by the ordained.

The Sacraments of marriage and orders:

Both of these sacraments are at the service of communion. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1534-35) makes several points as to how these sacraments are similar. They are both primarily directed to the salvation of others; they confer a particular mission in the Church; they serve to build up the people of God; and their reception brings with it a special consecration in order to carry out the responsibilities of each vocation. While these responsibilities are basically the same, the ways in which they are lived out may differ. A husband and wife in building communion within the Body of Christ start within their own family and community; the ordained do so on a wider level. It becomes quite clear how the graces of these sacraments at the service of communion flow through ordained and laity for the salvation of many and the building up of the people of God.

Family as domestic church:

In such a family, parents and members exercise the priesthood of baptism in a privileged way. This happens through praying, celebrating the sacraments, witness of a holy life, acts of charity. All of this happens because the family is a unique school of formation in Christian life and love in which one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous and repeated forgiveness (CCC 1657). The family does not have to mimic the behavior or structures of a parish; nor is the parish to be remade according to the intimate model of a family or household. Each functions as it is; the Holy Spirit is at work in both.

The family carries on the mission of educating children, affirming life, sacrificing for others, celebrating family moments, serving the needs of others and being a school of growth in Christian virtue. When stepping into the family one is stepping into holy ground; but it is also a ground that needs the nourishment of God’s word and sacraments. We have here a moment of encounter between two expressions of the one priesthood of Jesus Christ: the Church of the home and the Church of the larger community meet in a single mission.

The presence of different gifts and parts within one and the same body, especially in the teaching of St. Paul (1 Corinthians 12):

Paul speaks strongly about a unity of love that must characterize the Church if it is to truly function as the living Body of Christ in the world. It is the Holy Spirit who ultimately brings about and sustains this unity while at the same time providing a rich diversity of spiritual gifts that operate in all the members of the Body. Paul makes it clear that all these charisms, which are given widely and freely, come from the same Lord and are meant to build up his Body, the Church. He also emphasizes that all parts of the Body are necessary, yet they are distinct from one another and not interchangeable. Both the ordained and laity have been given gifts for service. Their gifts differ and, for that reason, all of them are needed for the welfare of the whole. Both the ordained and lay people are equally part of the same Body. No one member can function alone; no one part can say to another part, “I don’t need you”. (Note: It needs to be acknowledged that there are specifically hierarchical gifts, that it is necessary to create an order among the many gifts).

None of this diminishes the reality that a Christian community is by definition a gifted community that is called to witness and to service by identifying, releasing, coordinating all that the Holy Spirit has given its members. The two complementary priesthoods operate on the fuel provided by the diversity of gifts and roles present in one body.

Collaboration in ministry:

It is very clear how the laity collaborate with the ordained in ministry. Many put their gifts deliberately at the service of the Church for the building up of the community: pastoral council members, lectors, greeters, extraordinary ministers of communion, acolytes, choir members, service groups, teachers, catechists, youth ministers. For others their service involves leadership in a particular area of ministry. It could involve special preparation and formation; perhaps some mandate or authorization. These ministries allow us to speak readily of the priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood being in a mutual relationship.

Lay ministry, carried out in a wide variety of roles and functions, is but one way of expressing the priesthood of the baptized, which exists in a necessary relationship with the ministerial priesthood. Sacramental foundation for lay ministry is to be found in baptism and confirmation (and matrimony for some). Ministerial priesthood has its immediate foundation in orders. (Note: The two expressions of Christ’s priesthood have their origin in different sacraments which allows for their being interrelated at a most basic level)

At more immediate levels we often see priests and lay ministers doing very similar things (Scripture study, sacramental preparation, etc.). This reveals the many good examples of collaboration in which the gifts, responsibilities and roles of lay and ordained work in harmony, each enhancing the other. Surveys show that parishioners see lay ministry not as competing with, but as expanding what they already receive in the ministries of the ordained. The concept of collaboration, when understood correctly, brings the non-ordained and the ordained into such an integral relationship that both see how ministry in the life of the Church requires the use of everyone’s gifts. The priesthood of the baptized thrives when the lay faithful discern their gifts and talents, using them generously within society and the Church as witnesses of the Gospel. The ministerial priesthood thrives when the ordained generously serve the Body of Christ in sacramental ministry and pastoral leadership.

Coworkers in the Vineyard of the Lord:

As already indicated, Lumen Gentium points out that the priesthood of faithful and that of the ordained are ordered to each other. They share in the one priesthood of Christ because they serve the one mission which Christ accomplishes through his Church. The focus on a common mission is essential. It places each of us in a relationship of co-responsibility.

Pope Benedict XVI, just a year ago in speaking to priests, religious and lay representatives of the Diocese of Rome, called for a change of mind-set in how lay persons are viewed. He said they should no longer be regarded simply as “collaborators of the clergy” but recognized as “co-responsible for the Church’s being and action”. This statement makes us the “full priestly community” for which we have been anointed sacramentally. My sisters and brothers, non-ordained and ordained: this is who we are.

Conclusion:

I conclude these reflections with an image that Pope John Paul II used in his apostolic exhortation on the ministry of bishops entitled “Pastores gregis”. In this work he uses the Greek word perichoresis, which literally means “dancing around”. It is a theological term used originally to describe the relationships of persons in the Trinity.

“The interplay between the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood … is manifested in a kind of perichoresis (interplay) between the two forms of priesthood … a perichoresis between the personal responsibility of the bishop for the good of the Church entrusted to him and the shared responsibility of all the faithful for that same Church.”

The metaphor of the dance is certainly a rich and evocative one. It speaks of a relationship that is dynamic, creative and alive with possibility. This is the relationship which should exist between laity and priests sharing in the one priesthood of Christ. When this relationship does exist, then the fullness of Christ’s priesthood is able to shine forth through the Church and into the world and we truly have a Church alive because Christ is fully alive in his priestly people. When this relationship exists we have the face of Christ shown forth in this place at this time.

Perhaps skating together rather than dancing together, we who are gathered here, form a very important and powerful team, showing the face of Christ in our part of the world. Prayerful and brotherly thanks to each of you for being part of that team. May each one of us make our contribution to enable us to be a winning team.