It is probably appropriate to refer to our present time as the age of the pandemic. It is no longer simply the pandemic incident. It has gone on too long for that. Moreover, at time of writing, the numbers are trending upwards again around the world and in our own province. Experts are saying that the dreaded second wave is here.
What this means is that the pressure we all have felt to adapt our daily schedules and patterns is now not merely an emergency response. It is rather the challenge to look forward to new patterns altogether. For the foreseeable future, we and those we elect have to plan everything with a view to keeping us safe.
One context that is deeply affected by all this and causing significant pain is that of our inability to enjoy full open gatherings for community worship. Unfortunately, some have mistakenly cast the pain as resulting from a violation of our rights and freedoms to worship. (This is a quintessentially American response.) That of course is not what is happening. The challenge to adapt in the interest of safety is what is happening.
As it turns out, the pandemic is looking like an example of what my spiritual director used to refer to as one of the "hard gifts." In this case, great opportunity. I have noticed that the dialogue among church commentators has increasingly turned to the question ‘what does the church need to look like coming out of all of this?’ I mentioned that in my previous post where I referred to discussions of the need for the church to return to its fundamental identity as a mission church. At the heart of the Christian Scriptures is the message that followers of Christ are sent out to proclaim the Good News of our salvation.
My own parish of St. Paul's is taking this time as a perfect opportunity to re-examine who we are. The literature guiding the effort is the book by Fr. James Mallon, titled Divine Renovation.
This book was written six years ago – way before the pandemic – but wouldn't you know, Fr. Mallon appears to be prescient In spending a whole lot of effort on the need for our churches to return to their root identity as missionary in nature. In making the case for the changes that he introduced in his own parish, he argues that Catholics have become passive, immature, and complacent. The background for this is multifaceted, and he does a great job laying it out. One of the factors jumps off the pages, however, and that is clericalism. Not necessarily the aggressive, powerful form that we have heard about in some instances, but rather the kind that happily assumes responsibility for the entire spirituality of the Christian community. That community in turn is only too happy to cede the responsibility, leaving them with only the obligation to attend Sunday Mass.
Here are a few excerpts in Fr.Mallon's own words:
In our parishes of today, in spite of all the years forming lay ministers, most Catholics remain unawakened, passive consumers of "religion lite."......
After about 1650 years (from the Peace of Constantine in 315 to the cultural revolutions of the 1960s), this Christian culture has now ended. We now find ourselves in a situation like that of the first Christians. It is once again unpopular to be a Christian. It is risky, costly, difficult, fulfilling and exciting. It is a time of rediscovering the essential identity of all the baptized to be missionary disciples, called to know Jesus and make him known. It is time for all who follow Jesus to heed the call to maturity and to be equipped for service within the community of the Church that takes them far from the altar from which they are sent every Sunday.
The Church's deepest identity is to be a missionary Church, called to form baptized believers into missionary disciples who go forth, through the grace of God, to build God's kingdom.........
If belonging is the key, then it opens the door to faith. Behaving, which is discipleship, takes place when the person walks through the door.........
(In commenting on Jesus' interaction with the rich young man): The expectations of Jesus were not limited to the commitment of becoming his disciple. Once that decision was made, he continued to expect more. He said that "from everyone to whom much has been given, even more will be demanded." (Luke 12:48)
Fr. Mallon's words present a great challenge in a time of great opportunity. But here is the thing. Who is going to come and listen to these words and take up this challenge? Some fear that even our regulars may have lost their sense of belonging and so will not be among those numbers. It is already well documented that young folks exited from "formal religion" some time ago. These, however, are the people who will get behind a worthy cause, especially if it has social justice attached to it. They are the people we want to reach. Social justice conflates nicely with mission.
We will never reach them, however, if we tell them that we are coming to evangelize them. Or that we want them to be part of an evangelical project. I can just see the eyes rolling. On the other hand, I have always found that people listen respectfully when I tell them of my own experiences and how I believe that the Lord was somehow involved in the outcome. If they show further interest in that, I will get the opportunity to tell them that the death and resurrection of Jesus are our guarantee that we matter to God. I am content to leave it there for them to mull over and for the Spirit to work.
All of this is to say that we have the opportunity to get clear in our heads that our desire to return to Sunday Mass and resume our usual, familiar, and comfortable pattern of worship, has been brought into sharp relief as a betrayal of our Christian identity if we go home and leave it there.
Telling our news. Telling our story. We can come out of an otherwise terrible time with a much better sense that this is what Christ asks us to do. Not on the street corners, but in the multiple opportunities that arise every single day to say who we are and what we believe.
