a lawless bloggle

Is the church as an institution crumbling? Clearly it is, if as an institution it depends for its vitality on a good percentage of its members attending weekly assembly, with a plentiful supply of commissioned leaders to conduct those assemblies, etc. Survey figures indicate terminal decline.

Is this because we have been saying ‘Lord! Lord!’ and not doing the will of the Father? Putting this in other words, is it because there is a gap between theory and practice? Clearly there is such a gap almost everywhere you look.

Any institution of great age that values its heritage will suffer the effects of divided attention. Human institutions that put more and more effort into remaining true to their roots and maintaining their structures simply collapse through exhaustion. They focus on secondary issues, and rationalise their neglect of the essentials on which their life depends. There is nothing new about this. The prophets of Israel railed against the institution for its neglect of the basics and its preoccupation with affairs that people thought were important, but were not of God.

Christ called for radical change in thought and attitude in people who would accept his call to be a new community, a new humanity. This radical change has to be happening every day in every member of the body of Christ. The assembled community of those who ‘believe’ in Christ has to ask itself ‘Are we alive as a community?’ To be a real community is essential to being christian. There may be ‘anonymous christians’ who have never come into contact with the institution, but the idea of ‘anonymity’ does not apply in the local group of believers. If members are not recognised and acknowledged as brothers and sisters then something essential is lacking, just as surely as it would be lacking in a family if members don’t bother to recognise one another. Needless to say, the community of believers is a family only by analogy, so we don’t have to go too far along that track. But caring about one another is essential, and where appropriate, caring for one another.

As modern life spells the death of the parish as it was at the beginning of this present decline, as it was when the parish was one of the neighbourhood meeting places, so there is now a need for people to meet in smaller groups that will become communities in their own right with time. The Spirit is given to animate every community.

In the long history of church reform the initiative has come most often not from the institution itself, not from popes or bishops, but from ordinary people who have seen a need and set out to create a solution, asking a blessing from the bishop as they went, often suffering setbacks of every kind including a good measure of suspicion or even suppression from bishops, etc., etc. Mary McKillop is an example close to home.

The only question today for us is: What are we waiting for?  Am I waiting for more clarity as to what I can do? Am I waiting for a couple of like-minded people to join me so we can start to be an assembly of believers together - a community - an actual member assembly of the body of Christ?

There are models galore, and a lot of experience that has been shared around over the past 50 years. It was well under way prior to Vatican II with, for example, St V de P from way back, and the YCW developed in the 1930's. Cursillo, Marriage Encounter, Teams of Our Lady and dozens of others have provided the experience on which local communities can be built.

Even as I write there are examples on the Internet of groups forming with the intention of living their lives as believers in community, sharing time in reading and meditation, celebrating eucharist, encouraging one another in giving witness to their faith by reaching out to others, especially to anyone in need.

I wonder should we hear in today’s gospel a dire and discouraging, even threatening, warning, or should we hear a final commissioning: There you have it in a nutshell, my program for radical change. Now get out there and do it. Live this truth together in love.

King David dreamed up the idea of building a House for the Lord, a grand temple, but the prophet Nathan said: This is what the Lord says to you. It is not for you to build me a house, but I will build you a house, i.e., I will make you, as a people, the place where I will dwell. Later Solomon built the temple with extraordinary magnificence, and the people have seen it destroyed over and over, and still we don’t hear the word of God to David. Now, as we are confronted with empty temple churches, it is our turn to be the living body of Christ by forming into small communities of people who share a common faith and live the truth with love.
 

If you would like to join a discussion on the above, you will find one on the website 'Catholica'