Take Your Place

If anyone hadn't noticed, things have been pretty dead in here of late. I've spent a lot of time this Summer on the road speaking and leadng retreats, as well as spending time actively job searching. That hasn't left much time for blogging. I've prayed and thought a great deal about this blog during the past few months. It was my very first foray into St. Blogs, and I initially hoped that it would be a gathering place for men and women to wrestle with the lay apostolate--the living out of the New Evangelization and the building of the Kingdom of God.

   While that never happened at this blog, I'm happy to say that much of it is currently happening at Intentional Disciples, the blog of the Catherine of Siena Institute (where I am also a contributor). That leaves me with the question about what to do with Take Your Place. My own lay apostolate is beginning to grow (I'm heading out at least once a month for the forseeable future), and with it, my desire to upgrade my web presence to include a home for my apostolate, which I'm currently calling Lay Formation Resources. And since my passion, gifts, and interests lie along the same lines as that of my compatriots at the Catherine of Siena Institute, it leaves me with a challenge as to how to differentiate this blog from other similar blogs.

I recently redesigned my personal site, From The Shattered Drum, and I learned a great many lessons about the flexibility of the Squarespace platform. Therefore, I am going to put this blog on hiatus for a brief period of time as I redesign, relaunch, and restrategize on how to make Take Your Place 2.0 a much more useful site.

Until then, you can stay connected with me over at Shattered Drum. My hope is that this hiatus will last just a few weeks. I'll send out announcements when I'm ready for action again.

The Church teaches that at every Mass, Christ is present in the Eucharist celebrated, the Word proclaimed, and the Community gathered. This is a rich theology. We are suffused with the Presence of God. The understanding of Christ's presence in the community gathered has enriched and energized the Life of the Church, particularly as She contemplates mission.

And yet, there is a real (and sometimes conscious) movement to de-emphasize the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and emphasize Christ's Presence in the community. At one parish where I served as an adult minister of youth, the DRE was absolutely puzzled when I told her that we had done Eucharistic Adoration on a teen retreat (and they absolutely loved it). She asked, "Why would you do that? We don't do that anymore." I have witnessed and experienced such attitudes personally. It finds its way not only into informal conversation, but also formal catechesis and pastoral praxis.

There is a sense that any emphasis on Christ's Presence in the Eucharist is taking a step "backward," delving into "old" theology that is no longer quite valid. The effect is that generations of Catholics have been incompletely formed and have missed out on a powerful experience of God and His Grace. 

The problem doesn't lay at the feet of the Church's theology--which is the classic Catholic "both/and." The problem exists  imperfect humans, come to Revelation with our own worldview and seek to fit Revelation into that worldview, rather than the other way around. Over at Catholic Culture, Dr. Jeff Mirus identifies and writes about this issue quite clearly and forcefully:

August is the month of the Eucharist, and I have noticed an increase of materials on that topic in our parish vestibule. One printed item features the headline, “What Has Happened to My Devotion?”. The article proceeds to explain favorably the new community-centric experience of Christ that has replaced Eucharistic adoration.

 

A Sound Parish

In my parish, I can take this sort of thing with a grain of salt. As I read this “Catholic Update” leaflet, written in 1992 by Thomas Richstatter, OFM and published by St. Anthony Messenger Press, I was well aware that if I turned and walked through the inner doors into the church I would find the monstrance on the altar and Eucharistic adoration in full swing. But not everyone is blessed in this way.

The frustrating thing is that the theology in this explanation of the shift in Eucharistic piety is actually pretty rich in many ways. Richstatter talks about the fact that Christ is made present in the Eucharist for the express purpose of animating His mystical body, the Church, so that the ultimate crown of Eucharistic understanding is the unity and charity of the Christian community. Thus while many Catholics might have once regarded Forty Hours Devotion as a high point of Eucharistic celebration, new insights have shifted our focus to the Easter Vigil, at which fledgeling Christians are welcomed into the fullness of ecclesial life.

There is nothing wrong with what is being said here. The problem lies in what is left out.

Christ at the Center

The emphasis on the community’s response to Christ—indeed the community’s impenetration by Christ—is certainly important. Union with God is most convincingly demonstrated by the bonds of charity. But emphasizing this at the expense of devotion to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is both philosophically backward and spiritually ennervating. The community cannot be both the recipient and the source of God’s transforming power. To emphasize the gifts that the community has received in a way that deemphasizes the source of those gifts is a reversal of the proper order. 

Christ Himself in the Eucharist is the sign and cause of our unity (or so says the Catechism). As Dr. Mirus says, it is right and good that we acknowledge the presence of Christ in the community, but we should not confuse the effect with the cause. He concludes:

No, we cannot worship Christ in the community, because the community is not Christ; nor, for the same reason, can we worship Him in the Bible, the Tradition, the Magisterium, the confession of sins, the finest pastors, or the beauties of the liturgy (though the action of the liturgy itself is the profoundest worship, in which we can join). But we can always worship Him whole and direct, concrete and visible, in His Real Presence in the Eucharist, because He is the Eucharist and the Eucharist is He. That is why, in contrast to every other kind of presence of Christ—and there are many kinds—the Church calls this one alone by the name of “Real”.

 

Every other manifestation of Christ will fail in its purpose if our understanding of it obscures rather than heightens our appreciation of His Real Presence in the Eucharist. This is just another way of saying that any focus on the action of Christ is useless if it leads us away from Christ Himself. 

This month, I will make a special effort to attend Eucharistic Adoration and pray for a renewal of this devotion in the life of the Church. It has been my experience in 20 years of youth and young adult ministry that every solid, "successful," and powerful program of youth or young adult formation has been founded on devotion to Christ in the Eucharist. What would happen if we included this devotion more completely in the life of the whole Church? 

John Paul II's Theology of the Body, that is. After years of reading commentaries, analyses, reflections, and secondary sources about JP II's theological timebomb, I'm about to plumb the depths of the original work. I've also decided to utilize Christopher West's Theology of the Body Explained in my study. What I intend to do is read a section from the ToB, and then read the corresponding section of West's book.

In this way, I hope to integrate more of the ToB into my own spiritual journey, as well as strengthen my ability to include its insights into my speaking and retreat ministry. I'm sure that from time to time something in this great work will inspire me to reflection on this blog.

Right now, however, I'm having a frabjous moment just contemplating what I'm going to be doing in the next few weeks!

Pray for me!

Well, really more of a classic blog reimagined for contemporary readers. Amy Welborn has gone and done it. She's shifted her blog over to Wordpress (which has so many great templates) and refocused, shifting strategy as well. For a while, Open Book was a place where Catholics online could go to hear about the latest news and events. Apparently, Amy herself had been trying to shift away from that focus for several years, and now has taken advantage of her shift in template and software to accomplish that. Her blog will be filled with insightful and pithy analysis and reflection. To be honest, those were always my favorite posts from her anyway. So, check out Amy's new blog, Charlotte Was Both! I've updated my links accordingly.

   I've never actually been to a World Youth Day, but I've always wanted to go. My last parish never quite mobilized to do it, but we often talked about it. Anyway, Sherry over at Intentional Disciples posted the video for Receive the Power, the theme song for the 08 WYD in Sydney, Australia.

Check it out! 

One of the stumbling blocks that people often encounter on their road to communion with the Catholic Church is the subject of Papal Infallibility. Much is misunderstood regarding this gift that Christ gave to His Church--by Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

As usual, Aimee over at Historical Christian has an exceptionally informative and reflective post on Infallibility. I hope that you take the time to read the whole thing. Here are some of the most moving passages from it:

The Faith of the Catholic Church today is the faith of the early Church, is the faith of Jesus, is the faith of the bible - explained and interpreted correctly.  The mass, too, is the mass of the early Church: remarkably the same, which I can attest to, having studied the development of liturgy in the early Church.  Nothing, actually, has changed, except for our understanding of it and a few externals of practice; and our understanding has grown and will continue to grow and unfold, guided by the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth, as Jesus said He would, the infinite truth of God, speaking and explaining His Revelation through the voice of the Magisterium.

 

God did not only act in distant history, and leave us only a book to follow, with only fallible men to try to figure out what the book really means – and so fail at what the book asks us to do, because we can’t agree on the meaning.  Infallibility is the lynchpin of authority and interpretation, and of unity, without which the former would be meaningless and the latter would fall apart.  All are a work of the Holy Spirit, all are God working directly in His Church to infallibly teach us, guide us, and keep us united as one.  He’s been doing it all along in the Catholic Church.

Which brings me to another related point: the nature of the Church.  The Protestant world has a very truncated view of the Church, as only a “mystical body” united in faith, though visibly fragmented.  But this is not the Church founded by Christ, and it is not the Church spoken of by scripture.

The real Church in its fullness truly is a single, living organism, united in faith and practice.  It is the Body of Christ, united as one through the Eucharist, His Body and Blood.  It has a single head on earth, the Pope, stewarded and guided by Christ in heaven, the real Head of the Body.  The Holy Spirit lives in the Church as His Temple, guiding her leaders and sanctifying her members.  It is a single organism, and God really is living and speaking and teaching in her midst and is really her Real Leader – without whom it would all fall apart.  In a very real way, the Church is God Incarnate on the earth.

This is why I say that, when it comes to matters of the faith, to trust the Church is to trust God, and not to trust the Church is to fail to trust God.

To trust the Church is to trust God. So often, when we begin to share our faith with those who are far from the Church, we have to demonstrate our trustworthiness--to let them see Christ working in us through the way we live and speak. Hopefully, as our friendship with these men and women deepen, they learn to trust not just us as individuals, but also to trust the One who created us, called us, and sent us into the world to be His hands and feet--Jesus, the Christ. 

And through that trust in Christ, they (and we) can begin to see and experience the Church as more than a collection of believers united by a common creed, but as the very Mystical Body of Christ, incorporated into the fullness of the very Life of God through Baptism. There is no separation, then, between the Eternal Bridegroom and His Bride, The Church. Both are One, united in a Love sealed with the Blood of Christ.

This interpenetration between Lover and Beloved is made manifest in the Eucharist. Therefore, it is not enough for an individual to confess faith in Christ and live apart from His Body. All are called around the Eucharistic table, to dwell in the heart of Christ's Death and Resurrection. This is the Mind of Christ, that "all may be One, Father, as you and I are One" (John 17:21), and it is the hope of His Church.

It all begins with trust.

Made possible by the gift of Infallibility that Christ gave to Peter and his successors.

My three readers know that I rarely comment on inner ecclesial news because the focus of this blog is primarily on lay mission and apostolate. However, seeing as the Eucharist and the Mass are the source and summit of the faith, I thought I'd offer some thoughts on Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio, releasing the Latin Mass for wider use. Readers interested in the pope's text can go here.

I for one am delighted that the Church's liturgical life has been enriched by the acknowledgement that we have ONE Rite with two forms--the Novus Ordo (a term I dislike because it seems to imply a break with the liturgical continuity of the Church) or Mass of Paul VI and the Latin Mass or Mass of Pius V. My hope is that the richness of the Pian use (though extraordinary) will heal the rift between the SSPX and the Church and encourage traditionalists to take another look at Vatican II to see what it really has to say.

I also hope that the reverence and ritual of the Latin Mass will have an enrichening liturgical effect on the Mass of Paul VI so that it will be celebrated more intentionally and reverently. Our beloved Pope Benedict XVI has given the Church something of inestimable worth, and although I do not personally wish to attend TLM's exclusively, I am grateful that he has made them more widely available to the whole Church.

I do not think that the Motu Proprio signals the end of "Vatican II." To say such a thing is to misunderstand the 2nd Vatican Council entirely. We are seeing a reform of the reform, the (super)natural movement of the Holy Spirit as He leads the Church to "unpack" the richness of the Council.

We live in very interesting times!

No, I'm not talking about some device to bottle up your catholic aesthetic (there's been quite enough bottling up of catholic aesthetic in our postmodern world). I'm referring to the wonderful blog Catholic Sensibility, penned by St. Blog's Todd Flowerday. Not only does this blog serve up great reflections on Catholic life, Todd has also taken it upon himself to read the "secret" Documents of Vatican II and offer his reflections on them.

If you're interested in a thoughtful journey through the Conciliar Documents, then stop by Todd's blog. He's also posted some stunning pictures of other planets, as well.

Finally, solid youth ministry must have its own integrity. That is, the elements of a fulfilled adolescent formation ministry must occur in the context of adolescent experience, breaking open the gospel and the richness of the Deposit of Faith in a way that is understandable and applicable to teens. Far from “dumbing down” or “watering down” the Faith, solid youth ministry helps to make teens present to Christ, inviting them to the adventure of discipleship in a way that they can hear, understand, and assent to.

Traditional devotions (like the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, Liturgy of the Hours, Novenas, etc.) are not anathema to this integrity. As St. Paul proclaims, “Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”¹⁴ And so are the riches of His Church. Far from being anachronistic, these devotions provide powerful opportunities to encounter Christ and grow in faith—particularly when youth ministers take the time to explain and explore their meaning and purpose in the life of the Church.

The Great Adventure

The goal of youth ministry is simply this: that every adolescent begins and deepens a relationship with God that moves him or her to a life of discipleship and personal responsibility for the mission of Christ in the world. In Scripture and in Apostolic Teaching we clearly hear Christ calling us to this reality through His Church. When we, as ministers (and formators) of youth respond to this call wholeheartedly, we will unleash a generation of apostles on this world who, rooted in Christ, will offer all that they have to build the Kingdom of God and stand in His place for every man, woman, and child who lives.

This is the great adventure to which we, as adult ministers of youth, have been called. Let us embrace it with fidelity, humility, and creativity, so that we might help build:

. . . a Church for young people, which will know how to speak to their heart and enkindle, comfort, and inspire enthusiasm in it with the joy of the Gospel and the strength of the Eucharist; a Church which will know how to invite and to welcome the person who seeks a purpose for which to commit his whole existence; a Church which is not afraid to require much, after having given much; which does not fear asking from young people the effort of a noble and authentic adventure, such as that of the following of the Gospel.¹⁵

 

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[14] Letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 13:8

[15] Homily for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, John Paul II, 1995

I have had this blog for more than three years now, and in that time blogging technology has become at once more sophisticated and easy for laymen like me to use. Penni, the wonderful blogstress over at Martha, Martha remarked in the comment boxes that this site doesn't seem to have RSS feeds.

Well, I've taken care of that. Not only can you subscribe to feeds for my posts, but also to the Comment Boxes. This means that Take Your Place is now more technologically updated than From the Shattered Drum. Will wonders never cease! :)

Thanks for the reminder to update Penni. Hopefully this will make it easier for new readers to stick with this blog!

Growth in faith and in a life of discipleship rarely proceeds in a straightforward direction. As human beings, our faith journey often betrays a certain “roundabout” character, colored and influenced as it is by our concupiscence and our sinfulness. Here, too, solid youth ministry can provide invaluable support. In the face of a teen’s struggle with faith, we, as youth ministers, can break open our own faith journey, express solidarity with a struggling teen, explore the power and reality of God’s forgiveness, and model solid characteristics of discipleship.

It is also important to keep in mind that these elements of youth ministry must be directed toward the whole of the individual—that is, the spiritual, emotional, physical, personal, and intellectual dimensions of the adolescent person. Prayer experiences, faith sharing, catechetical talks, small group discussion, mission trips or activities, social evenings, all have an important role to play in the formation of youth. In short, every activity normally involved in “youth ministry,” when rightly ordered to, and integrated with, the overall focus of adolescent formation, can have a powerful effect on the growth and fulfillment of the teens with whom God has entrusted us.

That being said, growth in discipleship is impossible without catechesis, whose aim “is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ."¹² In their document, Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops highlighted the importance of the catechetical dimension in youth ministry:

All ministry with adolescents must be directed toward presenting young people with the Good News of Jesus Christ and inviting and challenging them to become his disciples. For this reason, catechesis is an essential component of youth ministry and one that needs renewed emphasis. If we are to succeed, we must offer young people a spiritually challenging and world-shaping vision that meets their hunger for the chance to participate in a worthy adventure.¹³

It is, perhaps, a testament to the failure of youth ministry in our own adolescent years that many of us equate catechesis solely with religious education, book studying, dry memorization, and school. Thus, it is no surprise that many contemporary adolescent formation ministries eschew any and all attempts at catechesis. And yet, every dimension of youth ministry provides a catechetical opportunity—whether it’s a formal faith sharing talk or an over-the-top activity involving duct tape and chocolate pudding.

Integrating such catechesis in an engaging way is part of the fundamental vocation of youth ministers and adult ministers of youth. Abandonment of catechesis is a betrayal of the nature and purpose of adolescent formation.

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[12] Catechesi Tradendae, Apostolic Exhortation of John Paul II (October 16, 1979), 5

[13] Renewing the Vision, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (June 20, 1997)

Thus:

. . . training for the apostolate should start with the children's earliest education. In a special way, however, adolescents and young persons should be initiated into the apostolate and imbued with its spirit. This formation must be perfected throughout their whole life in keeping with the demands of new responsibilities. It is evident, therefore, that those who have the obligation to provide a Christian education also have the duty of providing formation for the apostolate.¹⁰

Rather than just simply offering teens a place where they can be welcomed, all youth education and ministry is really about growing and nurturing disciples of Christ and equipping them for their apostolic work. It’s about “collaborating in the Church’s mission of evangelism by bringing children [and adolescents] to a personal faith . . . [and] . . . forming future apostles.¹¹"

Elements of Youth Ministry

With all that being said, what are the hallmarks or elements that make up a comprehensive, integrated ministry of adolescent formation? Keeping in mind both the necessity of authentic engagement with teens and the nurturing of discipleship, exceptional youth ministry should provide a place for teens to:

• Encounter Christ (many for the first time)—as he is revealed through the Church (Scripture, Sacraments, Church Teaching), through the lives of the Moderators who journey with the teens, and through their own lives—so as to build and deepen a personal relationship with God characterized by openness and trust.
  
  
• Clearly hear the kerygmatic dimensions of the Gospel (that Christ suffered and died for our sins so that we could be reunited with the One Who Made us for Love) in a way that allows them to relate to it, absorb it, wrestle with it, and, ultimately, make a decision about it in their own life.
  
• Build habits of prayer, scripture study, accountability, and sacramental celebration/reception—along with support and formation in living out lives of discipleship.
  
• Learn about not only what the Church teaches and why, but also how to apply the richness of that Teaching to their lives and the lives of the world around them—addressing real needs in the community through acts of charity and social justice.
  
• Receive support and tools for a lifetime of discernment—growing steadily in an understanding of the Church’s mission and how/where they are personally called to participate in that mission.

An in-depth examination of each of these elements goes beyond the scope of this reflection. However, youth ministry should help facilitate an encounter with Christ, provide support and encouragement for teens as they respond to such an encounter, provide the individual teen with the tools and environment to deepen their relationship with Christ and His Church, and assist teens in a growing awareness, not only of their personal responsibility for the mission of the Church, but also of the particular role they are being called to play in that mission (ie., their vocation).

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[10] Apostolicam Actuositatem, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity (November 18, 1965), 30

[11] Making Disciples, Equipping Apostles, Sherry Weddell, Catherine of Siena Institute, 2000 p. 11

The Church, then, exists in the world for the sake of the world. Christ Himself has called and caused the Church into being to accomplish His Will. Nowhere is this expressed more powerfully and succinctly than in the Great Commission found in Matthew’s Gospel:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age.³

God’s ultimate desire is to know and be known by humanity, to be in relationship to every human person so as to share His Love with them for all eternity. At its heart, therefore, the Church is missionary; She has been sent out in to the world to proclaim the Love of God. This was reiterated by the Fathers at the Second Vatican Council when they proclaimed that “the Church on earth is by her nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, she has as her origin the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit⁴"

Being missionary, then, is not simply something that the Church does, it is what She is. Through Her very existence, as well as through Her activity, the Church proclaims the Good News of Christ. This is why Pope Paul VI rightly proclaimed that “to evangelize is the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her most profound identity.⁵"

This evangelization means, ultimately, proclaiming the Good News so that every man and woman can come to know Christ, and integrating gospel values into society, institutions, and culture to foster all that is truly human. In this way, we “consecrate the world to God . . . and restore to creation all of its original dignity.⁶"

Contrary to what many Catholics believe, however, the primary responsibility for this mission to the world does not fall upon the shoulders of our ordained priests. As the Catechism states, “All members of the Church share in this mission, though in various ways.⁷" As lay men and women, we often go through our life as recipients of the ministry of the ordained, rather than seeing ourselves for who and what we are, members of the Body of Christ sent out in to the world to proclaim God’s Love and work toward building His Kingdom. In this sense, we are apostles in our own right, albeit ones with a distinctly secular character to our ministry:

By reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's will.... It pertains to them in a special way so to illuminate and order all temporal things with which they are closely associated that these may always be effected and grow according to Christ and maybe to the glory of the Creator and Redeemer.⁸

This is reiterated even more forcefully in the Conciliar Decree Apostolicam Actuositatem:

But the laity likewise share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal office of Christ and therefore have their own share in the mission of the whole people of God in the Church and in the world. They exercise the apostolate in fact by their activity directed to the evangelization and sanctification of men and to the penetrating and perfecting of the temporal order through the spirit of the Gospel.

In this way, their temporal activity openly bears witness to Christ and promotes the salvation of men. Since the laity, in accordance with their state of life, live in the midst of the world and its concerns, they are called by God to exercise their apostolate in the world like leaven, with the ardor of the spirit of Christ.⁹

If, indeed, what the Church teaches regarding our identity and mission is real, then lay men and women need a formation that is equal to the dignity and depth of our baptismal vocation. Contrary to being something “added on” to our religious instruction, this formation must be intentional and integrated into our normal education. It is not enough to simply prepare others for sacramental reception; we must also provide support and formation on the living out of the sacramental dimensions of their life in Christ.

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[3] Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 28:19-20

[4] Ad Gentes: Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church (1965), 2

[5] Evangelii Nuntiandi, Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Paul VI (December 8, 1975), 14

[6] Christifidelis Laici, Apostolic Exhortation of Pope John Paul II (December 30, 1988)

[7] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 864

[8] Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (November 21, 1964), 31

[9] Apostolicam Actuositatem, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity (November 18, 1965), 2