“Full authority has been given to me both in
heaven and earth,
Go, therefore, and make disciples of the
nations!
Baptize them in the name of the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
Teach them to carry out all that I commanded
you.
And know that I am with you always, until
the end of the world! Mathew28:18b-20
These
last words of Christ to the Apostles in the Gospel of Matthew are excellent
words with which to begin the year 2018.
In these words we find the essential and central mission of the
Church. These words of Christ, a
directive to evangelize, are at the very heart of who we are and always have
been as the Body of Christ in this world. When are baptized into the Body of Christ, we
are brought into her mission. During the
Anointing with Chrism Oil at baptism, we are directed (be it the adult coming
in or the parents of an infant) to share in this evangelical mission of
bringing Christ into the lives of all we meet.
Training disciples
For the
apostles who heard these words, they had been given training. For three years they followed Jesus. They saw the miracles. They were given
instruction is such a way that even the best of seminaries could never provide.
They didn’t always get it. However, what
they were given was enough to provoke them to leave the safety and security of
everything they knew and proclaim a seemingly ridiculous message throughout the
world: a crucified Messiah who frees us from sin and death.
Christ
gives us the same opportunity to learn at His feet. He gives us a share in His life through the
sacraments of the Church, He gives us the educational and spiritual formation
of His Church, and He gives us the primary incubator of disciples, the family. In the coming year, our parish needs to help
bolster each of these elements. It is
our job as a parish to make sure that we have not just the tools to get about
the work of the Kingdom, but that we have the best of tools.
It is
times like this where remembering who we are as Catholics transcends mere
parish boundaries. One of the challenges of being pastor of two parishes,
especially when the size of those parishes are as different as they are, is
that I must acknowledge that elements such as budget, staff, and volunteers
must be taken into account as to how we approach our task of
evangelization. Christ and His Church do
not differentiate the call to evangelization based on the size of a
parish. Remember, the earliest churches
were small and in homes. In some of the things I am purposing, both parishes
will need to take into account the abilities of the other and help each other
as is fit; that is part and parcel of our catholicity.
Training through the Sacraments
All
of our efforts will fall short without the grace of God. A Catholic who exempts themselves from the
sacramental life of the Church is doomed to failure in living its mission. Without the sacraments we lose sight of why
we do what we do. Without the sacraments the essential character of the Church
is reduced to a social club or social work club. I am not saying that either of these are
evil. In fact, a healthy parish has a
familial bond that brings us together and a outreach to the larger community,
especially to the needy of the local community.
However, the Church is more than that.
In the
sacraments we are given the grace necessary to live out the essential catholic
charism: evangelization. Each sacrament
is given to bolster that grace in the life of a member of the Body of Christ so
as to engage in evangelization as God sees fit. They are pathways for the Holy Spirit to
breathe the boldness and wisdom necessary to live the life of Christ in such a
way as to go and make disciples. The
sacraments, when received in a state of grace (baptism gives us this gift), insert the life of the Incarnate God, Jesus
Christ, so as to embolden us to engage.
When that state of grace is lost through mortal sin, the Confession must
be done to restore it so that the other sacramental graces given us are not
squandered.
Part of
the things I wished to do to bolster this have already started. It is why in adult education I am focusing on
the Mass. Last semester we went through
the Constitution on the Liturgy (Sancrosanctum Concilium) and we will be doing
the General Instruction of the Roman Missal for the second semester. This class meets in the parish hall at SS
Peter and Paul at 7PM on most Tuesdays staring on the 9th of
January. It is why I have already greatly expanded the times for confession in
both parishes. It is why I am speaking frequently about the sacraments during
the homilies. Over the next year, we
will also be evaluating the preparation programs for the sacraments so as to
make sure we are giving those who are being formed into the sacramental life of
the Church the best available tools.
It is
why I will be absolutely insistent that anyone who calls themselves Catholic
within the parish boundaries is going to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day. If chronic illness or advanced age prevents
that, I have an army of Eucharistic Ministers and myself to bring the
sacraments to them. I try to get out
once a month to afford access to the Eucharist, Confession, and Anointing of
the Sick to our ill and aged. I have others in the Boonville Correction
Facility who I will now go to twice a month to afford them Mass and
Confession. Everyone else, if they are
going to be authentic about their faith, MUST avail themselves to the Mass and
Confession. We cannot engage in the
mission of the Church if we are starving ourselves of the ability to do so.
Because
the sacramental life of the Church is essential to our Catholic identity, being
on a parish roster will not be considered enough unless one is ill and of
advanced age (unable to get out). Too
many times, people will put themselves on parish rosters so as to have access
to a parochial school for free. Our
diocese does not charge parishioners for tuition on the belief that Catholics
who put their children into our schools are living the faith. Chronically exempting oneself and one’s
children from the sacramental life of the Church tells me that what is actually
being sought is a free private education and not a Catholic education. I have no interest in fully supplementing a
private education. I also have no
interest in throwing people off of our parish roster. However, I am asking that such families be
honest and either start living the sacramental life of the Church or be removed
from our roster and be tuition families. We must be honest.
The
Catholic Church sees as its most basic building block an entity called the domestic church, that is, the church of
the family. The family is where the lessons of faith are most powerfully taught
by word and deed. The example of the
parents in the way they do or do not live their faith will be the primary
influence on the faith of their children.
This is especially true for the dad of the family. The faith or faithlessness of the dad is the
single largest determining factor of whether the children grow to embrace the Catholic
faith themselves.
The
family is the first place of evangelization.
Children are the first targets of evangelization on the part of their
parents. The Catechism of the Catholic
Church, sections 2221-2231, make clear that the role of the parents in the
reception and nurturing of faith in their children is paramount. For example: “Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the
responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should
initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of
which they are the ‘first heralds’ for their children. They should associate them from their
tenderest years with the life of the Church.” (CCC 2225)
I
invite moms and dads to read the entirety of these sections from the
Catechism. These are the duties that you
told God you would undertake when you had your children baptized. The role I play within the larger parish as
a pastor, you moms and dads (again, particularly the dads) play within your
family. Inasmuch as it would be
scandalous for me to use my position to drive a wedge between my flock and the
Church or my flock and God, so it is scandalous for parents to do the same with
their children. To this end, Jesus warns
us, “Scandals will inevitably arise, but
woe to him through whom they come. He would be better off thrown into the sea
with a millstone around his neck than to give scandal to one of these little
ones.” (Luke 17:1-1)
Helping You Help Them
Each
parish has a responsibility to help those who are the primary teachers in the
ways of the faith. Many times, though,
the primary teachers had the necessary knowledge and formation withheld from
them when they were young. It is hard to
hand on what one does not have. I
realize that for many decades Catholic catechesis has been lacking. In some cases, it has been seriously
lacking. This must be fixed.
To this
end, our parishes have given access to an excellent online program called
‘Formed’ to give parents a forum to deepen their own understanding of the faith
and give them an opportunity to be the primary teachers of the faith they are
called to be. I know many parents feel
inadequate to the task to be primary teachers.
We want to help you rise to the standard and be for your child who they
need you to be and who God wants you to be.
Starting
in January, we will be starting the ‘Choice Wine’ series for our married
couples in order to help them be what they are called to be. It will be started at SS Peter and Paul. If there are people from St. Joseph who would
like to be facilitators for this, I will most happily point you in the right
direction. Again, given the catholic
nature of our faith, it is not merely desirable that parishes act in tandem and
cooperation, it is absolutely necessary.
I also have the “Beloved’ series if some would like to try that. The Beloved Series is available on the Formed
website.
Partners, not Replacements
Whether
your child is in a parochial school, a PSR program, or a confirmation class,
parents are called to be partners in the process. As already said, parents are the first
teachers. We offer various educational
opportunities to supplement what should be going on in the home. No Catholic teacher, however brilliant they
may be, will be able to counteract fully the lack of teaching that may be missing
from the parent.
In the
coming months we will be developing ways in which parents are given more of a
role in the spiritual and sacramental development of their children. It is not the job of a teacher to be the
primary teacher and witness to the faith.
They must be witnesses to the faith to be sure, but, it is the parents’
responsibility to be the primary teacher.
Just as in the classroom there is a necessity to make sure what is being
taught is not a personal interpretation of the truth, so it is in the
home. Parents are every bit as
responsible for upholding the truth of Christ and His Church as I am as a
pastor.
I am a
big believer that pastors and parishes cannot gripe about behavior that they
enable. More often than not we enable
behavior because changing behavior is much more difficult. However, the task of the parish is to make
sure that each of her members is living up to their evangelical call. I know this might represent a massive shift
in how we do business. However, if my
goal as a pastor is to guide the parish in its totality to Christ, then my call
necessitates reaching out and correcting the ship even if it is the only ship
in the harbor to be corrected. What
happens in other parishes is not my responsibility; what happens in my parishes
is my responsibility. This is why I want
myself and my staff to be your partners in the development of our youth into
Catholic disciples ready to live their baptismal call.
The family is the first place where faith is formed. It is even the primary place where the faith
is formed. Family members are bolstered
in this role in the sacramental life of the Church. However, faith has a definitive look and set
of beliefs within the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church, while it does value the emotional response, wants
that emotional response to be grounded in truth. In the Catholic Church, faith and reason go
hand in hand.
It’s not a children’s book
The Catholic faith is a wide ranging set of truths that all
are intertwined with each other. The
Catholic faith is not a faith of compartments where faith applies to some
compartments and not others. The Catholic faith is an integrated whole. Understanding it is not easy. Like most systems of advanced thought or
sciences, Catholic theology circles around a few foundational premises that
inform all the teachings. The
application of these teachings must be understood to teach them effectively.
This is why learning the faith is important. What we do in any and all education programs
is to help in both the understanding of the tenets of the faith and the
principles under which they are applied.
This is why the Church demands that her clergy have at least a master’s
level education. It is why bishops are
to be fastidious in overseeing the content of catechetical materials to be
used. It is why pastors are to have that
same knowledge of what is being taught to their parishioners and are to be seen
with the same role within the parish as a parent is in the family: the primary
teacher.
The Church does want us to grasp these concepts. The Catholic Church has it written in the
words of Scripture and in the words of the Catechism of the Catholic
Church. Both of these are complicated
documents. The Church wants all her
members to have broad knowledge of both.
The Church is also aware that simply giving either of these documents
without any training can lead to error. The Catechism and the Sacred Scriptures
are not children’s books that are easily understood or implemented.
Help Me Help You
As a pastor of souls, one of my major tasks is to help each
parishioner to understand our Catholic faith.
I have several venues to do this.
The first venue is the pulpit. I know in the 10 minutes or so I have on
Sundays and elsewhere, I have a group in front of me to whom I am responsible
for teaching the truth. The homily is to
use the words of Scripture to point to the truth and suggest practical
application of the truth to our everyday lives.
To waste that time with fluff and pablum or to use that time to poison
the minds and souls of my parishioners by promoting error are both offenses before which I would have
to answer to God.
The second venue I am given is in my writing. As you can tell, I use the Pastor’s Pen as a
venue to explain the faith. I also use
social media and my blog to expound on the truth of the Catholic faith.
The third major venue I am given is the classroom. I spend some time most days in some classroom
setting. I try to get in see the classes
in our school and other educational venues.
I teach adult education, bring in speakers for our Tapping into Theology,
and use what venues I have to teach.
To do this means I have to appropriate my time wisely. To be able to be coherent in these tasks
necessitates me continuing to educate myself and be sure my spiritual life is
continuing to develop. Consequently, I
read most every day. I make sure prayer
is a daily part of my regimen. I make
choices at what gets air time in my brain and what doesn’t. What gets priority in my life is based on
what helps me to execute the duties I have as a teacher and pastor of
souls. I can’t give what I don’t have.
You Can’t Give What You Don’t Have
No more than I as a pastor can give my parishioners anything
solid in the passing on of the faith, nor can anyone. I am aware of this. This is why I teach and try to use the pulpit
as I should. It is to give you the
tools. It is why I had our parishes
subscribe to Formed. This way each
parishioner with internet access has a way to get to excellent content and better teachers than myself and have that access
24/7.
It is also why I am absolutely insistent that Catholic
parents are regularly practicing the faith and being formed in the faith. Without God’s grace, all the correct data in
the world will go nowhere quickly. It is
not just a matter that I want to see my parish parents succeed. I do.
The point is that I NEED my parish parents to succeed. Their kids need their parents to succeed at
this most important task.
It is not just parents though. Each member of our parish, regardless of age,
gender, education level, or socioeconomic level, is necessary to the engagement
of this parish with the fallen away of our neighborhoods and the unchurched of
the same neighborhoods. There are so
many people out there who are searching for truth. There are many voices saying they have the
truth. We have to be more convincing
about the actual truth. Because the
Catholic faith is a lived truth, practice of the faith is absolutely essential
to the ability to evangelize.
Our Reason for Being
The role of evangelization is not something extraneous to
the lived expression of the Catholic life; it is the core of it. Jesus didn’t
tell His disciples after the Resurrection to go home and keep to themselves what
they had seen and heard. He told them,
rather, to go baptize the nations. He told
them to teach the nations all that He had taught them as disciples. He told
them to trust that He would be with them.
Since that time, men and women have transversed the entirety of the
known world, bringing with them the message of the Gospel. The apostles, the early missionaries, the
missionaries who went into barbarian territory, the missionaries who crossed
oceans to new worlds, and the current day missionaries who use electronic and
conventional media, all continue that mission.
That mission to evangelize is not limited to these select
few. It is meant for all who have passed through the waters of baptism. Consider the Parable of the Talents in which
great wealth was given to three persons with the command to use it wisely. We are given the sacraments, the Scriptures,
the catechism, and the devotional life.
We are given access to a great fount of knowledge. We have been given the five talents; let us
use them wisely to help build up the Kingdom of God.
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