A crie de coeur from a layperson to her priest

Last updated on: May 6, 2015 at 12:45 am by Mark Shea

A crie de coeur from a layperson to her priest 2015-04-22T08:40:51-07:00 Mark Shea

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A reader sent along this beautiful letter she sent her priest:

“Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” (Pope Paul VI, Address to the Members of the Consilium de Laicis (2 October 1974): AAS 66 (1974), p. 568.)

I begin, as I said when I spoke to you after Mass yesterday, with gratitude for your faithfulness to the teaching of the Church in your preaching. It is truly a blessing that I do not take for granted. Thank you.

And yet….something left me restless, and it finally has a name.

I was looking for the element of personal witness to the transformative power of God in a life that I can identify with.

“Jesus, through the Church, is calling us to… ” Yes, it is true. (Alleluia!)

But for those whose hearts have not yet been convinced (or have forgotten, or need to be reminded) that Jesus’ call is a good one, or that there is joy to be found in answering that call, or that there is real power available to bring real change and healing in my life and in the lives of those I love — for us, the crucial element is witness. Not only “we have learned these things from a trustworthy teacher”, but “here is how I (or those I know personally) have experienced this.” Because if what the faith calls me to is primarily aspirational, something I am called to pursue, but without an experience of real power for change, for transformation… then when I am discouraged, when things are hard (and when are they not?), when I lack the resources within myself to live up to that call (and those resources are always inadequate) — then the promise of life in Christ seems like a taunt, a mockery, a mirage.

I need to hear the stories of God’s power made manifest in the world, in the lives of real people. I need to know that it can, and does, make a difference – not just a difference, but a top-to-bottom transformation. Because, when I look at the various messes in my life and in the world, nothing less is enough.

And I know those stories are out there. I need to hear them from you. And from my brothers and sisters. Or hope becomes remote, and I lose my way.

The unspoken, implicit message my heart hears: “Don’t try this at home, folks.” This is for the exceptional, the saints, the others. Not for the ordinary — not for you.

Why are you a priest? Your priesthood empowers you to stand in the place of Christ, in persona Christi, that through you we may directly encounter Him in the sacraments.

You are a priest for the sake of the salvation of souls, beginning with your own.

And if salvation is real, it is not only something on a far-off horizon. It can be known truly, and powerfully (though not fully), here and now. That is the witness of the apostles, and of the saints through the ages.

Otherwise it is just a dream, and a dream is not enough.

What have you seen and heard and touched?

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us — that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete. (I John 1:1-4)

Tell me the story of Jesus. Tell me your story of Jesus. Preach the Gospel.

In hope,

This letter, and million similar cries like I hear constantly (including from my own heart), is what Sherry Weddell’s Forming Intentional Disciples is all about. Not for nothing has Fr. Robert Barron called it the most important book of pastoral theology in the past 25 years. We have got to catch this vision. The future of the Church (and therefore of the world) depends on it.

Uncategorized

Forming Intentional Disciples

Previous Post

May 6, 2015

Dangerous Liaisons: On Costly Friendship

Next Post

May 6, 2015 Marian Chant for the Month of May

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 September 2006 June 2006 July 2005 April 2005 May 2002 April 2002 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz