A Couple of Reflections

I did not get back to blogging yesterday as duties and work around the house claimed my attention.  I am still moving in and yesterday I began to tackle my books which are still in boxes.  I think I broke the back on them, and the new shelves I had made are filling up quickly - thank God.  The song says "Wherever I lay my hat, that's my home", with me it's my books!   I am also trying to write a homily for a Mass in Clones on Thursday evening.  I have been asked to deal with St Therese, her parents and the place of suffering in the Martin family.  So I could not get back to reflecting the pope's new Motu Proprio, but considering the life and mission of St Therese, there are a number of interesting insights to be gained.

The Holy Father points out that the new Pontifical Council will stimulate reflection on the new evangelisation, identify the themes and then promote ways in which they can be achieved.  We might ask, how is that to be done?  Is the new dicastry just a think-tank?  Well, no harm in that, but there also needs to be action.  Learning from St Therese, I think the first thing the dicastry must encourage is prayer.  Therese is one of the Church's great missionary figures - co-patron with St Francis Xavier of the missions, yet she never stirred outside her monastery once she entered it.  She teaches us about the power of prayer and sacrifice. In the Fraternity we are convinced of that, and so our members devote themselves to prayer and sacrifice, not only for those in the arts, but also as a means of assisting the Church in her mission of renewing culture - so we are in there already.  Part of prayer is discernment and openness to God's will: if the mission is to be successful, we must follow the plan God has laid out - that is discovered through prayer.  Of course, it does not end with the prayer - it only begins.

On Monday morning I was meeting with some members of the local Legion of Mary Curia (regional council) - they hope to encourage the foundation of new praesidia in the area.  In our discussion we lamented about how few lay people are taking up their part in the Church's missionary endeavours.  I remembered a talk by Cardinal Arinze in which he pointed out that many laity think they are playing a active role in the Church if they are in the sanctuary during Mass doing priestly things, yet do not go out into the world evangelising their peers. How true!  How many arguments have we had with laity who want to play their part but think it is being Ministers of this or that during Mass, and then they retire to private life for the rest of the week.  This is not what Vatican II was talking about when it spoke about the vocation of the laity.  The documents speak about the particular mission the laity have and it is not taking up the role of the priest - it is preaching the Gospel in the world - bringing it to people and places the priests cannot reach.  

How many committed Catholic lay people in those parts of the world which are quickly being de-Christianized and comprise the mission territory with which the new Council will concern itself, will know about this new Motu Proprio, will read it, take it to heart and realise that they have a part to play in the new mission?   I hope many will because if the new Council is to strive to reach it goal, it needs the ordinary laity working with it.

Time to get Therese on to it, I think.