Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8 — The Georgia Bulletin, November 21, 1985
Susan Sendelbach
Susan Sendelbach is a pastoral care chaplain at St.
Joseph’s Hospital. She is a member of Transfiguration
parish, Marietta.
1. Yes, my life has been
deeply affected by the
renewal in the Catholic
Church since the Second
Vatican Council. My pro
fession, my ministry, my
faith, and understanding of
other faiths and denomina
tions was enhanced.
At the time of the Vatican
II Council I was in gram-
mer school. As a child, I
remember seeing the
changes in the Church.
I flowed more easily with these changes and accepted them
as the Church authorities around me were quite helpful in
educating us through the transition. I feel that I was at a good
age to remember the years prior to the Second Vatican Coun
cil and through these memories I understand what adults
older than me remember well.
As an adult I am profoundly grateful for the changes that
Vatican II brought about. My own faith in God and commit
ment to the Church was deepened through my active in
volvement on committees, through music, and in the
liturgy. I felt my faith expression supported and my pro
pensity for questioning affirmed.
Through my deepened faith in God and increasingly ac
tive involvement in the Church I chose to study for profes
sional ministry. I am currently a hospital chaplain and
before that I was in Catholic campus ministry. I have serv
ed in a variety of professional ministry positions including
parish ministry, jail chaplain, psychiatric chaplain,
halfway-house counselor, etc. All of these ministries would
not have been open to me if Vatican II had not called forth a
greater involvement from the laity to leadership. I feel that
I can more readily utilize the gifts and talents that God has
given me for the service of others and the Church.
2. Vatican II addressed many issues of reform, of which
there have been great strides in implementation. I’d like to
see a great many more changes, and most of these would
come from our taking another look at the documents
themselves and seeing what we have done and what still
needs to be done. It is my hope that those meeting at the up
coming Synod will utilize the time in this way — to further
enhance the work begun at Vatican II.
I see wonderful reforms that have happened in parishes
with increased leadership and use of the gifts of the laity on
many levels. Through this shared ministry priests and men
and women in religious communities are also more freed to
minister more effectively. Yet in many parishes the active
participation and voice of the people could be more greatly
enhanced. I’d like for us to move one step further and ex
plore the power of consensus decision-making and affirma
tion of each others gifts of time and talent.
In a similar light we could continue to put new energy into
creating dynamic liturgies and prayer services. I feel that
our spirituality is the basis from which we all enhance our
participation in the community of believers. Active,
creative liturgical committees formed from a people of
diverse backgrounds who are centered in faith and prayers
all help our worship, preaching and liturgical roles enrich
ourselves and those who come to the Church.
Christian Catholic education has been emphasized and
needs to be more greatly utilized over the next many years.
We have formed a vast resource of trained educators to aid
us in our spiritual growth. I would like to encourage this ad
vance.
I would like to see a broadening of collegiality on all
levels of the Church structure. I believe the Holy Spirit
speaks to and through each person. We can expand our
openness to shared decision-making.
Finally, I am personally enriched by the greater open
ness to a variety of ministerial professions in the Church
since Vatican II. I would like for us as a whole Church to
seriously consider expanding these opportunities so all peo
ple of faith can utilize the gifts of service that God gave us.
Sometimes we seem to lock our mind into ideas of what
priests can do, sisters can do, what the laity can do, and
yes, even what bishops can do and those in those roles may
have other gifts to share that are untapped.
Can we freely explore whether priests need to be all
celibate males? Can we envision greater roles of leadership
for women, married people, the young, the old, the
“handicapped”? At this time in our Church we experience
what some would term as a shortage of vocations. Perhaps
we can reframe this as a time of opportunity. Maybe the
vocations are present in the same or even greater numbers,
but we need to open our hearts and minds to see vocations
and ministerial expression in a new way.
Roberto Montana
Roberto Montana is a
Hispanic Counselor with
Catholic Social Services.
He is a member of St.
Jude’s parish in Sandy
Springs.
1. I really think so. The
idea of the Church became
more of a living community
than before, became the
product of our interaction
with other brothers, the im
ages of Christ.
The major emphasis in
the biblical theology looked
to me like the return to the
true sources and the becom
ing of a more authentic
faith based more on the
simple words of the Bible
and not in the complicated
concepts of the philosophy
on style.
The liturgy with the
priest facing the par
ticipants and the use of the
language of the people in
volved on one side
demystified a great deal the
ceremonies and made me
more of a concelebrant.
2. I would restore the
following: In the eagerness
for “aggiornamento” cer
tain obligations were sup
pressed, and unfortunately
people do not appreciate too
easy things; people get con
fused and think that they
are simply not important
any more; examples could
be the fasting before com
munion, the kneeling posi
tions, the environment of
silence, respect and
meditation.
The religious clothing for
Father Gerard F. Gill,
M.S.F.S., is pastor of St.
Patrick’s parish in Nor-
cross.
1. It’s hard to answer that
question as I would have to
know the extent of fulfill
ment I would have attained
if there had been no Vatican
Council. I know that the
changes, particularly those
pertaining to the liturgy
and the renewed emphasis
on sacred Scripture forced
me to a greater study of
these subjects than I
perhaps would otherwise
have taken and this has
given me a better under
standing and deeper ap
preciation of their value
and meaning. This in turn
has brought me closer to the
Church and made me more
aware of the tremendous
mystery of God’s love for
his creatures and the
wonder of God’s giving in
the Mass. The true spirit of
the Council has been a great
inspiration for me and has
helped me find a fulfillment
in my priestly life.
2. There have been many
wonderful things happen
ing in the Church since the
Council based on the spirit
of renewal advocated by the
Council. Renewal is the key
word and it is to be em
phasized. Sometimes it
seems that the spirit of the
Council is misunderstood
and taken to be a spirit of in
novation. Thus there is a
tendency to see the Council
as a sweeping away of all
that went before and a call
to begin again in a new way.
In reality, the Council was
calling upon us to brush the
dust and cobwebs off what
we had, consolidate and
build upon it, expand it and
open it up to all the world.
Emphasizing a spirit of in
novation tends to create an
either/or mentality, pre-
Vatican II or post-Vatican
II. Renewal helps to main
tain continuity with the
past, expanded and enrich
ed in the post-Vatican II
period. The idea of innova
tion also tends to focus upon
the superficial the “how” a
thing is done and loses sight
of the significance of
“what” is being done. Our
religion itself becomes
superficial and unstable. I
would like to see a restora
tion of spiritual values, of
Val Vincent Bathea is a
parishioner at Sts. Peter
and Paul in Decatur,
second-year candidate for
the diaconate and chairper
son of the Archdiocese
Religious Unity Commis
sion.
1. When I was first in
troduced to the documents
of the Vatican II Council
about five years ago, I was
very surprised. As a
Catholic, it really confirm
ed my belief that God’s peo
ple in today’s time were still
proclaiming the good news
of Jesus Christ in addition
to the Holy Scriptures. This
was a pleasant surprise. As
I read through the
documents pertaining to
liturgy, laity, ecumenism,
and justice and peace, I
knew that we were still ex
periencing God’s revela
tion. We were still being in
spired by God to com
municate the good news to
His people via writing and
preaching. This helped us to
love our faith (the Catholic
community) even more
than before.
Yes, the Vatican II
documents have helped us
to become better Catholics.
First, although I am glad
that it is structured as it is,
it created a greater unity
between the laity and the
Holy Father and his
bishops. It opened the door
for us to become more
directly responsible for the
Bride of Christ, and to
become more willing ser
vants of the Body of Christ,
the Church. Secondly, it
brought the. liturgy of the
Word, and the Liturgy of the
Eucharist to the center of
our lives. Finally, it helped
us to become better ser
vants to God’s call of unity
in His one, holy, aposto
lic Catholic community
(Church).
Vatican II allowed us to
exercise the gifts that God
has given us in order to
serve or proclaim the
Gospel. It gave more mean-
ing to the givers and
receivers of the gifts of the
holy sacraments. It helped
us to reach out to those who
are not in communion with
God. And finally, it gave us
leadership towards unity
among other faiths.
2. Now that we have got
ten over the era of Latin
liturgies, it would be
wonderful to bring it back
on a limited basis. The
Latin liturgies are so
beautiful when you under
stand the liturgy. We see
this being very effective
via the direction of the
music ministry.
The visibility of the or
dained ministers of the
Catholic faith has weaken
ed. If we restore its strict
dress code for the priests
and deacons, in that they
should always be properly
attired, including a clerical
collar when in public and
performing God’s work, it
will help strengthen that
visibility. The priests and
deacons are represen
tatives of the Holy Father
and his bishops to the
Catholic community and
representative of the
Catholic faith to all other
faith communities. It is
good to see that the bishops
have maintained this one
tradition very well.
We need to be fed God’s
words and God’s grace to
day, not just through the
liturgy but through Scrip
tural study and spiritual
renewal. It should be stan
dard that each parish have
Carlene Thomas is a
parishioner at Our Lady of
Lourdes, Atlanta, where
she is a lector and active in
the women’s organization.
She is a retired teacher and
last year served as first
vice-president of the Arch
diocese of Atlanta Council
of Catholic Women.
1. I am a product of the
doctrine taught through the
Catholic schools by the nuns
and priests with deep belief
in the precepts of the
Church. The precepts have
followed me with the Chris
tian influence of my family.
Therefore, I can’t firmly
say that Vatican II has
changed me to a great ex
tent.
2. I would like to see the
Sign of Peace removed
from the Offertory and
placed either at the beginn
ing or the end of Mass. I
would like to see Benedic
tion celebrated more often.
priests and nuns; I am very
conscious that the habit
does not make the monk but
it helps both the lay person
and the consecrated to be
always aware of the
transcendental mission and
responsibility of the ones
exclusively dedicated to the
Lord.
The Gregorian Chant,
even though it can be
representative of an age
and culture, for the enor
mous tradition had become
almost a “sine qua non”
element of the rituals that
gave them an “imprint” of
solemnity, respect and
simplicity that hardly can
be reached by other styles.
Father Gerard
Gill, M.S.F.S.
that spirituality which has
always characterized the
Catholic Church.
an organized and pastorally
supported Scripture study
and spiritual renewal pro
gram. We need to bring
back the work of the Holy
Spirit in our Church hierar
chy, religious and lay peo
ple in all faiths. We also
need to see a greater com
mitment on ecumenism. It
also should become another
fulltime ministry and
teaching in each diocese
and parish in an effort to br
ing all faiths together.
Finally, we need to see
the newness of the light of
God through the work of
evangelization. Today,
evangelization is the
modern living tool that we
should use to teach and
maintain the work of God's
love for His people in com
munion with the Holy Spirit
and the body of Christ. This
will allow both clergy and
laity to see and hear clearly
God’s call to maintain his
Church through acts of
love, faith, caring, and
sharing.
Carlene Thomas
