Lay Ecclesial Ministers: My View

[BayCityRickL]

I don’t know much about these, but the USCCB is apparently going to draft some position paper on this subject.

My view: I think we should have MANY qualified LEM’s. I think that most if not all students graduating from Catholic High Schools should be formally trained as LEM’s.

My view is this. If the neutron bomb hit (or the asian bird flu) and it was up to YOUR PARISH to sustain the Church throughout the world, would it be ready? Or, would we have what is now the endemic “not me” “no way Jose” attitude about?

There is such an ingrained passivity in the Catholic Church. Yes, we all ARE not worthy. But, we have to do God’s will, right?

One of my deepest regrets is that I may die without having brought one person into the faith of the Catholic Church. And, when I look back, I see that I wasn’t trained or even told that I was expected to be such an ambassador for Christ, as the Holy Spirit says.

 

[contemplative]

Evidently you have not been following this thread…
Karl Keating’s E-Letter of October 25, 2005
You have not contributed a post to it…???

 

[BayCityRickL]

Actually I did view that thread, but I did not jump into the controversy there.

I actually don’t attend church and have not done so for over three years. The issue is that the current pastor preaches and teaches in ways that directly contradict the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

I am aware of dioceses where bishops and priests and nuns are forcing their own views on everybody, just like in my former parish.

I say, the heck with it. I don’t go to Mass to watch a human drama, but to participate in a divine drama. When there is an ordained minister present, I don’t see any value added by turning the Mass into a circus. If other people want to sit there, then they can certainly do so.

The other thread had a link to an article by Bishop Clark. He briefly alludes to “parishioners who have difficulty accepting new ways .”

If I wanted to belong to a protestant church, then I’d join one. In the meantime, I want a Catholic church, if I can find one.

Lay ministers had an excellent role before Vatican II, in various teaching and social ministries. I would like people with certified competencies to continue to fill those roles and expand them. I don’t have a problem with a Johnette Benkovic or Ralph Martin or Scott Hahn or Tim Gray reading scripture, expounding on it, and such, in the right context.

Those people have outstanding credentials, but even they have no expressed desire to replace the ordained priest at Mass. They are superlative examples of what I am referring to as lay ministers.

 

[Pentecost2005]

BayCityRickL:

One of my deepest regrets is that I may die without having brought one person into the faith of the Catholic Church. And, when I look back, I see that I wasn’t trained or even told that I was expected to be such an ambassador for Christ, as the Holy Spirit says.

Well, apparently you know of that expectation now, so what are you waiting for? An apostolic commission from the Pope?

BayCityRickL:

I actually don’t attend church and have not done so for over three years.

And you say that you regret that you “may die without having brought one person into the faith of the Catholic Church”? Are you kidding? To have regrets in advance about something you can fully prevent now is… well, silly, to put it mildly. You claim that the Church is important to you–otherwise why would it be important to you to bring other souls into it? And yet… you haven’t attended Mass in three years. Are you baptized? Are you confirmed? If so, then not attending in three years is a mortal sin. And I seriously doubt that you have had a “good reason” not to attend.

You turn your back on Calvary, and then whine that you haven’t been successful as a missionary. Are you posting in jest?

BayCityRickL:

If I wanted to belong to a protestant church, then I’d join one. In the meantime, I want a Catholic church, if I can find one.

It doesn’t sound like you’re working very hard to find one, does it?

 

[contemplative]

BayCityRickL:

Actually I did view that thread, but I did not jump into the controversy there.

I actually don’t attend church and have not done so for over three years. The issue is that the current pastor preaches and teaches in ways that directly contradict the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

I am aware of dioceses where bishops and priests and nuns are forcing their own views on everybody, just like in my former parish.

I say, the heck with it…

I read this post of yours late last evening. It struck a chord with me… I was tired…I needed time to reply.

I could be you right now.
All that you have experienced crossed my mind…such despair
Pray and ask God to help you find a way to get to church and receive Holy Communion…really pray.
Are there any Catholic monasteries near you?
Travel - if you need to find a place you can freely worship and pray in the way you know you should. I travel an extra 20 minutes to get to where I need to be.
Muster up everything you have within and get there. May God Bless you and give you strength.

 

[Brendan]

BayCityRickL:

My view is this. If the neutron bomb hit (or the asian bird flu) and it was up to YOUR PARISH to sustain the Church throughout the world, would it be ready? Or, would we have what is now the endemic “not me” “no way Jose” attitude about?

If it was up to our parish, then the Church would have ceased to exist. Our parish is headed by a priest, not a bishop. If our parish was all that was left, what was left would not be the Catholic Church.

There can be no Catholic Church without the Apostolic Sucession of the Episcopate.

If there are no Bishops, there is no Catholic Church, regardless of anything my parish does.

 

[mercygate]

BayCityRickL:

One of my deepest regrets is that I may die without having brought one person into the faith of the Catholic Church. And, when I look back, I see that I wasn’t trained or even told that I was expected to be such an ambassador for Christ, as the Holy Spirit says.

:ehh: Pretty hard to bring people to the faith when you have not been to Mass in three years.