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ON PILGRIMAGE
Page 4 • Faith Today
“For Christian laity it
is a question of com
mitment to imbuing all
temporal circumstances
with moral values and
evangelical spirit: culture,
art, education, health and
the medical profession, rela
tions within the world of
work, social relationships,
economic transactions, civic and
national responsibilities and in
ternational relations” (Pope John
Paul II in Antwerp, Belgium, in
1985.)
Present signs suggest that in
parishes of the future, people will
spend much more time reflecting
on precisely what it means to be a
businessman and woman, or a
homemaker, or a teacher who is a
member of Christ’s body.
Homilists will preach on this.
Adult lay Catholics will meet in
groups to pray and reflect on the
difference Christ makes for the 95
percent of their time that is spent
in the worlds of work, homelife
and leisure activities.
It won t be a matter, however,
of saying in only the most general
terms that faith’s impact ought to
be felt in these areas. Rather, peo
ple are likely to probe in con
siderable detail what the Gospel
means for Catholic scientists,
politicians and voters, economists,
journalists and many others.
This is not a startling predic
tion. Already the seeds are being
sown for such an emphasis in
church life. All indications are
that when the world Synod of
Bishops meets next October in
Rome to discuss the life of the
church’s laity, much will be heard
on precisely this topic, often
referred to as “the church in the
marketplace.”
To a great extent it is the laity
who carry the Gospel into the
marketplace. This role of the laity
reflects a teaching of the Second
Vatican Council that has received
too little attention, many bishops,
theologians and lay leaders feel.
Bishop Raymond Lucker of New
Ulm, Minn., spoke about this dur
ing a meeting of the U.S. bishops
in the summer of 1986. The laity
are called to transform the society
in which they live and work, he
said. That is a point Pope John
Paul II raises on many, many
occasions.
Bishop Lucker said, “It is
especially in the family and socie
ty, in sexuality and economics, in
marriage and in work that this
transformation must take place.”
And lay people need support in
“their role as church in the world
of work, family and leisure.”
“We need to help lay people,”
Bishop Lucker said, “to see that in
their everyday life, in their
families and in their work and in
their recreational activities, they
are the church, ”
• CHILDREN'S PLACE
A priest of the peasants
By Janaan Manternach
NC News Service
A ll his life people called
him Tilo. That was a
warm, shortened form
of his real name, Rutilio
Grande.
Tilo grew up in the town of El
Paisnal, El Salvador, where he was
born in 1928. His grandmother
raised him after his parents
separated when he was 3 or 4.
His family’s breakup hurt Tilo
very much.
As a child Tilo was shy and
anxious. He liked to be alone. His
teachers suspected he had emo
tional problems.
When he was 12, Tilo entered
the seminary. He wanted to
become a priest. Five years later
he joined the Jesuit order. His
emotional problems grew worse
and he had to be hospitalized. But
he successfully struggled against
his illness and was ordained a
priest in 1959.
Father Rutilio taught in the
seminary and in a high school in
the capital city, San Salvador. But
he wanted to work with the poor
Crossword Puzzle
Across:
1. "Tilo" was o shortened
form of
2. Tilo received
that he would be killed.
3. The peasants began to read
the together.
Down: i—
4. Tilo wanted to work with the
poor in the
countryside.
5. Tilo made the peasants aware
of their .
farmers in the countryside. In
1972 he joined a team of priests
and nuns in a special parish in the
country.
Tilo helped the poor peasants
form small communities of
families. They read the Bible
together. They began to discover
how close the Bible was to their
own lives. Tilo encouraged them
to care about each other, to help
one another as sisters and
brothers.
This took place in a country
where many were poor and a few
were very rich. The feeling was
growing among the poor that this
was not fair. The rich feared they
might lose power and money if
the peasants became too strong.
The government was unhappy
too. Leaders of some peasant
groups were arrested and
tortured.
Then Father Rutilio and other
priests reported they too had
received threats that they would
be killed if they continued their
parish work with the communities
of poor Christian farmers — work
that made the poor more aware of
their real dignity.
Xi!u6ip : uMOp p : sjeuujoj : umop y
aiqiQ : ssojdo £ ! sioejqi : ssojdd z 'oiiiiny : ssojdo \, : sjeMSuy
Tilo prayed. The newspapers
were reporting that other priests
were being tortured. But he
believed Jesus wanted him to con
tinue his work among the poor.
On Saturday March 12, 1977,
Tilo got into his jeep to drive to
his home town to celebrate the
Eucharist. Along the road he was
ambushed and shot. “We must do
what God wants,” were the last
words anyone heard him say.
Father Rutilio Grande died that
afternoon. Pope Paul VI called the
killing a “detestable crime.”
A fellow Jesuit said at a
memorial service for Father
Rutilio that the reason for his
death was his work “stressing
awareness among parishioners of
the dignity of the human person,
of human rights and human
development.”
(Ms. Manternach is the author
of catechetical works, scripture
stories and original stories for
children.)
What do you think?
□ Try your hand at writing a brief prayer. Write an evening
prayer to say at the end of the day. Think of ail that you
are thankful for; think of special needs you noticed during
the day — your own needs and those of others In the
prayer you write, speak with Jesus about those things.
From the bookshelf
In the book Someone’s There — Paths to Prayer for Young Peo
ple, by Francoise Darby-Berube and John Paul Berube, questions like
“Why do we pray?” and “How and where can we pray?” are
answered briefly. Old and new forms of prayer are introduced and
suggestions on preparing for the Sunday Eucharist and the sacra
ment of reconciliation are included. It is a helpful book on prayer for
children. (Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Ind. 46556. 1986. Paper
back, $4.95.)