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By Marie Beirne
Hi everyone, we are approaching that time again when our minds turn to our national conference and some details are included below. Once again we are in the Heart of Ireland in Athlone and are blessed with some inspiring and gifted speakers. Conference gives us all an opportunity to come together to worship and give glory to the great Lord who binds us together in a family of Christian love and fellowship. I look forward to seeing you there and to renewing old acquaintances and forging new ones. |
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In 1986, when I shared the following thoughts on the Role of the Laity in the Church at a meeting of the priests appointed by their Bishops to liaise with Charismatic prayer groups, I was very encouraged by the way it was received by Bishop Dermot O’ Mahony. Bishop Dermot was at that time the Liaison Bishop to the Charismatic Renewal in Ireland. This was the first serious piece of writing I had done. It came out of the heartfelt desire and urgency I felt that the charisms, I and so many people I knew had received, would not be allowed to wither away and die. The group of priests to whom I spoke received it warmly and Bishop Dermot encouraged me to have it published in “Intercom”- a pastoral and liturgical magazine published by the Catholic Communications Institute of Ireland. The article was published in March 1987. That was twenty three years ago. We have seen much happen in that time: a shortage of priests, fewer men and women joining religious orders, and dwindling numbers attending Mass in parishes. Most of all the heartbreaking revelations of the Ryan and Murphy reports on child abuse in the church in Ireland have been shocking. We have all suffered hugely, most of all the abused. Much has been written on this subject - much of it angry and in the secular press sometimes vitriolic. But where are we to go from here? How can we ordinary committed Catholics recover from the shock and horror of these revelations? How can we move forward? How can we help in the healing process and in the renewal of Church structures. The word of Jesus to His followers is as strong and as urgent today as on the mountain of the Ascension when He told His disciples “Go and spread the Good News of the Kingdom”. We are called to service. We have a gift ,we have good news,we can make a difference. We actually don’t need permission to speak and act as Jesus taught. We have to do it. Committed laity Arise!. Let love be our energy not anger. Let love of the Church move us into service. Let Jesus lead us in ministering healing and forgiveness. I share these thoughts of nearly a quarter of a century ago feeling as strongly as I did then. We have to find ways of working together, laity and clergy, respecting each other and encouraging each other as we serve the Lord. Our Common Call to Ministry I speak to you out of the heart of one woman trying to live out the call of Christ today. Trying to find my place in the Church, the Church that I love. What I have to say, I say with love. Love for you and all that you stand for as priests. I say it too in pain, the pain of seeing our common call to ministry, and especially the call of the laity, falling far short of what it was meant to be. I say it also with joy, the joy of knowing that in spite of our frailty and failures, God is truly working and constantly revealing his love to us through one another. The 2nd Vatican Council’s Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity stresses our fundamental reference to and dependence on Christ “From the fact of their union with Christ the head, flows the laymen’s right and duty to be apostles”. The council teaches that by the right of our baptism each of us has “a share in the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ” with the responsibility “to carry on the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world”. But it is only by being deeply rooted in Christ that we can effectively carry out this mission. This is where I beg you as ordained ministers to help us become the royal priesthood, the holy people that we are meant to be. Your special call has placed you in the position of shepherding us. The document on The Church says “It is the duty of pastors to shepherd the faithful and recognise their ministries and charisms, that all, according to their proper roles may co-operate in this common undertaking with one heart” I see here a parallel to the call in marriage where husband and wife together grow in holiness, call forth one another’s gifts, affirm and forgive one another’s good points and failings and together make their way with and to God. Partnership We have a partnership in ministry, you the anointed ones in whom we invest authority, and often expect more from than is humanly possible, and we the laity needing to be taught, nurtured and loved; but also needing to serve you and love you and our brothers and sisters in Christ. We come to the Eucharist expecting to be fed. How can you feed us if you read the scriptures in dull monotony? How can you feed us or call us to greater holiness if this, the focal point of our day is just an empty ritual? No wonder sometimes we see joyless faces and dull expressionless eyes hollow with hunger coming away from what in reality is the banquet of our lives. You are the ones who must feed us. Feed us on the Word of God, prepare it, break it and give it. Show us who Jesus is. Let us know your pain too. When you speak to us through the heart we will understand. Jesus is real and will be real in the lives of the people if you can just break the Bread simply. Just as I urge you to greater holiness, I know that in the poverty of my own life, in the moments of sin and repentance that I can come to you, that you will meet me at that low point and, as Jesus does, love me back into life and wholeness. I thank you for the times that you are Jesus to me. How with your eyes you assure me of forgiveness, with |
the gentleness of your words you ease the pain of guilt and suffering caused by my sin, and I thank you for the healing touch of your hand as you hold mine in consolation and give me the confidence to start again. I wonder often do you know the mystery you are to me. You have been a layman. You know and can understand that state, but you will always remain to some degree mystery. I look at you with awe and marvel at your tremendous capacity to love, to give yourself tirelessly. I see your strength must come from God dwelling in you and so my eyes are opened to the beauty of God. If a man can reflect the goodness of God, what must God himself be! Do you know that I truly love you? A joyful people But in loving you and being me, I often too get beyond or beneath the mystery and see the man. Being me I am often critical. Being me I wonder how you see me. Do you see me as a sister, one who can work alongside you with mutual reverence for one another and our calling? Or do you see me and others as a threat? I want to work as a partner with you, in bringing the good news into every aspect of secular life. I want to see a renewed, joyful people who know their place in the Church, who know their call and are given an opportunity to serve. Please help us to overcome the opposition to lay ministries. Encourage us. I know from both sides how slow people are to accept the lay-person’s charisms. Up to quite recently I had not fully acknowledged the giftedness of our religious sisters. On a recent retreat God showed me how beautifully He can act through the openness and humanity of these women. The richness of their spirituality and their deep understanding of human nature was a wonderful experience. On the other hand the amazement and wonder expressed by some of the religious that we, a married couple, would be prepared to spend a week on retreat, and that we know a real desire to grow in holiness, just emphasised how narrowly lay people have been looked on. In the core of each of us is a beauty and giftedness that many have not even glimpsed. That beauty can only blossom if the gifts and charisms are called forth. My gifts are not for me. Hidden in me they will wither. Help me to discern them. Let me use them. Trust me. Give me responsibility. If you love me you will want me to grow. In growing I will bring forth fruit. Attached to the vine that is Jesus,- the fruit will be good and plentiful. He who knows me intimately will prune me. He will use you as his instrument to guide and train me. You have the ability and the opportunity to help my formation. I have a duty to use my gifts for the good of the Church and the world. Our common aim is to make Jesus known in the world; our role is different. Having said all that, I know that over the last 20 years a great deal has happened to awaken the laity to their legitimate role in the Church. Some dioceses have set up lay ministry programmes and provide training for interested lay people. But the vast majority of Catholics receive no formal teaching or catechesis once they have left school; they never read Christian books or papers let alone Pastoral Letters or Synod documents. So relatively few people are aware of the advances or the call to service. In a sense we are like the children of the “hedge schools” dependent on the Sunday sermon. The difference today is that the children of the hedge schools were eager and hungry to learn and they lived in a faith filled community. Our children today (and adults also) are being sated and suffocated in the Godless society we live in. What St Paul says in Ephesians 6.12 “We are not fighting against human beings but against wicked spiritual force in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers of this dark age” is as true today, if not more true, than it ever was. The challenge is enormous. How many of our adult population have ever made a conscious decision to live out their baptismal promises or to appropriate the graces they received when baptised as infants? If those of us who have been blessed with the grace of renewal don’t respond soon to our calling and bring the Crucified Risen Jesus to the people then all the liturgy programmes and external changes will be worth nothing. One of the vital things I see in need of doing is the building of community. It is here that we, priest and people, can come to an understanding of each other’s needs. If our communities are vibrant witnesses to Christ’s life among us, the problem of passing on the faith – a living faith – will be overcome. Evangelization will happen. I don’t have the answers to the problems of unemployment, violence and drug addiction that plague our society today. I know One who has those answers. If you and I bring Him to the world we will find the Way because He will teach us the Truth and the Life will be ours. His name is Jesus. Praised be His Holy Name.
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HEALING SR BRIEGE MCKENNA MINISTRY May 3rd- 6th Drumragh Parish, 48 Brook St., EMMANUEL HOUSE OF PROVIDENCE, KOINONIA JOHN THE BAPTIST Contact: PRAYER GROUPS AVILA CHARISMATIC PRAYER GROUP BREAD OF LIFE PRAYER GROUP BALLYGELL CHARISMATIC PRAYER MONAGHAN CHARISMATIC PRAYER MARRIAGE PREMARRIAGE PREPARATION AND RETREAT CENTRES IRISH SCHOOL OF EVANGELISATION TIME ALONE WITH GOD? St Anthony’s CARMELITE RETREAT CENTE DERRY YOUTH YOUTH2000 ministry to young people and ST PATRICK MISSION TEAM led by John
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