In my last article I wrote on the Synod which Pope Francis has called for 2023 and has invited the people of each diocese to have input into its preparation. In doing so, I mentioned that one of the most significant insights in the documents of the Second Vatican Council is that each of us, because of our baptism, shares in the Christ’s three roles as priest (sanctifier), prophet (teacher), and king (servant leader).
Each one of us is called to sanctify the world. Each one of us is called to be a prophet and to teach the Good News of Jesus Christ. Each one of us is called to be a king and to be a servant leader in our parishes and homes. That insight of the Council changed much in our parishes and dioceses.
I remember growing up in Louisiana and listening to people say, “What time are you going to go hear Mass?” We would not say that today, but that was the attitude toward Mass at that time. We went to hear Mass. It was the priest’s Mass, he celebrated it. He spoke softly in Latin. The people did not respond. They were in the pews and they followed along in their missal or they prayed the Rosary or other prayers while the priest celebrated Mass. We heard him celebrate Mass. The Second Vatican Council taught that we are all sanctifiers. We are all to take part in the Mass. We all have a role in the celebration of Mass.
The ramifications that we all celebrate the Mass, each according to our roles, recaptured how Mass was celebrated in the early Church. Since we are all to participate in the Mass., then perhaps it should be in a language we can all understand, and the readings from the Bible should be in the language of the people, and the priest should face the people so that there may be interchange between priest and people in the responses of the Mass.
Another change was that people should be involved in the life of their parish. I was in one of our parishes and noticed that the pastor had put in the back of the church a little brochure of all of the ways to be involved in the parish. I counted them; there were 132 ways. As I looked at that list I realized that almost none of them existed before the Second Vatican Council. Only a few did, for example, to be a member of the altar society or to sing in the choir, but the vast majority were ministries of sanctifying, teaching and servant leadership which had developed since the Council. There were Ministries of Sanctifying, for example, to bring the Eucharist to the homebound. Before the Second Vatican Council the laity could not touch the Eucharist, much less bring it to someone. There were Ministries of Teaching, such as, to be involved in the Confirmation program. In most parishes before the Council the sisters taught religion, in the school and on Saturday mornings. Lay people were not entrusted with that. There were ministries to be a servant leader, for example, to be a member of the Parish Pastoral Council. There were no pastoral councils before the Council.
When I was a seminarian in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, every office of that archdiocese, every ministry of the archdiocese, was headed by a priest. A priest was the head of finance; a priest was the head of development; a priest was the superintendent of schools; a priest was the head of the family life ministry and youth ministry, and the permanent diaconate. A priest was the editor of the paper. A priest was in charge of the facilities office. Every office was headed by a priest with one exception, Catholic Social Services, which was headed by a nun. The same was true in the Archdiocese of Mobile. Lay people would not be entrusted with heading a ministry. It would have been unthinkable in the days before the Council for a lay person to be the principal of a Catholic school. Only a priest, a brother or a sister could be the principal of a Catholic school. In the Archdiocese of Mobile, the first time a lay person was made principal of a Catholic school was 1974. But little by little since the Second Vatican Council, the gifts of the lay people, men and women, are being recognized and brought into the Church.
Sometimes I am asked “When will we involve women in the ministries of the Church?” Women are definitely involved. I have a Council of the heads of all archdiocesan departments who are eight people who advise on Church ministries. Of the eight of them, six are women and one is a deacon and one is a priest.
But we have a long way to go in making certain that all of us have a role in the Church. All must be involved in the life of the Church. All voices must be heard, from all backgrounds. All need to be a part of the Church. All need to be evangelizing. All should be inviting people to come into the Church and to join us in word and sacrament. In fact, the laity has that primary role. I remember as a kid, in our little town, the parish priest walked up and down Main Street and visited each of the stores and talked and encouraged people to come to Mass. Well today those Main Streets are gone. People work in office buildings. Priests can’t walk up and down the floors of those office buildings. That is where the laity are and that is where the laity needs to evangelize and encourage people to welcome Jesus into their hearts and into their lives.
The laity is called to add their gifts, their God-given gifts, in building up the Church. I think that is what the Pope is asking us to reflect upon in this synod that he has called. It is a Synod on Synodality. Synodality is a big word. It just means, let’s talk about how we walk down the same road together as a Church, realizing that each one of us has a role in building up the Church. Everyone’s voice must be heard and everyone’s talents welcomed into the life of the people of God, wherever that may be and whatever gifts and opportunities that we may have. And so, I ask that we pray for our Pope and for the Synod that he will be directing, and that truly the Holy Spirit will use it as a sign and as an opportunity of faith and grace for the whole Church.