Prior to Our Priorities

PRIOR TO OUR PRIORITIES

Gregory Collins writes – “Christianity is a deeply objective thing. It is not first and foremost a subjective personal experience, neither is it simple adherence to a set of moral regulations nor even a sharing in a sacred tradition. There is indeed a subjective experience of God that can be had in sharing in a sacred tradition. There is indeed a subjective experience of God that can be had in prayer. There is a Christian ethic that has to be lived. There is also participation in ancient traditions of worship and adherence to bodies of doctrine. But they are the consequences of Christianity rather than its essence.” (From: Meeting Christ in his Mysteries.) Does not this author suggest that there is something prior to our priorities?

Our Holy Father, Benedict XVI, had this to say – “It often happens that Christians are more concerned for the social, cultural and political consequences of their commitment, continuing to think of the faith as a self-evident presupposition for life in society.” (Porta Fidei) It would seem that the Holy Father is reminding us that there is something at the heart of our faith that we take for granted as we explore other priorities with regard to our social and political lives. The Pope goes on to say – “Ever since the start of my ministry as successor of St. Peter, I have spoken of the need to rediscover the journey of faith, so as to shed ever-clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of our encounter with Christ. The Church as a whole and all her pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead God’s people out of the desert toward the place of light, toward friendship with the Son of God, towards the one who give us life and life in abundance. It often happens that Christians are more concerned for the social, cultural and political consequences of their faith commitment, continuing to think of the faith as a self-evident presupposition to life in society. In reality, not only can this presupposition be taken for granted but it is often openly and massively denied.” I would ask the reader – What do you think the Pope is getting at with these words? I think he’s trying to help us make a distinction between the centrality of faith and what is consequent to that centrality. If we concentrate only on what is consequent to our faith, although that is always necessary, we will not be able to answer the questions – What or who is a Christian?

A while back a Benedictine Abbot was ordained as a Bishop after 37 years of life in the monastery. At his ordination the new Bishop was reminded he had to articulate soon his pastoral priorities. He said at his ordination that he would like to touch on something prior to any priorities. He had been asking himself what he had learned in his 37 years in the monastery. He said that there are many answers, lighthearted or other, but there was one answer that he thought to be true and he described it in these words. “It’s simply a realization, a glimmer of realization, a small beginning of a realization, of Christ the Lord.” He said that in a word he was merely talking about the discovery of Easter, of Christ’s Passover from death to life, his Resurrection. What the new Bishop was saying to his parishioners was that before all important priorities were reflected on and discussed there is something that is prior to these priorities. The Bishop then added – “What a monastery gives to monks and nuns is exactly what the Church gives to all her people. And what is that? It is what the women found when they found the empty tomb that Sunday morning in Jerusalem. It is what Peter and Paul and John found. It’s what the remarkable galaxy of people who wrote the New Testament were stammering to express. It is what the liturgy in its simple power and beauty keeps alive in the world. It’s not a what, it’s a who. It is the person of Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and the power of his Resurrection. The whole of Christianity, its faith, its worship, its ministry, its mission springs from that Sunday morning, that empty tomb. It springs from the Resurrection of Christ, his victory over sin and death. What can the Church do – for us who belong to her and those who live around us? What can the Church give? What can the Church bring? There is only one answer, namely, Easter – The person of Christ, Jesus of Nazareth and the power of his Cross and Resurrection.” These words are good for us to read and listen to as we soon begin a new liturgical year – 2015-2016. We soon set ourselves out on a journey that will lead us through the Lord’s Advent, through his public life and ministry, through his cross to the resurrection. If we live this liturgical year in this way, we will then be able to set down in print our new ministerial priorities.

These few comments from Bishop Hugh Gilbert can be very helpful to us in our Sunday worship. What we do every Sunday morning is truly the summit of our Catholic faith. It’s not the only thing we do because the work of education and evangelization and the work of RCIA are so necessary in leading up to the summit and then so many important things must be accomplished leading down from the summit. There is the living out of our lives of faith, hope and love. There are the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. There are the Beatitudes to be lived. There are the social teachings of the Church for a world calling out for justice and peace. The Christian is the person who has many priorities. However, this little column is suggesting that our priorities will not be effective if we have not discovered in the liturgy what is prior to our priorities.