Newspaper Page Text
June 3,1982
PAGE 5
Why I Need A Community Of Belief
MEMBERS OF OUR LADY of Sorrows parish and SS. nature, a communal fiath so to fully experience its richness,
Cyril and Methodius parish relax at a reception following a one normally needs to belong to a parish or some other
bi-parish Mass in Rock Springs, Wyo. Christiantiy is, by faith community. (NC Photo by John S. Gregg)
Community Free Flow
BY NEIL PARENT
One Sunday, while backing the car out of
the driveway to go to Mass, my 5-year-old
daughter plaintively asked why we went to
church when so many of her friends did not.
During our drive to the parish, her
question took on a somewhat prophetic note
as we observed many people outside on this
beautiful spring morning ~ none of whom
gave the appearance of going to church.
There were joggers, those working in their
gardens, a few bicyclers and some returning
from the market with packages tucked under
their arms.
Maybe these people had gone to church
earlier; or maybe they were to go later. But
probably neither, in many cases. Probably
they had joined the ranks of those who no
longer affiliate with any church or
synagogue. In recent years, a good number
of our friends and relatives have either
deliberately chosen - or slipped into - this
lifestyle.
Many of these people believe in God and
guide their lives according to religious or
ethical principles. But for some reason they
no longer see a need to be members of a
church community.
We are all different, of course. Perhaps
many non-churchgoers see themselves
growing spiritually just as well outside the
church as in.
But I know that I don’t. And I suspect
that the same is true of most Christians,
affiliated with a church or not. After all,
Christianity is by nature a communal faith.
So to fully experience its richness, one
generally needs to belong to a parish or some
other faith community.
Here are a few reasons why I think so:
1. Membership in a church community
serves to broaden our horizons of faith.
When we participate in a church community,
we are bound to be confronted by issues we
might otherwise choose to avoid, such as
examining our style of life in relation to
gospel norms.
For instance, we may be asked to consider
our responsibilities to the poor and the
downtrodden, or to labor tirelessly for a
world of peace and justice.
If left to my own devices, I’d probably
choose watering the azaleas over
contemplating my obligations to the poor.
But in a community, I freely place myself
in a position to be influenced - to be jarred -
by other ways of seeing my faith and the
responsibilities that go with it.
This stretching of our views comes not
only from the message that is proclaimed
from the pulpit but from the example of
other church members who frequently serve
as models for our own behavior.
2. There is also a give-and-take to
community involvement that is healthy for
faith. In a parish - as in a family - we must
adjust our preferences for the sake of the
common good.
This adapting helps prevent us from
identifying, say, our own views or style of
prayer, as the correct way, the only way.
Parish life exposes us to a rich diversity of
faith expressions which can be an excellent
source for our spiritual growth.
3. Communities can provide effective
ways for believers to translate their faith
into action. Parishes not only can help raise
our consciousness about who needs to be
served; they can provide the means for us to
respond to those needs.
Morever, parishes can provide the support
and encouragement that are so important for
ministry.
By contrast, believers who have no
community must identify alone how they
want to carry out the injunctions of the
Gospel for serving others, and then must
pursue that activity without support from a
faith community.
4. Another important reason for having a
community dimension of faith is found in
ritual. A faith devoid of ritual expression
runs the risk of being too cerebral, too
limited in its appeal. The Christian faith is
meant to touch us as whole persons, our
bodies, our feelings and our minds.
When we engage in ritual - at Mass or at
the other sacraments -- we experience
symbols and images that have emerged over
countless ages. These symbols represnet
humanity’s deepest religious longings, hopes
and needs. They are our faith forged into
visible, tangible substances.
Thus, when we enter into ritual, we are
bound together as people. We discover that
we are not alone; that we are all God’s
children.
Christianity seeks to give us this insight
and experience. But, it is well nigh
impossible to do so outside community.
BY DAVID GIBSON
A friend of ours is the kind of person who
just naturally keeps elderly people in mind.
When our friend, a woman in her mid-30s,
invites guests to her home, she often invites
one or two elderly friends to join the group.
She also joins a group that includes
numerous elderly people for a monthly Mass
in our parish. It gives her an opportunity to
see some of these people regularly.
You might see this as a gift our friend has:
She knows elderly people of the community,
she cares about them and she recognizes
their gifts.
Her gift is not everyone’s gift. The plight
of many elderly people in modern society,
recounted in innumerable books, articles and
television programs in recent years, proves
that. Many elderly people in society say they
feel lonely and neglected.
In such a society, the gift our friend
possesses serves as a gift for others who are
not elderly. For simply by exercising her
natural gift in an unassuming way, she calls
the attention of others her age to the
presence of elderly people in the parish and
in the community.
Her gift serves as a reminder to others and
a form of encouragement to them.
A man we know also has a special gift. It
is a gift for serving young people of high
school age. He teaches them in a parish
religious education program. He goes on
their weekend Search retreats with them. On
numerous occasions he has stayed on late
into the night talking with them. And he
never seems to tire of it all.
His gift is not just a gift of patience,
although he always seems very patient with
young people. It is not just a gift of
dedication either, although he is very
dedicated.
This man has the gift of caring very much
for teen-agers. He recognizes their gifts, he
cares about them and he draws out the best
in them.
Naturally his gift also tends to get shared
with other people. Simply by doing what he
does with young people, he calls the
attention of others in his community to the
presence of youth and to their good
qualities.
These people it seems to me ~ the woman
who is mindful of the elderly, the man who
is equally mindful of youth -- possess an
insight. Like Jesus who gave sight to the
blind man Bartimaeus in Mark’s Gospel, they
give their insight to others in their Christian
communities.
However, without meaning in any way to
denigrate the two individuals discussed here
or their gifts, I think it is fair to say that
each of them has imperfections. Because
they do have imperfections - like almost
everyone! - they benefit from the gifts of
others in their communities.
Each of these individuals relies on the
insights of others just as others rely on the
insights of the two individuals.
In a vibrant Christian community, there is
a free flow of gifts. One person’s gift for
attentive, productive conversations with her
own teen-agers reminds other parents of the
possibilities for communicating more deeply
with their own children.
Another person’s gift may be his ability to
speak openly of his love for his family and
his friends. His gift is a reminder to the
community that love needs to be expressed.
The gifts other people possess could
become a problem to us if we were
intimidated by them. None of us, obviously,
can be exactly like anyone else in the
community. The talents and gifts of others
are not meant in the Christian community to
be a put-down.
The gifts and talents of others are meant
to be a lift-up. Their insights can point our
gaze in new and fresh directions. They can
help to renew us.
And, remember, our own gifts may help
to renew others.
YOUNG PEOPLE ACTIVE in the
Search program in the Austin, Texas,
Diocese join in song at a CYO
convention. David Gibson writes of a
man who has a special gift for serving
young people of high school age. He
teaches them in a parish religious
education program and goes on
weekend Search retreats with them.
On numerous occasions he has stayed
on late into the night talking with
them and he never seems to tire of it
all. (NC Photo by Joan Penzenstadler)
How Insight Grows
BY KATHARINE BIRD
As a child, Father E. Carl Lyon of Silver
Spring, Md., enjoyed going to visit his uncle
in the Maryland countryside. With a twinkle
in his eye, Father Lyon says his uncle had a
reputation in the family for being lazy.
Perhaps not by coincidence, the pastor
adds, this uncle chose to make his living as a
shepherd, spending long days in the open
fields watching his sheep. Even today,
several decades later, Father Lyon hqs a clear
memory of watching, fascinated, as his uncle
“talked” with his sheep.
The uncle, in common with shepherds
everywhere, had his own special call.
Whenever he gave this special call, Father
Lyon explains, the sheep would interrupt
whatever they were doing and turn to follow
him. His uncle would use the call if he felt
the flock was getting unruly, or if some
danger threatened.
According to Father Lyon, the picture of
his uncle calling to his sheep often comes
back to him when he sees Jesus referred to
as the Good Shepherd. For the priest, it is a
concrete image.
In Father Lyon’s view, when the New
Testament first talked about Jesus as the
Good Shepherd, it intended to present an
image which the early Christians could
immediately identify with.
What Christians today need, Father Lyon
says, is to recognize the call of Jesus and to
know they belong in some special way to
this particular shepherd and none other.
Father Lyon’s charming story gave me a
fresh look at a familiar image of Jesus. For
having lived in cities my entire life, I had no
idea that sheep literally listen to the
shepherd. I always considered “Good
Shepherd” simply a felicitous name for
Jesus.
Often, the story or the true account that
someone within the parish community tells
- like Father Lyon in this case - is the way
we come to a refreshed understanding of
faith.
But often too, what others do, as much as
what they say, is what refocuses our
attention on the meaning of our faith.
A number of years ago, I knew a young
woman who was struggling to decide what
direction her life should take. She and her
husband had strong views on their
obligations as Christians. Childless at the
time, the woman volunteered a number of
hours each week at a children’s center.
There she became aware of some children
who badly needed a home but who were
considered unlikely adoption prospects.
Frequently they were older children.
After much discussion, the couple decided
to become foster parents and welcomed a
teen-age brother and sister into their home.
However they did not find the process of
adjustment easy. The children, especially the
girl, found it hard to adjust to life in a small
family.
Eventually, the girl ran away from their
home a couple of times. She returned each
time, but the couple, increasingly concerned,
sought professional counseling in the matter.
They were determined to help her. But
eventually, a decision was reached that the
girl would leave them for a situation where
she might be happier.
The boy, however, stayed. And the family
settled into a somewhat quieter life. Today,
the teen-ager they brought into their home is
a valued member of the family. And in the
space of two years the couple’s family has
grown with the birth of their two babies.
I remember feeling at the time how lucky
we Christians are to have the example of
such people in our community. They
vountarily took on a demanding role that
many of us couldn’t see ourselves
undertaking.
Their example stimulated me and others I
know to look more carefully at how we are
responding to Christ’s call.
The Story Of Bartimaeus
KNOW
YOUR FAITH
(All Articles On This Page Copyrighted 1982 By N.C. News Service)
s J
BY FATHER JOHN J. CASTELOT
The story of the blind begger, Bartimaeus,
is both an ending and a beginning.
As Mark tells the story in Chapter 10 of his
Gospel, it concludes the section in which
Jesus attempts to cure the blindness of his
disciples. It also sets the scene for Jesus’
final journey to the cross.
The little group has reached Jericho after
traveling through the area east of the Jordan.
From there it will be a climb of about 15
miles west to Jerusalem.
As they leave Jericho, a blind begger calls
out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!”
The title is messianic and, for the first time,
Jesus accepts it without demur. Shortly it
will be all' too evident just what kind of
messiah he is.
In spite of the crowd’s efforts to silence
him, Bartimaeus persists in his cries for help.
Finally Jesus asks that Bartimaeus be
brought to him. Rather unnecessarily Jesus
asks him: “What do you want me to do for
you?”
But while the question may be
unnecessary, it serves to elicit from the blind
man a meaningful reply, “I want to see.”
Up to this point, everyone, including the
disciples, has refused to see. Bartimaeus’
request is granted in a way that brings out
the meaning of the incident.
Jesus says to him, “Be on your way! Your
faith has healed you.” It is especially
meaningful in the Greek text where the
word used for “healed” also means “saved.”
The .followers of Jesus, with their
perfectly good eyes, have not seen. The
blind man persists until he sees and
immediately starts to follow Jesus up the
road, along the way.
What way? Along the way Jesus’ followers
have not followed: the way of the cross,
which begins immediately with Jesus’ entry
into Jerusalem.
Readers of the Gospels almost inevitably
approach Mark’s version of Jesus’ trimphal
entry into Jerusalem with the accounts from
the other Gospels in mind. It is important to
remember that neither Mark nor his readers
knew those later versions. Therefore, in
reading Mark, one should try to discover
how he and his readers understood this entry
into Jerusalem.
Mark has condensed a great deal of
material into his account of the next six
days. His arrangement is designed to bring
everything into connection with the final
Passover.
As interpreted by Mark, the entry into
Jerusalem is a manifestation of Jesus as
messiah. Traditionally, the Mount of Olives
was believed to be the place from which the
messiah would appear.
One indication that Mark intends the
entry to be taken as a messianic
manifestation can be seen in the story of the
way Jesus locates a colt to ride into
Jerusalem. Mark obviously intends the story
of the colt to portray an extraordinary
knowledge on the part 1 of Jesus.
The description of the “colt tied” recalls
Genesis 49 where a passage deals with the
coming of a king from Judah. The phrase,
“on which no one has ridden” fulfills a
requirement for an animal to be used in a
religious ceremony. Mark also sees the
pilgrims’ shout of Psalm 118,26 - “Blessed is
he who comes in the name of the Lord” - as
applying to Jesus.
All in all, however,, Mark’s interpretation
of the entry to Jerusalem is decidedly
low-key. But it does portray Jesus as a
humble, peaceful messiah quite different
from the glorious conquering hero of
popular expectation.
The account ends rather anticlimatically
with Jesus simply going to the temple,
looking things over and returning to
Bethany.
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