The Catholic Church and Group Identity

"...the Catholic Church is not, and cannot be, a 'denomination' as the term is usually understood in America. A denomination is something with no fixed form, but rather a structure than can be changed at will by its membership; the Catholic Church has a form given to it by Christ, and that form involved certain truths (e.g., the sacraments) and certain structures (e.g. the office of bishop) that are not susceptible to change. The Christ-given "form" stands in judgment on the local embodiment of the Church; the local Church doesn't stand in judgment on it.

In a denomination, porous and shifting boundaries do not present serious problems because group-maintenance is the highest value and 'being non-judgmental' is crucial to keeping the group intact. In a denomination, effective moderation of the ongoing discussion about 'who we are' is the most sought-after quality in a leader. None of these attributes of the American denomination has very much to do with the Catholic Church as it has understood itself for almost two millennia. Yet the Church today often displays each of these characteristics in one degree or another."

- George Weigel, The Courage to be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of the Church, p 99 (emphasis mine)

When I read the above paragraphs, I had to lay the book down in amazement and simply say, "Whoa. He nailed it."

Some of you may like George Weigel and some may not, but God is using his writing to clarify so many things that have concerned me about churches (non-denominational ones, in particular) but yet I didn't have the perspective needed to understand why these things concerned me. It took returning to the Catholic church and deeply examining it to recognize some of the key distinctions between Catholic and non-Catholic churches.

I am beginning to believe we have an identity crisis with not only non-Catholic churches, but many Catholic ones as well. I emphasized what Weigel said about group maintenance because I saw this time and time again with my own eyes. Heck, I was a part of that maintenance for many years. I was part of a church-planting team where we had many, many meetings about our "vision" and "mission." Our leader, though, was a man who was highly creative but yet as unpredictable as the wind. One week we would focus on one thing but the next week it would change as he sensed something "new" was revealed to him from the Lord. He is a dear man and I still love him like crazy - but the constant changing of plans may have been the cause of my going gray early.

When so much time is spent on defining a group's identity and purpose, it hampers true progress toward the mission. One of the unfortunate aspects of this approach is that it keeps church members in constant motion, preventing them from entering into the deeper truths of their faith. For many churches, there is the expectation that change is the only thing you can depend upon and you best be prepared to be in a constantly rocking boat.

When a church's main focus is on "who we are," then the group identity is vulnerable to the shifting prism of culture. What has truly bothered me is watching some churches conform to the world, not transform the world as we have been commissioned to do by Christ.

One of the "mega-churches" I was involved with used to pray for deliverances. These were often messy events. When I first witnessed one, I was slightly anxious but yet intrigued. I felt this was one area of ministry that had been neglected. I even participated in a few and was humbled when I saw the person we prayed for had experienced a real deliverance.

I moved away to attend a ministry school and months later, returned for a visit. I saw the woman who was the pastor of the prayer ministry. I chatted with her for a few minutes before asking about the deliverance part of the ministry.

"Oh," she said mildly. "We don't do that anymore."

"You don't? Why not?" I was both suprised and disappointed.

"Well, it got too complicated. Besides, it was making the newcomers feel uncomfortable." I thought I detected a small bit of relief in her voice.

That bothered me. Wasn't part of the church's mission to not only bring people the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, but to pray for a release from bondage? Now you may not agree with this type of ministry, which is fine. The point is, the "vision" of the church, the "group identity" was changed because it made people uncomfortable.

Whereas before it was believed to be a Biblical mandate, now because some of the newcomers weren't sure about it or it creeped them out - that "mandate" was forgotten.

When I was a member of a political message board, there was a lively and very funny debate on Capt. James T. Kirk vs. Capt. Jean-Luc Picard. Who was the best captain? Most of the men sided with Kirk and most of the women chose Picard. One man put it succinctly: leadership is not sitting around the table, asking what everyone wants and then going with the majority. It's not group consensus. When the rubber meets the road, someone has to be the heavy and as far as the men were concerned, Kirk was the perfect leader.

I think of this now when I look at the Catholic Church. It would seem that after Vatican II, many wanted to turn their priests and bishops into Capt. Picard. It is no surprise that as a result of all this "discussion" and trying to be "non-judgmental," we have squishy boundaries or no boundaries at all.

The shift from this type of group identity to a return of acknowledging Catholic identity is, I suspect, going to be fraught with many more debates. It will take divine wisdom to walk the fine line between loving the sinner as opposed to identifying with the sinner. Pope Benedict XVI declared last year that Roman Catholicism was the true church and Protestant churches were not "full churches." (And if you want a fun little excursion, try Googling this story and you'll see all kinds of spin on this story.)

The Catholic Church may have its problems but one thing it doesn't have is a case of multiple personalities. That does say something.

What I Love About Catholicism: Preisthood and Celibacy

Again, George Weigel has me thinking. In his book, The Courage to Be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of the Church, he talks about the priesthood and celibacy. He quotes St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians:

For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Eph. 5:23-27

After reading Weigel and then these verses, it suddenly dawned on me why celibacy for priests is a "win/win" for everyone.

There are some people who think priests ought to have a choice to get married. Without delving into the assumption that married priests would not molest, the proposal may not be as attractive when viewed in full.

Seven years ago, when I was serving within my last ministry as a single pastor, I had a conversation with one of our ministry students. He related a story about a pastor friend of his. He said that during the 23 years this man served as a senior pastor, he never took his family on vacation.

I stopped him. "Never?" I asked. He sadly echoed, "Never."

We then went on to discuss how difficult this was for the pastor's family and the stress a pastorate can put on them. "PK" ("Pastor's Kid") has become a byword for out-of-wedlock pregnancies, drug abuse, homosexuality, and an assortment of woundedness that causes many a PK to turn away from the church.

Being a pastor is not a Monday through Friday, 9-5 type of job. Most people realize this. But how often do people think of the countless dinners without dad, the missed soccer games or plays because dad is needed elsewhere, or the lonely nights his wife endures because her husband is busy preparing for either a sermon or some committee meeting?

Now tell me who's being selfish. Is it selfish to deny a priest the married life or is it selfish to give it to him but yet deny a family their father?

I was lucky. My dad was a traveling salesman.

When I look at Catholic priests, I realize this is the heart of their calling. They are married to the Church. As Christ loved the Church and gave up His life for Her - so, too, does our priests give up their choice to have a family in order to devote their life to the Church. Being single definitely has its advantages. I know. For 18 years, I lived such a life. Could I have done it as a married woman? Not likely.

Pray for our priests, especially for the loneliness they often experience. And ask God for more vocations. Here's a few I found:

Most gracious Heavenly Father,

We thank you for our for our faithful priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood and example of fidelity, self-sacrifice, and devotion is so vital to the faith of your people.

May our spiritual fathers be guided by the examples of Saints Peter and Paul, all the Apostles and their saintly successors. Give them valiant faith in the face of confusion and conflict, hope in time of trouble and sorrow, and steadfast love for you, for their families, and for all your people throughout the world. May the light of your Truth shine through their lives and their good works.

Assist all spiritual fathers, that through your Grace they may steadily grow in holiness and in knowledge and understanding of your Truth. May they generously impart this knowledge to those who rely on them.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Women for Faith and Family)
******

O Jesus, our great High Priest,
Hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priest, Father [N].
Give him a deep faith

a bright and firm hope
and a burning love
which will ever increase
in the course of his priestly life.

In his loneliness, comfort him
In his sorrows, strengthen him
In his frustrations, point out to him

that it is through suffering that the soul is purified,
and show him that he is needed by the Church,
he is needed by souls,
he is needed for the work of redemption.

O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests,

take to your heart your son who is close to you
because of his priestly ordination,
and because of the power which he has received
to carry on the work of Christ
in a world which needs him so much.

Be his comfort, be his joy, be his strength,

and especially help him
to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy. Amen.

(+John Joseph, Cardinal Carberry (d.1998)
Archbishop of St. Louis 1968-1979

"Yes, We Are Brothers But We Are Not Saved As Brothers. We Are Saved By the Sacrifice."

As those in "the 'hood" would say...

Whomp! There it is!

The above quote was Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos as he discussed with four British journalists why celebrating the Extraordinary Form Mass is so important and how Pope Benedict XVI wishes to introduce what His Holiness calls the "Gregorian Rite" to every parish in England and Wales. This little press conference is still emitting shock waves within the Catholic cognoscenti in England.

I was reading Fr. Z's entry on Elena Curti's article regarding the press conference, Ringing in the Old. As I read the quote I used as a title, this thought landed on my soul with full force - Worship of community has taken the place of adoring God through the sacrifice of His Son.

I value community. During my years away from the Catholic church, I enjoyed small groups and adult Bible studies. I was involved in prayer groups, mission trips, and a slew of ministries. All of them afforded the opportunity to become better acquainted with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We grew closer to one another as we served in the church. But the "growing closer to one another" worked in conjunction with our own understanding of God's truth.

The Catholic church is different. (As I keep realizing on oh-so-many levels.)

The Mass is THE preeminent glue that holds the church together. Or at least from my prior training, that's how I understood it. But the "glue" was not focusing on one another and how we "experienced" the Mass. The glue was focusing on the sacrifice of Jesus. Simple, yet profound. Bold, but yet nuanced. "The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass" is too often misunderstood by Protestants as "re-sacrificing Jesus." Nothing could be further from the truth.

The more I reacquaint myself with the Mass, the more I see it in all its beauty and truth - and I have seen this beauty and truth mainly through the prism of the Gregorian Rite. Jesus Christ was indeed sacrificed "once and for all":

For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. - Rom. 6:9, 10 (RSV)

However, we need to remember His sacrifice. We need to remember because there is so much in this world that can cause us to forget. There is so much self-indulgence in the world that leads our eyes toward our own preferences, our own wants, our own desires - that we believers can easily forget about the "I have been crucified with Christ" part. (Gal. 2:20)

It is this self-indulgence I've noticed the most. It isn't just in Catholic churches, but all churches. The focus went from adoring Christ to "getting my needs met." It went from reverencing God to "expressing myself." It evolved from confessing our sins to justifying politically-correct causes. The list could go on and on and on.

The Gregorian Rite is (in my mind), setting things "right" again. It's setting the broken bones. It provides grounding for those who have flown a little too far from their spiritual home and mistakenly believe they're under the "Shadow of His Wing" when in fact they're huddling under a garbage heap. Strong words, I know, from a recent "reclaimer." But I've already seen the trap in other churches. Pope Benedict is trying to lovingly corral his children back into the safe fold of our Heavenly Father's flock.

I know there will be many who will never, ever like "The Latin Mass." They'd rather chew glass than sit through an hour and a half of unintelligible Latin and the whole stand-kneel-sit-stand-bow-stand-kneel routine. I don't believe that the Gregorian Rite is for everyone to love. But I do believe it is for everyone to attend at least once and then re-examine the Mass through its lens. There is no reason why the Novus Ordo could not be transformed by such prayerful consideration.

What I think is happening right now is that many who love their "freedoms" realize their "ideological joyriding"* days are coming to an end and that Papa has taken back the keys to the car.

* From The Courage To Be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of the Church by George Weigel, p 36

What I Love About Catholicism: Priests

Fr. Augustine Tolton, the first black U.S. priest

A part of me is still shaking her head in disbelief that I am having such thoughts. Only those who were fully involved with Evangelical/Non-denominational churches will understand what I'm saying.

For 25 years, I attended churches that did not have a clear hierarchy. Senior pastors obtained their roles by either having a vision to build a church (and built it from the ground up), succeeded another pastor by serving within the church and in essence being "promoted" to the senior position, or they were hired from the outside by some steering committee. (Which opens up a whole other discussion in itself.)

The Roman Catholic church is quite different. Men discern a calling from God to enter into a lifetime of service to the Church. It is a mysterious thing, a powerful thing, and a humbling thing - all rolled into one.

When I was involved in the non-Catholic churches, I developed a mild case of apathy toward priests, mixed with just a tad of doubt. (And okay, maybe some condescension.) I looked at the whole idea of the priesthood as passe, un-Scriptural, and a holdover from the Dark Ages. I thought priests (now don't hit me) were elitist; exercising spiritual authority that in reality was available to every Christian.

In fact, a few years ago, I could have had a great conversation with Elena Curti, who is the Deputy Editor of The Tablet, a British weekly Catholic paper. When she recently heard Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos announce that Pope Benedict XVI wanted to introduce the "Gregorian Rite" (also known as the Tridentine Rite) to every Western church, Ms. Curti was slightly horrified. Her response (emphasis mine):

Your Eminence, I think many Catholics are rather confused by this new emphasis on the Tridentine Rite, mainly because we were taught that the new Rite represented real progress, and many of us who have grown up with it see it as real progress, that there are Eucharistic ministers, women on the sanctuary, that we are all priests, prophets and kings. This new emphasis to many of us seems to deny that.

From the article "Traditional Mass for 'all the parishes'" by Damian Thompson, The Telegraph, June 15, 2008

I understand. In fact, Ms. Curti's description of the laity is almost identical to that of Evangelical churches. For years, I felt I was a part of "the priesthood." I felt as though we were all one body, with no real distinction between leadership and congregation. In fact, some churches emphasized "servant leadership" so much that there wasn't much deference given to leadership. Some would say they just got stuck with the job of doing the work. (Sad, but true.)

Catholics view priests much differently. I'm reading George Weigel's book, The Courage to be Catholic: Crisis, Reform and the Future of the Church. Whenever I read Weigel, I am confronted with what Catholicism is; which is many things but one that it is not is a denomination. It is not "an institution whose form is typically defined by the will of its members - but a Church - a community whose basic structure and boundaries are defined, once and for all, by the will of Christ. For the Church is the Body of Christ, and those who are ordained to act in persona Christi, "in the person of Christ," exercise headship in the Body, the Church." (p. 26)

Vatican II reaffirmed what the priesthood meant:

"...ordained priests are "living instruments of Christ the eternal priest." At his ordination, every priest "assumes the person of Christ." The Catholic priest, in other words, is not simply a religious functionary, a man licensed to do certain kinds of ecclesiastical business. A Catholic priest is an icon, a living re-presentation, of the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ. He makes Christ present in the Church in a singular way, by acting in persona Christi, "in the person of Christ," at the altar and in administering the sacraments."

The Courage to be Catholic: Crisis, Reform and the Future of the Church, George Weigel, p 23

As the lines blurred between the priesthood and the laity, it eroded the understanding that the priesthood is unique and set apart. The respect and reverence that used to be accorded to such men was lost. Could this have been a factor in the sexual abuse scandals of some priests? Perhaps. If a priest was not fully aware of his role as an icon of Christ, then I would think it made it easier to see himself as an individual with no connection or responsibility to the church at large.

I heard a recorded interview of Pope Benedict but it may have been was when he was a Cardinal. I wish I had particulars, but I don't. At one point, the interviewer asked Pope Benedict what he thought about priests who had been involved in sexual abuse. Pope Benedict was very concise. He said he didn't think they took their faith seriously. If they did take their faith seriously, there was no way they could harm a child or a teenager.

In spite of this, I have begun to love priests more and more, especially the younger ones. I know of the earnest devotion that is often the earmark of young adults. It is natural. When one is younger, they are thankfully free of the emotional baggage that often comes in time with years of service. They are hopeful and optimistic. They are to be held in prayer as God sets them upon firmer footing, for their faith will begin to strengthen as they witness God delivering them time and time again from evil.

They have made sacrifices that I can't begin to know. They seek to serve in a culture that no longer acknowledges their role and all too often, denigrates them for it. I believe those who are called into the priesthood during this time will be required to step up to the plate in a more substantial way than their twentieth-century predecessors.

But still, priests are with us and they've been given spiritual authority from God to do the job of leading His Church by submitting to the Head, who is Christ Jesus.

I am more in awe of them than ever.