We are the Church

We’ve heard it before, the saying “We are the Church” —  but who and what are we? We might only be subconsciously aware that something like 99,99% of the Church are lay people — and religious too are classed as lay people — while the remaining 0,01% are priests.

In June we begin the Year of the Priest. Obviously there will be a great focus on the ministerial priesthood, which is so essential to the Church and is in great need of vocations — but probably even more so of a sense of vocation, of who they are called to be in the service of the Church.

My work over the last few months has had a lot to do with preparation for the 2009 Pastoral Forum to be held in August. In 2007, 2008 and now again in 2009 a Pastoral Forum is intended as a vehicle for the bishops and the laity to engage in two-way dialogue. Priests and religious will be represented too, but the main purpose of these gatherings is to grapple with how the role of the laity is to be promoted, developed and supported in our local Church.

At workshops that were conducted by the bishops’ Department for Evangelisation we explored the “priesthood of the laity”, which will be the overall theme of the 2009 Pastoral Forum. So we looked into the function of a priest which is primarily offering prayer and intercession and offering sacrifice.

Everyone at baptism becomes sharers in the three-fold mission of Jesus as priest, prophet and king. In additional to their common priesthood, those ordained into the ministerial priesthood carry their calling out in specific ways. The other 99,99% of the Church carry out their task of the common priesthood in their own specific domains of the world — their family lives, workplace, school, sportsfield, shopping malls, etc.

How do they live out their priesthood? They do so  through their own spirituality, through prayer and through the sacrifices they make in their daily lives. According to the Church document on the “Vocation of the Laity” these, “if carried out in the Spirit”, are joined with Jesus’ sacrifice and offered to the Father at Mass.

It is clear that this teaching in documents and synods since the Second Vatican Council, including Ecclesia in Africa, has been quite slow in getting down to us at grassroots level. There has been far greater focus on how the laity can assist in the churchy parts of the ministry, such as teaching catechism and being assistant ministers and funeral ministers, than in the worldly parts.

At a recent workshop, when asked how an African man or woman would live out their priesthood in their family lives, the answers were beautiful, but highly idealistic too. “Teaching good cultural values by word and example, communication, honesty, love and respect for each other and society as a whole.” “Providing for family needs.” “Ensuring the home is an environment of love, joy, peace and harmony where the young are able to grow and become responsible, respectful adults who contribute to the betterment of the community and the country.” Such a message addresses both youth and their families as we focus on the June family life theme, “Youth grow to maturity.”

But are we living with our heads in the clouds and not our feet on the ground? If only that ideal situation was the reality in all families! There would be no violence, HIV/Aids, teenage pregnancies or drug or alcohol abuse.

We know that even good Catholic families experience marriage breakdown and teenage suicide. We know too that there is love, joy and harmony in all homes at some time and in many homes much of the time.

If we truly understand our priesthood, the prayer and the sacrifices that are called for and brought to God, if we are conscious of living in the presence of God in our daily lives at home, school and work and live up to the responsibilities that go with this, we might even produce more of the ministerial priests who are called to minister and serve the rest of us in God’s name.