The relentless onslaught on the Pope from every quarter of the MSM seems neverending and one feels completely helpless at times. I have tended lately to pay less and less attention to all of it and to try focusing more on prayer for the Holy Father. One can so easily get caught up in the vortex of negativity to the point where it actually drains you and leaves you sitting in the middle of a negative fog of sorts where you are of no help to anyone, including the Pope. I have decided to limit my exposure to its toxicity and to simply focus on continuing to pray for His Holiness.
I came across an article on the Schoenstatt website this evening, via an email, that I found to be a breath of fresh air in all the negativity surrounding the Holy Father and the sexual abuse scandal. It is a reflection that was the response of the Johannesburg Schoenstatt's Women's League on their last Covenant Day to the sexual abuse scandal and the general negativity that often surrounds so many of our priests. I think it is a beautiful reflection and so very true.
Called to support our Priests
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SOUTH AFRICA, Sarah-Leah Pimentel. The Schoenstatt Family in Johannesburg is focusing on priesthood this year, as there are still a few months left to the Year of the Priest and we also celebrate the centenary of Fr. Kentenich's priesthood.In light of the negative media focus on our priests in recent weeks, the following reflection was given as the response of the Women's League on last Covenant Day.
In June last year, the Holy Father declared a Year of the Priest. This year we also celebrate the centenary of the ordination of Fr. Joseph Kentenich, the father and founder of the Schoenstatt Movement.
In light of these two events, we are being called in a special way to support our priests, perhaps even more so now, as the Church as a whole comes to terms with the knowledge of priests who have caused great hurt to individual members of the Church. These men, who are Christ's representatives on earth, have destroyed for many the possibility of a tender and deep relationship with Christ.
As members of the Schoenstatt Women's League in Johannesburg, South Africa, we believe that as laity, there are many ways that we can support our priests and we can offer our support as contributions to the altar of our Lord.
Pray
So often we complain about our priests, about what they have done that they shouldn't have done or the things that they didn't do. We comment on their character flaws to everyone we meet. Perhaps this month, we're called to refrain from this sort of gossip, using our tongues rather to pray for our priests. We can spare one prayer each day for our parish priest and any other priests that have passed through our lives over the years.
What prayers then do our priests need? We can pray for their priesthood - everyday we see the threats to their vocation. We can pray that even though they empty themselves for us, they will also be filled with many gifts and graces. We can pray that each day, they awaken filled with enthusiasm for their mission, strength to face their daily difficulties. We can pray that they, too, can often feel that God hears their prayers.
Praise
We need to publically acknowledge and thank them for the good work that our priests are doing in our communities. Give praise where praise is due, the old saying tells us. How would it be if every opportunity we had we told of some positive experience with a priest. Or of some things we admire about the priests whom we have experienced over the years? Perhaps we could make it a point of thanking our parish priest once a week for something in particular.
Unburden
So often, we only see our priests in Mass but forget that they have other duties. They need to visit the sick, counsel the many who come to them for help, assist the local community, run training and spiritual programs, be responsible for the upkeep of the church and the numerous other tasks in the parish.
Would their work not be easier, if we could relieve them of some of their burdens? No matter how small the task, if each parishioner did one thing to help in the life of the Church, then the parish priest's whole job could become so much easier. Imagine how well a parish would run if the priest had an electrician, plumber or gardener to oversee that tasks in these areas of expertise are completed. Those of us with basic computer and phone answering skills could easily solve half of the admin problems many priests have to contend with. Could not a trustworthy person be given the task of taking collection money to the bank or paying the bills?
So often we think that we are the only person in the parish and that the priest needs to answer my every need. We can help by making appointments to see them at a time that suits them rather than demanding their attention after Mass because this time suits me.
There are many ways in which we can help our priests with the more mundane tasks, leaving them free to continue with their work of ministering to the community.
Get Involved
Before the 2nd Vatican Council, priest and the religious did everything. Thanks to Vatican II, we no longer have an excuse not to get involved in the task of spreading God's word. In 1931, long before the 2nd Vatican Council, Fr Kentenich gave a talk to priests in which he said: "The laity too has a mission; they, too, are incorporated into Christ and Christ wants to fulfill his mission through them also."
Fr. Kentenich understood that as people become increasingly educated, they "have more access to political and spiritual-intellectual power." As such the laity has the ability to equip themselves to do fulfill God's mission here on earth. Fr. Kentenich promoted a strong ‘program' of self-education. This not only equips us to discover a deeper relationship with Christ through our meditation on the Gospels and an active search to understand more fully the teachings of the Church. This self-education also bestows on us a greater responsibility as lay people towards our Church and the community we live in. Fr. Kentenich warns us that "the problems of the Church are made worse because a great many Catholics among us are sleeping" and he therefore urges us to "wake up a religious sense of responsibility is stirred up. Many lay men and women are concerned and worried about the Church."
On that note, each one of us is called to reflect: Which areas of my self-education need work? And how can I use this to assist in the ministry of the Church? Am I called to teaching catechism, running a bible study or prayer group, becoming a minister of Holy Communion or a proclaimer? Does God want to use my skills to organize a soup kitchen to feed the poor of the parish? Is there some other unique task only I am able to do?
Accountability
Finally, we're called to engage with our priests in a mature way. But we need to remember that our priests are also human and can err. In these cases, it is our responsibility to pray for discernment so that the Holy Spirit can guide on how to approach our priests and make them aware of where they have failed their flock and perhaps strayed from the mission that God entrusted to them. Through my example and my relationship with my parish priest, do I strengthen him in living his vocation or do I make it more difficult for him?
On the silver Jubilee of his ordination the priesthood, Fr. Kentenich linked the ‘success' of his vocation to "all those who have linked their lives and destinies...with mine." The sanctity of priesthood, then also partially depends on us. Fr. Kentenich urged us to "interiorly united with one another." This means that, not only are our hearts united to those people with whom we share natural bonds, but we should also unite our hearts to the hearts of our priests - this is how we support them and help them continue to be good priests.
If our hearts are united, this means that we have a common bond that links us and makes us one, makes us a family. In Schoenstatt, this bond is our Covenant of Love and we live out this covenant through our contributions to the Capital of Grace. Fr. Kentenich makes it very clear: in reflecting on his priesthood and his mission of uniting God's people, he says that "these have safeguarded the family by increasing the capital of grace." Similarly, we can help to safeguard the family of the Catholic Church in light of all the challenges it is facing by increasing our contributions to the Capital of Grace.
The Schoenstatt Women's League in Johannesburg invites the Schoenstatt Family to support our priests by offering one practical actions that we can follow up on in our parishes when we leave here today and offer it as a contribution to the Capital of Grace for your parish priest or a priest with whom you have an interior connectedness as Fr. Kentenich mentioned.
And do not feel discouraged that your efforts are futile in light of the mammoth task that faces us and hear Father's words as he encourages us: "Eternity one day will reveal how the smallest and most hidden souls of our family have contributed treasure after treasure. Without their heroic lives of sacrifice and prayer, the family spirit we have today, would be unthinkable. Indeed, nothing without you."
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