On another blog, there is a discussion on the laity. Fr. Blake has started an important conversation about those who know the Faith and those who perhaps do not. I have a great memory of the document on the laity which came out in 1965 and challenged an entire generation of us youth to look at ourselves in a new and exciting manner. Pope Paul VI taught us lay people not only our responsibilities in the Church, but challenged us to meet those, not as clericized lay people, but as people who are to bring the Gospel into the world. I have written on this earlier here on this blog and in the past. The laity of 2012 in too many places have accepted no responsibility for their own growth in the Faith and have not grown up to take ownership of their own consciences.
To blame priests, or bishops for not leading is a lame excuse for not being a saint. See my post almost two weeks ago on this point. What has arisen on Fr. Blake's blog is the question of maybe a two-tiered Church, of those who know or are in the know and those who are not.
We have only ourselves to blame for a lack of knowledge. And the document clearly sets forth the idea that we all have different talents to use within the Church, which we know from St. Paul's great letter, First Corinthians, Chapter 12. The problem is not a recognition of gifts, but an acceptance of responsibility.
Look at one of the sections of this document, which I studied in high school and college, and which my parents studied in an adult faith formation group in their parish in the middle to late 1960s.
Since Christ, sent by the Father, is the source and origin of the whole apostolate of the Church, the success of the lay apostolate depends upon the laity's living union with Christ, in keeping with the Lord's words, "He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). This life of intimate union with Christ in the Church is nourished by spiritual aids which are common to all the faithful, especially active participation in the sacred liturgy.(5) These are to be used by the laity in such a way that while correctly fulfilling their secular duties in the ordinary conditions of life, they do not separate union with Christ from their life but rather performing their work according to God's will they grow in that union. In this way the laity must make progress in holiness in a happy and ready spirit, trying prudently and patiently to overcome difficulties.(6) Neither family concerns nor other secular affairs should be irrelevant to their spiritual life, in keeping with the words of the Apostle, "What-ever you do in word or work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Col. 3:17).
Such a life requires a continual exercise of faith, hope, and charity. Only by the light of faith and by meditation on the word of God can one always and everywhere recognize God in Whom "we live, and move, and have our being" ( Acts 17:28), seek His will in every event, see Christ in everyone whether he be a relative or a stranger, and make correct judgments about the true meaning and value of temporal things both in themselves and in their relation to man's final goal.
Read the entire link above, as this is a great motivational document. Now, what happened? How is it that this clarion call was not heeded except by a few?
I blame the same educational dumbing down which happened in all the schools as connected to this phenomenon of the laity not taking responsibility for learning the Faith and acting out that Faith in the market place. When expectations for learning were destroyed by a false egalitarianism, when no one was allowed to be better than anyone else in the classroom, when mediocrity won the day (my famous story of all the kindergarten children-all-getting awards on award day so that no one would feel left out), when the kids' baseball team stopped having try-outs, when tracking in schools was stopped so that no one would be hurt by being in the lower tracks, and so on, the laity got used to being lazy about the Faith. The message of one of my favorite plays which I used to teach, Amadeus, is that mediocrity wins over excellence in these times. The Salieris have killed the Mozarts.
As a teacher and a lay person I can say that the most rewarding times I have had in catechesis have been when I have taught the Mystagogia, or Mystagogy classes after the RCIA first or second year, which were absolutely not required but attended by those who wanted to grow in the Faith. What a fantastic experience it was to teach those who wanted to learn more about the Mysteries of the Faith. All the laity should want to do this, and it was free!
So, why are people "too busy", "too tired", "too stressed" to take advantage of Adult Faith Formation when offered? Is it offered everywhere? As I have noted elsewhere, Bishop Finn in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has a wonderful program. This type of thing could be happening everywhere.
