The Priest As Empowerer of Catechetical Ministry
Chapter 3
The Priest in Catechetical Ministry (part 2 of 3)

Realistic Appraisals

Directory for the Life and Ministry of Priests, 37

With the exception of the tightrope walker, all the pictures and their descriptions conveyed positive images and optimistic outlooks. However, an image that energizes one person could raise warning flags for someone else, and although it is good to be energized, realism must also be considered. Thus, the participants were offered the opportunity to raise concerns about the roles just discussed. This invitation drew many observations.

Excessive Expectations
Immediately, one priest cautioned against "putting too great an expectation on ourselves." Another pastor agreed, saying he was most threatened by that same sense of excessive expectations. "I'm supposed to be the light and the salt, and I'm supposed to be the connector, and I'm supposed to be the center. . . . I wake up in the morning and I'm not. I need to have a safe place where I can just be me without all the stuff. Just be the weak person who has no more or no less gifts than anybody else, but working in a community that loves me and supports me and forgives me and protects me, and look to somebody else in the community to be, sometimes, that light and that center and that connectedness."

Referring to these expectations, as well as to the overall responsibilities of the pastor, one person told the group that he thinks the pastor has the hardest job in the Church. "Before Vatican II the pastor had a number of responsibilities. He had to maintain the plant. He had to make sure Masses were scheduled. You had to make sure that money was available, etc. And you did it all. You didn't have a staff. Staff meetings were called 'supper at the rectory' because that's where you saw all the associates."

He continued to observe that after Vatican II, none of those duties was taken away, and many were added. Pastors now must work with Parish Pastoral Councils, Finance Councils, and Liturgy Committees. They now must supervise a staff, with attendant contracts and staff meetings. There are also now diocesan responsibilities, such as long range planning committees. "So I'm not aware that we took away anything, but we've added an awful lot to the role of pastor."

Concurring with this position, a pastor said that for many priests today, one of the most significant challenges can be expressed as: "Can I be myself and meet the expectations I'm finding?" As a follow-up, another pastor explained that in many dioceses priests do not want to become pastors because of these responsibilities and expectations. He believes that one of the challenges that pastors face is to approach catechetical ministry in such a way that goals are achieved without the person being overwhelmed. "I think perhaps one of the challenges we have in our role in the area supporting catechetics is to handle it in a way that you don't have to be a superman to make it happen."

The Role of Lay People
After having described Christian formation as "a continual process in the individual of maturation in faith and a likening to Christ, according to the will of the Father, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit," they [the 1987 world Synod of Bishops] have clearly affirmed that the formation of the lay faithful must be placed among the priorities of a diocese. It ought to be so placed within the plan of pastoral action that the efforts of the whole community (clergy, lay faithful, and religious) converge on this goal. (Proposition 40)

Christifideles Laici, 57

Responding to the initial observation about responsibilities since the Second Vatican Council, a priest suggested that the church gave everyone a theology of ecclesiology and widespread sense of ministry, but did not train people sufficiently for the skills to function in that mode. Therefore, many people have "the language without the skills."

Another pastor suggested that an answer for the problems caused by these expectations might be to implement a different model of the Church. This person stated that the pastoral team must begin to share the responsibility that the individual pastor once had exclusively. "Most of us can't play all the roles because we come from who we are. Some of us are energizers, some of us are relational people, other people are administrators, other people bring people together, other people just are action. But I don't think I can be, or anybody can be, all of it. I think many people in the parish I serve have said: 'You can't be everything.' I think that's difficult for us to accept, but it suggests that there is a different model."

Another pastor also spoke of the need to develop lay ministry. He said the models being discussed call for a concerted effort for this development on the part of both dioceses and parishes. In this way the pastor and people can develop a vision and work together to accomplish it. This development will enhance the catechetical efforts of the parish because it will facilitate the use of more gifts and talents.

An observation from someone in a parish with more than two thousand families suggested that often lay people who want training and responsibility do not, as one might reasonably expect, lessen the expectations that they place upon the priest. In his situation, the parish currently has five times as many families as it did thirty years ago, but it now has a developed lay ministry. However, many people still expect the pastor to visit all the parishioners, just as the pastor did when there were only a few hundred people. It presents a conflict in terms of expectations.

Another comment focused on the contrast of the idealized vision of the priest possessed by some lay people versus the practical reality being expressed by the participants. Referring back to one of the drawings that was presented, the person suggested that lay people may need to put a safety net under the priest who is on the tightrope. However, some lay people may not know or understand how to do that, and so input from the pastor about what they could do would benefit everyone.

Differing Visions
A challenge also comes from differing visions of the Church. A participant explained that the pastors at the symposium may find the discussions about catechesis energizing and exciting, but this may not be the reality for the parish community. There are other visions of the Church that use a different set of images, and these differing ecclesiologies are present not only in the church on a national level, but also within the parish. When the pastor attempts to be the juggler, not only with these images of catechesis but with other expectations of the community he serves, the situation can become complicated. Even though pastors may find the concepts being discussed exciting, the ideas may not be as easy to implement.

Another participant empathized with these thoughts. He reflected that it is especially challenging for a pastor if parishioners come to liturgy with an expectation that seems to minimize the impact of the Second Vatican Council. The challenge increases if some people in diocesan leadership appear to be more sympathetic to these parishioners rather than with what the pastor may be doing in the ministry of the parish.

Role of the Word
For since nobody can be saved who has not first believed, it is the first task of priests as co-workers of the bishops to preach the Gospel of God to all men. In this way they carry out the Lord's command "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15) and thus set up and increase the People of God.

Presbyterorum Ordinis, 4

Two pastors, commenting on the demands made on them, expressed their belief that the priority in the life of the priest should be proclaiming the gospel message. The first one stated: "I have a hunch that we are going to have to be more selective about what we are going to take on as pastors. And maybe we can be guided by the documents of the Church. I am thinking particularly about the document on priesthood which said that the 'premium officium' of the priest is to preach the word of God. I don't mean to take that in the narrow sense of just giving homilies or sermons. Maybe we have to reclaim and say that our particular role is that of prophet, the one who speaks for God. . . . Which means you probably need more time in prayer. I think part of the problem is that we are not claiming what is central to our priesthood and getting into all this other stuff. . . . Our central role is that of the word."

A second pastor continued this thought. "If you were to ask any Baptist what is the primary responsibility of their pastor, they'd tell you in a minute: 'Preach the word.' They've got other staff people who are responsible for all the other stuff, and so they can remain focused. I really think [he] is on to something there. We are so scattered in our focus, that burnout is such a problem for us that it would be clearer for us to measure our effectiveness if we were more focused. It's a real problem."

Responses from the symposium participants describing how they would impart their vision of catechesis in the life of the parish to a newly ordained priest. [R-1]

Reflection
How does your image of the priest in catechetical ministry compare with the ones expressed at the symposium? Are the challenges similar or different? How are the challenges addressed?

Time Allocation for Catechesis
The first part of this symposium segment drew views from the pastors, both visual and verbal, about their role in catechesis and surfaced challenges as well as benefits. The next exercise helped the participants examine their activities as effective catechists to see if there are identifiable common patterns. The exercise began with a simple analysis of time spent in general parish activities and then of time devoted specifically to catechesis. Each participant received two pages with empty circles and was asked to convert each circle into a pie chart, giving a general delineation of time spent on activities in the parish and in catechesis. For example, parish activities may include homily preparation, staff supervision, and visiting the sick. Catechesis may entail catechist training, RCIA, and meetings with the DRE or coordinator. As explained to the participants, these activities are not what is hoped for or planned, these are what actually occur.

Before continuing, please take some time to complete your own pie charts. Remember, the charts are not to record your hopes or plans for the future. They are to help you identify what you actually do today.

All that I do in the parish:

All that I do in catechesis:

Analysis
After completing their initial analysis, the participants discussed their insights with the others at their table, sharing not only concrete actions performed, but also the attitude or feelings behind the actions. These observations were then shared with the rest of the group through a "fishbowl" exercise.

For this exercise eight chairs--one for each table plus two--were placed in a circle in the middle of the room. Each table initially sent one delegate to the fishbowl to report the gist of the discussion. To be part of any dialogue, a person had to occupy one of the chairs in the fishbowl circle, even if this was to comment on what was said or to offer additional remarks. When finished, the person left the circle, giving someone else an opportunity to join the circle and speak.

The presentation of this information does not connote an order of importance. As you read this section, become part of this interaction. How do you react to what is being said? What would you like to add?

Being Present to People
In recent years, in effect, it has become evident that there is an eminently pastoral necessity for the priest to be a man of God and a teacher of prayer. At the same time, this obliges the priest to be welcoming towards the community entrusted to his pastoral care in such a way that no member of the community would be made to feel anonymous or think themselves an object of indifference.

Directory for the Life and Ministry of Priests, 36

The exercise began as a spokesperson explained that he recognized a few patterns during the discussions at his table. One was the importance of presence. For example, priests must have an active presence and interest wherever catechesis occurs, whether for children or youths or adults or elderly. The second was the element of listening. It is important to be attentive to the stories people tell--stories of the gospel, stories of lives, stories of the Church in the world. The third was openness. Priests need to share their own stories, because teaching includes the sharing of stories.

Another pastor explained that the priests in his group also noted that they spend a good deal of time and energy interacting one on one with people. "Talking and listening, listening and talking. Sharing the story of life, sharing the story of Christianity. . . . One pastor [said] that the majority of his day was spent with individual appointments with people. And that becomes the catechetical interface, as it were. And it also becomes the stuff from which the catechetical pastor draws his preaching, his teaching, his catechizing."

A third person added that he identified telephone ministry as a role in catechesis. "A lot of things happen over the phone. Once you answer the phone it's an initiation to a one on one relationship." As he explained, it is important that every facet of a multi-faceted ministry should in some way be part of or support the parish's catechetical ministry.

Pervasiveness of Catechesis
Once again, people observed that catechesis pervades every aspect of ministry. A participant found that the priests at his table perceived that "as pastors we really do very little in terms of specific focused intentional catechesis, but yet virtually everything we do serves to model and demonstrate, either poorly or well, Christianity to the community around us." Another priest referred to a discussion he and some of the other participants had had about being invited to the symposium. "But as we discussed it and talked about it more, we realized most of what we do is catechesis. But it's not the old model of the hands-on teaching CCD every week [or] working with catechists' preparation and certification, as much as it is in lots of different areas of ministry."

This concept of pervasiveness unsettled one pastor, who suggested such universality might make it difficult to focus on a particular plan or goal. He compared this broad use of catechesis to the use of the term "ministry." "Everything is called a ministry. I guess my feeling is at the moment I'm getting now as confused about what constitutes catechesis as I am at times what constitutes ministry." On the other hand, he recognized that "catechesis is at the base of almost everything we do. We begin to look at the day and any teaching, any support group--whether it be direct or indirect support to all the other ministries in the parish--appears to have some form of catechesis connected to it."

The spokesperson for another table reported that such inclusiveness requires empowerment. "If we couldn't empower and enable, we wouldn't have survived this long. . . . That was the feeling of our group. You are called upon to be present as a catechist in so many ways: to listen, to enable, to console, to support, whatever. Since all of us in the group do wear many hats we seem to be aware of the need to not only empower others, but to let them empower us because the well runs dry if we do all the empowering." Another priest added: "I think because of the broadness of the whole thing we have to reiterate the importance of allowing each member of the parish to realize their role as a catechist. For them to realize that it's not the pastor's or the pastoral staff's role to catechize, but it is actually every Christian's responsibility to catechize."

Reflection
After analyzing your activities and reviewing these discussions, what patterns are you able to identify? What challenges are present?

The third part of Chapter 3, The Priest in Catechetical Ministry in The Priest as Empowerer of Catechetical Ministry will be posted next Thursday. For information about ordering this book, please see the Sadlier Religion Catalog.

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