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Thursday, October 26, 2000 The Southern Cross, Page 5 Everyday Graces Stray dog teaches lesson S he didn’t behave like an spoke, she’d wag her tail. ordinary stray. As soon .. It made no sense to try as I pressed the garage door % V&A to keep her. We had two button to let out the cat, ^ large dogs already, both she entered the garage | ^ females, who wouldn’t wagging her tail. She m ^ M % like her intruding in walked right up to me, her flt •<&'& 1 their space. They were head bowed as if waiting 'Mk 4 ■ in the fenced backyard for a pat. Stray dogs had Hj|L and apparently unaware come around our house of her presence in the before, but they were ar ^ 00 ar * garage. For a few sec- always skittish, circling the trash onds, I envisioned a scene, like cans, waiting for a chance to make a something from an old Lassie meal of our garbage. This dog acted episode, where we’d nurse her back as if she was coming home. to strength and she would become a I didn’t have to take a good look devoted family pet. But just caring to know she was a long way from for our healthy dogs and cats was a home. Her skin fit so tightly around burden at times. The time and her bones she looked like a cartoon expense involved in caring for this drawing of a dog. Her eyes were one would be too great. And what runny, her nose raw. She’d once if she died after all? been a beautiful dog, a hunting So I drove her to the shelter. She dog, I presumed. She had the face was too weak to jump into the back of a beagle, the body of a much of the van, so I had to lift her. It larger dog. Her coat was a hound’s was raining, and the parking lot brown and white. was full of puddles. I had two of When I fed her some dog chow, the children with me, and trying to she began to eat ravenously then keep them dry and get the dog pulled away after eating only a inside the shelter was a challenge, small portion. She lay on a blanket When I got the dog out of the van, we had set out for the cat. And she stood fast as I tugged on the there she stayed while I drove the leash. Shortly, a shelter employee children to school, checked the lost met us at the car and led the dog and found ads, called the animal inside. She took the dog to a back shelter. When I’d open the door to room while I filled out a form. She see if she was still there, she told me if the dog was healthy wouldn’t rise. She’d turn her head enough, they’d keep her. But to look at me and groan. When I they’d have to examine her first. I told her I’d call later to check on the dog’s condition. The rest of the day was busy, and I didn’t think much about the dog. By the time I returned home from car pools and errands, it was late, and when I got around to calling the shelter, it had closed for the day. The next morning, I called and spoke to the director. She told me they’d kept the dog overnight, but the dog’s condition hadn’t improved and she wasn’t eating. The dog had been euthanized earlier that morning. She went on to tell me that some hunters don’t feed their dogs be cause they believe hunger makes the dogs more aggressive. She said this dog was not the first she’d seen in such pathetic condition. I told her I’d been particularly touched by the dog’s affectionate nature. But it wasn’t just the dog’s gentle ness that affected me. I was also moved to reconsider my attitude to ward keeping her. Because it had been so easy to rationalize that tak ing her to the shelter was the right decision, I was reminded of how easy it is to extricate myself from in volvement in other areas of my life. On one level, caring for a starv ing dog can’t be compared to Christ’s call to care for “the least” among us. I’m the first to argue that human life is intrinsically more valuable. But on another level, when I consider the call to be com passionate and generous, even— especially—when it’s inconvenient, I can see how frequently I fail. Throughout my life, God has offered me countless opportunities to serve others, some appearing as obvious as a stray dog walking right into my garage. So many times, I can rationalize not to help. The man on the roadside holding the “will work for food” sign might be dangerous. The lonely young mother in my neighborhood might become too friendly and rely on me too much. Regularly volunteering at the elementary school might become too time-consuming and take away from my family life. Just as I delivered the dog to the shelter, I can find excuses to absolve myself from responsibility. I’m busy with the children. I can’t spare the money. I might get hurt. I might fail. What I did for that stray was pret ty good. At least, I wasn’t cruel. Taking her to the shelter was some thing any decent person would do. Still, her appearance in my garage on a rainy autumn morning was a reminder that, as a follower of Christ, I am called beyond doing what’s decent, what’s expected. 1 am called to serve as he would. Mary Hood Hart lives with her husband and four children in Sunset Beach, N.C. Who are the By Cathy Gilligan e have said that the number of lay minis ters in the church is growing but who are they, how are they getting trained and what are they doing in the church? The answers to many of these questions are found in two books pub lished last year. Parishes and Parish Ministers: A Study of Parish Lay Ministry by Monsignor Philip J. Mumion and David DeLambo of the National Pastoral Life Center and The Catholic Ministry Formation Directory 1999, editor Bryan T. Froehle, Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). Froehle’s directory indicates that in 1998-99 there were 29,137 students enrolled in 287 lay ministry formation programs in the U.S. Many of the training programs are sponsored by a dio cese or archdiocese. There are programs in 150 dioceses, and programs exist in every state and the District of Columbia. There are programs being taught in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Navajo, and American Sign Language. Women enrolled in lay ministry programs outnumber men by a ratio of nearly two to one. About one in four students in the formation programs is under 40. More than 60% are between 40 and 60. Seven percent are under 30. The students are 71% white, 23% Hispanic / Latino, 3% Black, lay ministers in the 2% Asian, and 1% Native American. From the research of Mumion and DeLambo we leam that women are 82% of the lay parish ministers. The percentage of men and women religious serving as lay parish ministers declined from 42% in 1992 to 29% in 1997. In 1997, lay parish ministers were in 63% of U.S. parishes; in 1992, they were in 54% of parishes. In 1997, 80% of lay parish ministers had a college educa tion and 53.5% had at least a master’s degree. The roles taken on by lay ministers fall in five major groupings: general pastoral ministers, reli gious educators, liturgists, music ministers, and youth ministers. Outside of the parishes lay min isters are found more frequently serving as chap lains. In 1997, there were approximately 2,730 certified members of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. At the same time 55% of the American Catholic Correctional Chaplains Association were lay. Until 1990 all prison chap lains were ordained. Of the 35 members of the National Catholic Conference for Seafarers, 9 are now lay ministers. The Catholic Campus Ministry Association has 900 lay members who care for Catholic college and university students on non-Catholic campuses. In another study, Catholicism USA: A Portrait of the Catholic Church in the United Church today? States by Bryan Froehle (Orbis Books), we leam that the numbers of lay pastoral ministers are disproportionately lower in the Northeast and the South, and highest in the Midwest and West. All recent studies of lay pastoral ministry point to the fact that Catholic population in the United States continues to grow (6% since 1992) and at the same time parish leadership by the laity continues to increase. Mumion and DeLambo’s research indicates that since 1992, lay pastoral ministry positions are more formal ized with job descriptions, contracts, perform ance evaluations and staff meetings. Salaries have also been improving and the median is actually close to that for all employees in the United States. Diocesan offices are more significantly involved in parish lay ministry through recruit ment, training, continuing education, staff development, and inclusion of lay pastoral workers in diocesan life. Continuing and expanded partnership between parishes and diocesan offices is desired by pastors and lay parish ministers. Cathy Gilligan is director of the Diocesan Tribunal.