Priests are responsible for teaching us what the Church believes. They’re not responsible for telling us what they think about this or that. Fair enough, that’s what we pay them the big bucks to do. We need that objective, reasoned, neutral presence and influence that keeps us grounded in the faith. Their role is to make us holy, and an integral part of that is to instruct us properly.
What I don’t understand is why the laity in ministry aren’t held to a similar standard.
Many laypeople who serve in ministry have extensive theological training. Even if they don’t, most still have years of experience with respect to learning or serving in a Catholic environment- certainly enough to ground them in the basic tenets of our faith. The general expectation by the average Catholic out there is that they are also caretakers of the faith who are held to a higher standard.
Yet, those in lay ministry also have a tremendous amount of latitude in terms of interpreting, challenging, and disagreeing with what the Church teaches before disseminating that among those they influence. This often occurs without anyone being the wiser simply because of the assumption that what we’re being fed is actually good food.
Stretching things, pushing boundaries, testing ideas and having difficult conversations are all part of developing and living with an authentic and well-rounded understanding of the faith. That in-and-of itself isn’t really a problem. There’s nothing wrong with good, challenging, honest discussions or debates regarding what we believe and why.
In fact, The Church has a long and colorful history of arguing with itself. We enjoy it, and we’re good at it. In fact, we like it so much that some of our arguments can last for centuries.
However, most of those arguments are intended to be part of some kind of process of finding agreement. They are steered and shepherded in ways that produce unity and clarity for the sake of feeding us properly.
When we engage in these discussions without an over-arching compass to guide us, then what do they produce? Well, for one, we end up confusing ourselves, and that turns into conflict- both inner and outer conflict that spreads like wildfire. This robs us of our peace because there isn’t a lot of moderation of these discussions to keep them nestled in their appropriate context. Things become grayer as we distance ourselves from the source of truth- because it’s old, irrelevant or not in-line with the sophisticated needs of modern humanity, or whatever the reason may be. This causes division.
In an ideal world, priests and religious would represent that front line in terms of moderating those influences. Not to silence or censor them, but to bring them into balance- to reign in the imagination a little bit. They can discern questions and ideas through to their logical, well-reasoned conclusions that circle things back to the reasons why we believe what we believe- in order to keep us focused on loving one another.
Yet, because we have few shepherds out there to begin with, and they are usually swamped with doing things other than shepherding people in the faith, there is little moderation, and we’re living with the impact of that every single day. In the rare case when moderation is applied, it’s usually applied to something that isn’t used to it. This leads to adversarial relationships within the Body of Christ. More-often than not, people tend to side with the loudest, most-popular voice in the room, and that is usually not the one we should be listening to.
Who are the ones who are available and accessible to flesh these things out with? The same people who they know and trust the most- the laity who helped to form their faith in the first place.
Run-of-the-mill Catholics don’t really trust priests, in part because they don’t know priests. They don’t trust the hierarchy because they see them as the source of most of their problems, in no small part to their spectacular talent for making themselves look like idiots to the world even though most of them really aren’t.
A big part of this stems from their inaccessibility or unavailability to us.
Yes, they’re called apart to be separate from the world, but as an over-arching, general, mystical force in the world, becoming too-separated isn’t good for anyone either. I’m not suggesting that every priest and every bishop jump into the cold-water of the world head first. No, I’m just saying that maybe we would all be better served if those who are capable and competent enough to do so actually did a little bit more of that. It wouldn’t hurt to see some in the laity returning the favor in kind either.
It doesn’t even have to be anything big or organized. Take a bike ride to a ballgame somewhere in your parish and just hang out with people. Walk around the neighborhood on a summer evening. It won’t take long before someone invites you to dinner or a drink on their patio. Go to a coffee shop in uniform. I donno, drive an Uber around town for a little while and see what conversations come out of that.
Here’s an idea I would actually pay to see happen one day: Stand on a street corner at rush hour with a cardboard sign and hand out the Eucharist to Catholics in cars with an invite to Mass. That alone will provide priests with opportunities to engage like they’ve never dreamed of before.
The point is to get connected more, so those connections can be used to begin the work of healing old wounds and building new relationships. Without something happening in this regard, the disconnect and adversarial nature of the relationships between the flock and the shepherds will only get worse. This will cause shepherds to rein in the flock with greater force, and the sheep will simply continue to do what they’ve done thus far: Search for another shepherd somewhere else, usually outside of the Catholic Church entirely, or steer sheep away from their shepherds within the Church because they feel empowered and motivated to do so.
Without the connection, love and relationships that sheep require of shepherds, the voice of a shepherd is little more than a clanging cymbal that drives people away.
Retreat was necessary for a time. That time has passed.
As more laity continue to take on more responsibility for teaching, feeding and sustaining the Body of Christ in the day-to-day, what they think, say and do has great significance. This is why it’s so important to invest in resources to support a nourishing interface between priests and lay ministers in order to make disciples.
We’re not really making disciples today. Instead, we’re typing job descriptions, ticking boxes and sticking people in their little spots- out of sight and out of mind.
Unfortunately, much of the discord that is being generated within the Church now is coming to, and through, those in lay ministry in one way or another, and they’re passing it on to everyone else. Few priests and religious are making themselves available to be part of these conversations. Even fewer are equipping lay partners properly in order extend this influence this either.
Those in lay ministry share in the same responsibility to amplify what the Church believes. Everyone is in the same boat when it comes to faithfully teaching the truth and leading others into a greater understanding of it.
Ideally, this is best-accomplished through leading by example. Yet, we find ourselves allowing and encouraging the exact opposite to happen, and nobody is served well by this at all.
Now, the first thing that some are going to complain about is how this means that we can’t disagree with Church teaching or have an opinion about something. No, this is not the case at all. There is far more room for interpretation and debate with respect to all of that than we give ourselves credit for.
But, there is a time, place and goal for all of that. When we have these conversations outside of the appropriate framework, we end up with nothing but headaches.
We also create the perfect environment in which to encourage others to sin. This leads to the normalization of sinfulness too, and that gets carried, by Catholics, into the world. This only serves to increase the divide between the clerical state and the rest of the Christian universe, and it comes with real consequences.
There is little difference between what we entertain and propagate in our side-talk, gossip, choir rehearsals, classrooms and coffee hours, and that little nugget of temptation that the Devil planted in Eve’s brain. Remember that? Did God really say not to eat from this tree? Come on, what harm can that do?
I know of people in ministry, right now, today, who are giddy with anticipation because they are convinced that we’re headed for schism. They take pride in their own small contribution to this, and it reinforces their belief that they’re on some kind of holy mission to force the Church to adapt to today’s world.
I’ve actually heard some lay ministers talk about how they want to ask priests if they can give the homilies instead, in order to get control over the messaging. Someone in campus ministry actually flat-out told me how they want to distance themselves from the very community that sustained that institution since its inception.
Why?
I can only assume that particular community is too-Catholic for their sensibilities. Yet, that campus is responsible for forming the Catholic faith of students in and around that community.
What are we doing to ourselves here?
This is where we are at- today, and nobody seems to care about it. Nobody has time. We’re all busy doing God’s work. We all have important things to do. We’re all busy enough to stay out of trouble, but too-busy to really be engaged with one another in meaningful, productive ways.
Apparently, the Mystical Body of Christ, borne of 12 guys, and their respective families, who Jesus forced to get along under a common purpose, isn’t good enough for us to emulate. What we’re doing instead is destroying that common purpose by staying disconnected and confusing people to the point where they don’t know what to believe anymore. This is our testimony. This is our legacy. This is the influence that we bring into the DNA of the Church right now.
Nice work.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, the Church is doing just fine with respect to the vast majority of what it believes. In fact, many of world’s problems would be eased if it drew closer to the Church, not the other way around. One of the biggest challenges the Church will face in the not-too-distant future relates to being able to communicate those beliefs down through the ranks.
Why?
Because we’ve allowed ourselves to give the responsibility to those who have little or no interest in doing that in the first place.
What will happen as fewer and fewer priests are able to propagate the faith while more and more people down the line are in a position to distort it? Can you see how this disconnect is leading nowhere good? Think of the impact this will have in the hearts and minds of the average, run-of-the-mill Catholic out there.
Consider the long-term ramifications if this disconnect is allowed to grow.
The problem is not just related to what’s being implanted into the collective brain of the Body of Christ, but how these things steal peace from our hearts too. Clarity is necessary in order to accept sin for what it is and adjust our hearts and minds accordingly in order to truly live in peace. Yet, if we don’t support what the Church teaches, as we feed souls that are under our care, we rob them of the joy that comes from walking with Jesus on that road to holiness.
If anything, we make it harder.
What we say, do and believe matters. We can encourage and build others in the faith, or we can cause them tremendous harm that robs them of the hope of a joy and peace-filled life. We don’t do people favors by inventing and encouraging ways to somehow co-exist with sin because we’re wise to the times and the ways of the world.
Those in ministry have an expectation to be held to a higher standard for this reason, and people trust in that. We can all have our thoughts, opinions, questions, likes and dislikes as they relate to Church teaching. Yet, we also have a responsibility to take up our crosses of humility and teach and form people properly too.
Frankly, if this is a problem for some, then there are thousands of other non-Catholic places to do these things. My apologies for being direct, but it’s the truth. If you don’t want to properly serve and influence Catholics, and potential Catholics, in your ministries, then go and serve non-Catholics who don’t want to be Catholics. It’s nothing personal- just the reality of why we’re really here in the first place.
Some of the strongest warnings that Jesus gives to us relates to the consequences of leading people astray. That millstone around the neck isn’t just reserved for Pharisees and religious leaders of that time. It’s reserved for anyone who is serving in ministry, in the name of Jesus, in our time as well.
I believe there is an army of competent, faithful and courageous lay people out there who are just waiting to have an opportunity to bridge this gap and give their lives for the greater good. I also believe there are priests and religious who are willing to build the relationships that are necessary to make this happen too. The challenge is figuring out ways to bring them together and facilitate the good things that can germinate from this.
All of us are responsible for inspiring, modeling and forming others in the faith. Conversely, we also share in the responsibility of failing to do so as well. For those in ministry, our choices are pretty clear: Do we want the millstone or the rebuke, or do we want to hear the blessed words found in Matthew 25:23 instead?
Personally, I prefer the blessing, even if it involves a sacrifice to receive it.