Prayerful & Eucharistic?

In response to the discernment paper of the Plenary Council -  How is God calling us to be a Christ-centred Church that is prayerful and Eucharistic? Fr Warren Kinne writes ……

Hands Folded In Prayer. Photo: bigstockphoto.com/Nastyaofly

“Mindfulness” seems to be the in-word these days for a type of secular spirituality. As a Christian, I prefer to refer to my “mindfulness” as prayer in the Spirit and through Jesus to the Father. For a Catholic, this has some special meaning in the context of the Eucharist. Thus the title of the discernment: Prayerful & Eucharistic? I am not sure why they have included the “?”.

The Emmaus story at the end of Luke’s gospel is a wonderful meditation on the above. Jesus unrecognized walks with us in our despondency, explains the scriptures to us and we recognize him in the breaking of the bread. It’s a neat experience that all of us have in some way or other. It reminds me of the multiple Emmaus Retreats that I was a part of in Shanghai which lay people initiated and led so admirably, and indeed still do.

As this discerning document says - the people of God seek to be invited to “full, conscious and active participation”^[1] within the sacramental life of the Church. This is a participation that is their “right and duty”. God’s people, clergy and lay together, desire to nurture their relationships with God, one another and creation. The document goes on to say that we “long to be nourished by good preaching and beautiful music within the liturgy, and to experience deeply a sense of the sacred”. People are stressed and pressured in our secular society that is “competitive and consumerist” and we long for love, safety, belonging and connection as the fertile ground for experiences of faith. But unfortunately, at the moment, we experience rejection of our institution and a decline in the trust of our Church leaders.

“Unless we train ministers capable of warming people’s hearts, of walking with them in the night, of dialoguing with their hopes and disappointments, of mending their brokenness, what hope can we have for our present and future journey?” ^[2]

The major challenges and proposals for change in the document are given under four headings:

1. Community

Pope Francis has an image of the church as a“field hospital” where we find space to rest, heal and recover our vitality.^[3] It’s a messy place where we find our wounded selves. In this context small communities of faith and life within the wider Church or parish community are important. We collaborate with ministries of hospitality and welcome.

Recently, because of COVID-19,  I presided at a Sunday Zoom Mass from my house for some family and friends. It may be my last as the parish is reopening its three churches for Sunday Masses, albeit with reduced capacity and with a hope that a lock-down won’t return. Included in this celebration were two groups of people motoring along the highway – one lot in Queensland going to their beach house in Mooloolaba with the Protestant husband driving, and the other was a car in Sydney with a family going to the Hunter Valley for a birthday celebration in memory of a young relative who had died. Others at the Mass were a Spaniard and Filipino in Shanghai, a Kiwi in Chongqing, a Malaysian, and family and friends in various places. It was collaborate as my nephew was the host and muted people and managed music he had chosen for the occasion. The event was intimate and special. While it is “virtual” it does bring people together who normally wouldn’t be able to get together. And as it is a smallish number, one can be quite personal.

2. Participation

There was serious civil strife in the Southern Philippines in the early 1970s. The parish centre where I was, was effectively shut down. This unexpectedly changed the shape of my ministry. With a lay group I visited and lived in surrounding villages setting up basic Christian communities. From that time I have seen the value of laity leading liturgies, officiating at baptisms, presiding at funerals, preaching and teaching. A move to a collaborative model of ordained and lay sacramental ministry is for me long overdue. Why allow funerals and marriages to soak up all our time and energy when there are other things to be done that may be more important.

Sunday Eucharist too would be enriched if the voices of lay experience and insight were heard more frequently, especially those of women.

Columban Frs Rafael Ramírez and Gonzalo Bórquez. Photo: St Columbans Mission Society

3. Formation

If clergy freed themselves from some activities as suggested above, they would have more time to be present at other events related to the formation of lay ministries within the parish. Just to be there as pastor is important even if competent lay people can run them better. It is solidarity with them.

Priests could assist parents to form their own children as the family is the usual birthplace of faith and the Church recognizes that parents are the first and foremost educators of their children.

4. Mission

“Go the Mass is ended” would be more like “go and preach the gospel of the Lord” and only using words where necessary. Eucharist and mission come together for us. Ministries of service, justice and ecology would be seen within the Eucharistic text and would lead to witness and service outside the church and on its margins.

Columban Fr Warren Kinne lives and works on the Gold Coast.

Related links

• Read more from the current Columban eBulletin