Signs of Hope: The Roman Catholic Church in the U.S.

“... by following the most recent developments within and by the Church the parish priest can be an authentic spiritual director, the kind his people seem to be calling for.”

The parish priest is the key figure in the Catholic Church. He is generally hard-working and well-liked. Though his role has changed considerably he remains the community leader and something of a spiritual director. His effectiveness in the community is cut short by external demands that are placed upon him. These demands usually concern raising money and building parish facilities. He would prefer to be a spiritual leader for the community and most of the people would prefer he be that. Spiritual direction is what they seek primarily from the Church.

The Catholic Church is in good shape today as far as its contents are concerned, Catholics have a good sense of who they are and what they are about, especially since Vatican Council II. The Church has also sponsored remarkable work on its principal resources, namely the use of the Sacred Scriptures, its understanding and use of the Sacraments, and the use of its basic structural institution, the parish, Where the Church is failing is in its efforts to communicate these riches to the average parishioner. And that get us back to the parish priest, the Church’s chief communicator.

It is not that the parish priest is uninterested or unable. It is that his time is taken up doing less important things. This has been the case for years. Most of the able parish priest’s time is devoted to the provision of material resources. That principally insures his success in parish ministry, and his chances of securing more desirable parishes. The able priest’s involvement is these activities prevents him from doing the things he is there mainly to do and would personally prefer to be doing. It is a situation that is entirely understandable, if nevertheless, unfortunate.

The solution, at least it seems to this author, is for the priest to exercise his role as spiritual director, first and foremost in the community. The Church has placed for his use extraordinary helps to do precisely this, and they are the Scriptures, the Creeds and the Sacraments, along with the parish organization. And today, the priest may use the liturgical year for sound Sunday homilies that
center upon the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. With these the priest can offer his services as a true spiritual director for the community

He is able to center the community’s focus on Jesus Christ, strive to acquire his positive outlook on all of life, and practice his Way of Life based upon the practice of tested virtues. The variety of ways in which he can do this depends upon his imagination alone. Once the people have this elementary sense of who Jesus is and what he is about the priest can go on to delve into his identity as a Jew of the 1st century A.D. A great deal of contemporary scholarship is being devoted to this end. The best of it, it seems to this author, identifies Jesus as a Prophet in tune with the great prophets ofJewish history, Isaiah I and II and Jeremiah. He can also expose his people to elements of the great Christology developed over the centuries since Jesus’ birth.

It would also see, appropriate to develop this understanding of the faith with the most neglected of the sacraments in recent years, that of Penance. If Jesus is to be the center and model of the Christian he should periodically review his efforts to live as Jesus did. The parish priest can be an immense help in this, truly serving as a spiritual director. In this manner, the sacrament can retrieve some of its relevancy and both priest and parishioner profit in the process.

Thus, by following the most recent developments within and by the Church the parish priest can be an authentic spiritual director, the kind his people seem to be calling for. This does not answer deeper questions concerning his role and that of the Church, but it does meet an immediate need.

When the question is raised as to the end or goals has in this life, we enter into another area. This is, for the most part, virgin territory. The Church has for centuries confined itself to matters it can directly control with a clerical base. It has avoided the questions that call for greater involvement by the laity, such as Jesus’ goals or ends. It cannot even be certain what his ends or goals were.

To be perfectly fair and honest, no one can say for certain, what those ends or goals were, not even the Church’s greatest scholars. Whether Jesus thought this was entirely to be the work of God, or otherwise is uncertain at this time. Some people contend one thing, other quite another.

Moreover, the Church following the Roman Empire, has adopted a system of social organization that is simple in its organization and easily controlled by one man or two, It is not designed to handle unanswered questions or complexity of personnel. As a result, has simply three levels in its organization and is controlled by an elite class, the clergy.

Today, in an age of globalization, this approach no longer has appeal or relevancy to most people. It is, nevertheless, familiar and attractive to some older folks.