Priesthood and Ministry: Service and Leadership in Today s Church

Transcription

1 Digital Loyola Marymount Univerity and Loyola Law School Theological Studie Faculty Work Theological Studie Priethood and Minitry: Service and Leaderhip in Today Church Thoma P. Rauch Loyola Marymount Univerity, Repoitory Citation Rauch, Thoma P., "Priethood and Minitry: Service and Leaderhip in Today Church" (989). Theological Studie Faculty Work Recommended Citation Rauch, Thoma P. Priethood and Minitry: Service and Leaderhip in Today Church, The Priet 45 (September 989): Thi Article i brought to you for free and open acce by the Theological Studie at Digital Loyola Marymount Univerity and Loyola Law School. t ha been accepted for incluion in Theological Studie Faculty Work by an authorized adminitrator of Digital Common@Loyola Marymount Univerity and Loyola Law School. For more information, pleae contact digitalcommon@lmu.edu.

2 i THOMAS P. RAUSCH, S.J. Priethood and Minitry Service and leaderhip in today' church - Today, one i frequently confronted with an undertanding of priethood quite different from the acramental and hierarchical concept o long preuppoed by Catholic theology. The argument baically i thi: Priethood i not necearily a acramental gift; it i a particular minitry dependent on a char im or gift of the Spirit. Since the eence of priethood i to form and lead a community of faith, a genuine community could dicern thi gift in one of it member who ha united and led them in a ignificant way. Since thi peron had thu diplayed the characteritic of the gift of priethood, he or he hould alo be able to lead them in the Eucharit. Baically correct Whence come uch a concept of priethood? The argument i implitic, to ay the leat. t fail to recognize that the role of community leaderhip, undertood a an office already within the New Tetament, mut remain linked to the original apotolic minitry and to the wider Church. The ordained miniter ha been authorized by the Church to preach and miniter acramentally in it name. n preiding over the community and it worhip, the priet expree the continuity with the tradition and with the communion of the Catholic Church. The argument i baically correct, however, in eeing that the minitry of the priet, pecifically hi role a preider at the Eucharit, i rooted in hi role a community leader. Though thi minitry wa not een a explicitly acerdotal until the early third century, the minitry of thoe who in the Catholic tradition are called priet hould include both ervice and leaderhip. What do thee concept of ervice and leaderhip mean for thoe who are priet today? Priet are miniter, and a miniter i, firt, a ervant. To be a ervant i to be without pretige or power; it i to be alway available, at the dipoal of other. Thu, to be a ervant i to be vulnerable, and priet, epecially in today' Church, are vulnerable in a number of way. Firt, many priet today are overworked. A the number of priet continue to decreae, the demand on thoe who are active and competent continue to increae. Priet in parih minitry are not only expected to be preent to the innumerable group and committee meeting in the parih community, but they are alo called upon for more and more pecial liturgie for thoe group, for ubcommunitie in the parih, and for other group outide the parih. Priet living in large communitie are frequently aked for liturgical ervice by communitie of religiou women. They need to be epecially enitive to thee requet at thi particular time in the life of the Church, when many religiou women are acutely aware that they are not able to provide their own celebrant becaue of the Church' undertanding of the requirement-for ordination. Not all priet, of coure, are overworked. Some have managed to preerve for themelve a coniderable part of the graciou clerical lifetyle of the pat. They are uually not to be found in thoe leepy hour after the noon meal. To the caller the ecretary will ay that Father i "in conference.., Critical problem Second, many priet today find themelve torn between a coniderable number of lay people anxiou for change and an official Church which eem to be concerned with retoring dicipline and recentralizing authority. A the recent document on the morale of priet prepared by the U.S. Bihop' Committee on Prietly Life and Minitry phrae it, priet are "caught in the middle. " Thu, many priet find themelve the target of coniderable frutration, and at time their minitry, if not unwelcome, i at leat reented. The alienation felt by o many contemporary women i a critical problem. Many of them have experienced condecending or patronizing attitude on the part of individual priet. They have their own peronal torie of being ignored or taken advantage of; and they reent a Church in which deciion made by clerical male exclude them from full participation in minitry and priethood. Women whoe experience in the Church ha been painful are not infrequently reentful of the priet whoe poition at leat eem to be baed more on hi ex than on hi peronal charim or competence. Reentment undertandable Priet who dimi the quetion of incluive language a unimportant or "ideological," or who make no effort to enter into the experience of women need to reflect on what being a ervant mean, practically, in their live. The problem here i not jut a male-female iue; it i alo a clericallay iue. The Second Vatican Council decribed the Church a the People of God and recovered a ene for the multiplicity of the gift or charim. Though it did not go o far a to peak of a multiplicity of minitrie, ordained and unordained, it theology of the charimata a well a it tre on the importance of lay people in the Church and their own hare in the threefold office of Chrit, clearly i moving in that direction. Today lay men a well a women "Renection on the Morale of Priet," Origin 8 (Jan. 2, 989) p. 50. :! THE PREST/September

3 are claiming their own hare in the Church' minitry. They reent what ha ometime been referred to a a "Pac Man" theory of minitry, which gobble up all the important function within the community and ubume them within the role of the ordained. Their reentment i undertandable when they feel that their own gift cannot or will not be recognized or when they ee themelve excluded from the deciion-making procee of the Church. For ome, that reentment can eaily be directed al priet who ymbolize by their very preence the Church' clerical tructure. Other are anxiou to upport good priet, but they are not uncritical about thoe they meet. Finally, priet are vulnerable becaue they find themelve powerle to realitically addre the iue that mot concern themelve and thoe they erve. The bihop' document on the morale of priet called attention to thi in everal way. Control lacking t noted that ome priet experience dicouragement becaue the olution to the problem of the hortage of priet are "precluded from dicuion. " 2 WSl(RCHEN CHURCH ARTSAN D Hand Painted Mural & Mural Retoration D Cathedral Style Stain Gla Window D Cutom Deigned Storm Window D nterior Retoration & Stenciling :, JL --:,--- D Statue Retoration D Free Etimate ( 67) n ummarizing it profile of priet today it tated: "Perhap mot ignificant of all, [priet/jee/ that they have little or no control over their live and future, be it in term of m;nitry, aignment, policy development, or Church d;rection. " 3 Being overworked, caught in the middle, and lacking the power to bring about change are not aet. They repreent problem which ultimately mut be addreed. The vulnerability they expre, however, might be an aet. f a priet today i not automatically given the honor and repect accorded to hi office in the pat, if hi minitry i not alway recognized, then he need to become a miniter or ervant a never before. And the Church deperately need thi kind of ervant leader. Jeu, through Hi life of loving ervice and death, brought about a new community of men and women with God. So, too, priethood hould be undertood a the gift of forming and leading a community gathered in Jeu' name. Priethood i a minitry of leaderhip through word, worhip, and ervice. Mut be in touch Here would ingle out three critical dimenion of thi tak today. Firt, the priet mut be able to give word to the community' experience. Second, the priet mut be able to work collaboratively with other. Third, the priet mut alo be able to challenge thoe in the community.. Giving Word to Experience. To erve and preide over a community gathered for worhip, fellowhip, and ervice, a priet mut be in FOR MORE NFO CRCLE 5 ON REPLY CARO 2 /bid., p ljbid., p. SO. 38 THE PREST/September 989

4 ' A priet whoe need have alway been provided, will not undertand the truggle to upport a family. touch with the experience of the member of the community; he mut be able to interpret that experience, to give it word and expreion. Without thi ability to give word to experience, to recognize how God i acting in the community' life and what God i aying to it member, preaching become empty rhetoric and liturgy mere ritual. The mot difficult part of preparing a homily i not developing a particular theme, but finding the connection between the Good New contained in the text and the experience of the community. What are the concern of the community member at thi moment? What i on their mind? Where are they truggling? A good homily i one that i able to articulate thoe truggle and concern. A bad one doe not; it addree the preacher' agenda, like the priet who preache elf-righteouly on abortion without ever having really been cloe to a woman who ha had one. Or it remain on the level of abtraction, without ever getting down to the concrete. Giving word to the experience of a community mean being able to name the negative a well a the poitive. Recently heard a homily, at a funeral Ma for omeone who had taken hi own life, which failed to deal directly with that imple tragedy which wa very much on the mind of all thoe preent. Our preaching and our liturgie have to recognize and make room for the negative.' Think of the power of thoe palm of lamentation which have given word to the experience of o many over the centurie. t i preciely the tragedy and brokenne of our live which open for u the poibilitie of God' tranforming grace. A priet iolated from the member ~ee for example, Michael Downey, "Worhip Between the Holocaul," Theology Today 43 (986) pp of hi community cannot hope to give word to it experience. The image or the priet a a "man apart" i not very helpful today. A priet mut be able to bring to the role of liturgical preidency the concern of all thoe in the community; he mut be able to give them expreion. A priet whoe material need have alway been provided for, who ha never had to upport himelf, will probably not undertand thoe who truggle to upport their familie. f he ha never confronted and been confronted by the experience of thoe who find themelve on the margin of the community, he will probably not be able to miniter to them; he will not be able to give word to their experience. Apt expreion Giving word to the experience of a community mean more than a merely acramental minitry. t include articulating a viion of what Chritian community mean in a ecularized world and a deeply divided Church. With o many in the Church plit over exual, ocial, and eccleiological iue, a priet who would articulate uch a viion mut be able to live with coniderable ambiguity, including an ambiguity about the form the priethood itelf might take in the future. 2. Working Collaboratively With Other. Jut before the Second Vatican Council, Yve Congar decribed the prevailing Catholic monarchical eccleiology in term of the papal triplecrowned tiara. The tiara, which rie from a wide bae to a ingle point at the top, "wa an apt expreion of the idea of pontifical monarchy and a quai-pyramidal concept of the Church."' The council replaced thi Yve Congar, Power and Poverty in the Church (Baltimore: Helicon Pre, 962), pp monarchical eccleiology with a collegial one. A collegial model of Church call for a new undertanding of minitry, not jut in reference to the pope and the bihop, but for all thoe who exercie leaderhip and authority in the Church. Thi i epecially true for priet. The time in which the priet wa the mot educated member of the American Catholic community are long pat. Catholic in the United State are more preent in the profeion and more highly educated than any other group, except for the Jew. A Archbihop Rembert Weakland ha frequently emphaized, their PERPETUAL NCOME S RECEVE MONEY EVEllYTME S ~ YOUR SUPPORTERS OR SOMEONE ~ S YOUKNOWMAKESALONG S S DSTANCE CALL. S Ued nationwide by churche and S other nonprofit organization a a S ~ continuing fund raiing program. ~ ~ Alo ued by individual and bui- ~ nee for income development. ~ Coll or write for your FREE brochure ~ today. $ ~ 4875 Mowry Ave., Suie 28 ~ Fremont, CA S (45) S ~ Attn: Mike McCullough ~ S ndependent Repreentative S SS T _,. SS, ;;;;;,.;;;;;, ~ Money you can bank on/ ~ $ FOR MORE NFO CRCLE 24 ON REPLY CARD $ === ~~!!"."~~,~,~ ' THE PREST/Sep/ember

5 A priet who i not a peron of prayer will not be able to call other to a prayerful life. educational background and new ocial tatu poe new challenge to their priet and bihop.' Sure to fail To be effective leader, priet mut be able to work collaboratively with other, with profeionallytrained lay miniter, with religiou women, and with the well-educated lay men and women who it on parih council and make up their variou committee. t i rare today to near the tory of a peron no longer active in the Church becaue of a bad experience with a priet in confeion. Not enough people go to confeion today. But who ha not heard the torie of thoe no longer active in the Church becaue of unhappy experience with priet unable to work collaboratively with other? A priet who i not able to hare hi authority, to liten to an honet difference of opinion, even to criticim, will be a failure. He mut be able to relate to all the different group within the community and to help them learn to repect each other. He mut be able to work collaboratively, to welcome the competence of other, and to eek and build conenu. 3. Challenging the Community. Finally, ifa priet i to be not jut a coworker but alo a leader, he mut be able to challenge other, both peronally and communally. Thi prophetic role i rooted in the priet' reponibility for proclaiming the Word, but goe far beyond the tak of preaching.. But again, a priet cannot challenge other imply on the bai of hi office or authority. Hi word, if not deeply rooted in hi own experience and in the integrity of hi own life, will ring fale. 6 Rembert Weakland, "The Church in World ly Affair," America 56 (Oct. 8, 986) pp A priet who i not a peron of prayer will not be able to call other to a prayerful life. f hi own life i not nourihed by prayer, deepened by contemplation, enriched by piritual reading, he can hardly recommend thee activitie to other. Mot parihioner intinctively recognize the difference between pirituality and rhetoric, between liturgical prayer and theater. Similarly, a priet who ha had no direct experience with the poor will not be able to challenge other in the area of ocial jutice. The experience of thoe whoe live have been ruined by violence or even the threat of violence, who are without adequate food, decent houing, educational opportunity, who lack even peronal privacy and a table family life, will remain foreign to him. ntrinic training An inertion experience which require a ignificant amount of time living and working with the diadvantaged hould be an intrinic part of the training of candidate for the priethood if challenging other to a concern for the poor i to be an important part of their minitry. Thoe who have not walked in the hoe of the poor will not be able to call other to their aitarice. Finally, a priet can hardly call other to!initry and ervice if he ha no concfoune of being a ervant himelf. A priet who avoid the marginalized member of the community, thoe who are different from him, or thoe who reent him, cannot be a ervant. A priet whoe heart i not incluive, who miniter only to the beautiful people, or to thoe like himelf, who ha no time for the lonely, the hurting, or the elderly, i tranparent to thoe he eek to erve. The paing of the acral concept of priethood, with it clerical and even elitit connotation, hould not be regretted. Let u not mourn it paing. People very much want good priet today, but not priet who eek the minitry becaue of the pretige or tatu aociated with it. t may be true that an overemphai on priethood a minitry fail to highlight what i pecific to ordained minitry. All minitry i ervice for the building up of the community. For thoe whoe minitry include preiding at the eucharitic table, however, it i intereting to note that Jeu' undertanding of himelf a a ervant for the ake of the reign of God came to expreion hitorically at the Lat Supper.' The Chritian community continued to gather after Hi death and reurrection, to break bread and hare the cup in memory of Hi acrifice. The one who watched over the community alo preided at thi table of remembrance. Becaue of thi, a early a the beginning of the third century, the leader of the community wa being referred to a a priet. 8 Edward Schillebeeckx, Jew; (New York: Croroad, 98), pp Cf. Tertullian, De baplimo, 7; Hippolytu, Apotolic Tradition, 3:5. FATHER RAUSCH i profeor of theology and rector of the Jeuit community at Loyola Mary mount Univerity in Lo Angele. He alo i a member of the Theological Commiion and the Ecumenical Commiion of the archdiocee and erve on the Lo Angele Lutheran-Catholic Committee. and the Lo Angele Catholic Evangelical Dialogue. Father Rauch' teaching area include New Tetament, eccleiology, Chrito logy, and ecumenim. He i the author of The Root of the Catholic Tradition and Authority and Leaderhip in the Church, and ha publihed numerou article.. on quetion of ecumertim, authority, and minitry. Coprighl Thoma P. Rauch THE PREST /September /989