Priesthood, Prophesy and Kingdom - Reflections on the Year of Priesthood

Priesthood, Prophesy and Kingdom - Reflections on the Year of Priesthood

The first year of our three-year cycle of study into Priesthood, Prophesy and Kingdom, has come to a close and our Chair, Anne Dixon, offers some observations on the year’s events. 

Priesthood - Some Reflections

Recently a parish catechist was bemoaning the difference between their previous parish priest and the present incumbent. Despite attempts to steer the conversation into more positive channels, they continued to return to their frustrations.  

Why did the replacement of what was, after all, just one man (albeit a much-beloved one) with another, cause such anguish to this person? What did they want, need, or expect their parish priest to be?

“I need him to be the spiritual leader of the community, our guide and mediator of all things sacred”, was the reply. It was clear that the new man was failing on all counts! 

Is this an unrealistic expectation? Or does the sacramental grace of Ordination provide all that is necessary to its recipient? As with all the sacraments, the faith, attitude and response of the recipient determine the efficacy of the sacrament. We are free agents, not puppets. The Catechist’s statement suggests a ‘high bar’ in terms of expectation. It demonstrates a level of dependency upon a single human being, which, at best, could be interpreted as an affirmation of their vocational calling, is in many circumstances doomed to disappoint all parties, and at worst, may result in the abuse of power.

Our Year of Study

At Boar’s Hill in February our 18+ weekend entitled ‘Church at the crossroads - responding to challenging times’, took us straight into the operational level of Catholic Parish Life with a description of the progress possible when enthusiastic and effective leadership is engaged. Referring to Divine Renovation, written by Fr. James Mallon, a Canadian Catholic Priest, the speakers considered the imperative upon communities of faith to spread the Good News. Fr. Mallon’s methodology included an extended ministry team, the use of the Alpha evangelisation course and a firm directing hand on proceedings from the author. Participants presented other models of leadership in a counterbalancing panel discussion.

Despite the authoritative language employed by James Mallon, the question remained: Is it right or just to place such a burden on one person’s shoulders? To do so might suggest the attitude described by Mircea Eliade in The Sacred and The Profane:

“He who ascends by mounting the steps of the sanctuary or the ritual ladder that leads to the sky ceases to be a man; in one way or another he shares in the divine condition.”

Our year of study encompassed more than, simply, the institutional priesthood. We were being invited to consider the concept of priesthood in many forms. The scholarly body of work on Eucharist by Professor Tom O’Loughlin, which was the focus of our study at the Hyning 18+ weekend in March entitled ‘Understanding the Eucharist’, offered a further model for shared ministry which dissolved some of the human constructs restricting access to 'broken loaf and shared cup’. In many ways, once this invitation was issued it continued to flow through the succeeding events of the year, gentling our liturgies to encourage, enable and welcome all the participate. This was especially true during our Easter liturgies at Plas Caerdeon in April, where young and less-young ministered seamlessly to one another in true CPW fashion; and during the Walking week at Willersley Castle where the liturgies were taken out into the countryside and celebrated with enthusiasm in the beautiful landscape of the Peak District. 

Our July 18+ week at Hyning entitled ‘Living the Sacred’ took a different view by looking back into our Judaic roots through Scripture, music, and art to discover the models of authoritative sacred leadership that were assumed by the newly formed Church of the Holy Roman Empire, and to wonder what might have been.

In August our all age weeks at Kintbury and Malvern took up the wonder of Eucharist as a way of living. Looking at ourselves as the Body of Christ and the ways in which we are sometimes Blessed, Broken and Shared. The Ministering of the Eucharist, in this understanding, breaks through the walls of Church and enters into our everyday lives in a mixture of pain and joy. To shield ourselves from this responsibility is to settle for being less than we are called to be. God calls, do we have the courage to answer?

One man who answered the call to administer power responsibly was our Autumn lecturer, Mike Kane MP, who reminded us of our own invitation to respond to the Beatitudes. Responsibility is given to all of us. Our faith tradition provides, through its social teaching, the means by which we can gauge our response. To him, it was that simple, as he sent us out to “go and change the world”.

Our final event, an 18+ weekend at Penmaenmawr, invited us to consider our role as ‘Living stones being built into a spiritual house’. Here, again, was a model in which all were necessary and welcome. The Communion of Saints is a varied and mixed bag of people, ministering in many different ways.

What Conclusions Can We Draw From Our Year-long Reflection?

Movements for change are alive and well among the People of Faith. As membership of the institutional Church reduces, this Faith still seeks Understanding. But, Authority, in an age of increasing secularisation, must be earned; it is no longer given indiscriminately on the hearsay of others. Levels of Trust in those in leadership have rarely been lower and many people are seeking the internal authority of their own conscience in preference.  

This raised awareness has the potential to awaken in all people of goodwill a realisation of their responsibilities for their own spiritual wellbeing and the material and spiritual wellbeing of others.

Leadership is emerging from unexpected sources: the Young (Greta Thunberg), the Non-violent (Extinction Rebellion), and the Broken-hearted (Grenfell survivors). The Centre cannot hold; the marginalised are where the creative solutions emerge. 

At CPW we love and respect the ordained ministers who share in our work. We are grateful for their pastoral, liturgical and learned contributions and appreciate the gift of their presence in the team, especially at a time when they are ‘spread so thinly’ within the faith community.

Our operational inclusive team-based model has the advantage of spreading the burden of responsibility for the physical, spiritual and pastoral welfare of the temporary community gathered at each event. Added to this, the content of each event (study, liturgy, conversation) has the capacity to raise the consciousness of participants to their own responsibilities within the community of faith, and beyond, and offers the opportunity to explore ways to make this more concrete.

If CPW members are less likely than other active Catholics to be disturbed by changes in Parish personnel, it may not be because they are disinterested or are impervious to the ordained ministry. It may be because they are straining to hear distant but clear voices speaking out for the first time; hesitantly but authoritatively about Responsibility, Forgiveness and the Power that only Love can bring.

By Anne Dixon