Communio . . .

Nearly bi-polar,
I vacillate
between the ecstasy of knowing
I am made of stardust
(as is all of creation)
and the painful awareness
of humanity denying its potential.

In this darkest time of year
the darkness is exacerbated
by suffering and grief
needlessly perpetrated by
those who could do differently
if they chose.

The same darkness that makes
the stars more visible
makes our origins more dissonant
from how our culture lives.

My eyes take me deep into the universe,
light years away from the misery
around this planet,
yet my ears cannot be stopped
from hearing the travesty
of power abused.

I listen for the voices of hope
only moderately successful,
muffled by the ranting of
those willing to make promises
they cannot or will not keep.

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Participation Is Key to Church Survival

    by Helen Brinich

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(Helen is a member of the Community of St. Malachi.)

I was happy to be able to attend the Call To Action conference in Milwaukee in November.  It is heartening to me to realize that there are so many intelligent, articulate and educated Catholics who are devoted to the cause of making necessary changes in the institutional church.  They are people with leadership roles and abilities who are willing to give time, effort and thought to what needs to be done to make the Church relevant and respected.  The Bishops should welcome lay directed organizations such as Voice of the People, Call to Action and FutureChurch, which are encouraging lay people to take responsibility for the ministries that otherwise will not be fulfilled.  There are too few priests to continue the dominance which was once exercised by the clergy.  Respect for the Bishops has been drastically eroded because of their mishandling of the pedophile scandal.  There is a crisis in the Church that can only be resolved if the lay people take up their baptismal vocations of service.
Robert McClory attracted a large audience with his lecture "The Coming Democratization of the Catholic Church."  He took issue with the oft-stated precept that the Catholic Church is not a democracy.  Jesus preached the gospel to all people.  By word and example he taught that Christians must be servants.  He washed the feet of his disciples.  Paul expected the churches he established to be self organizing, to act independently.  His epistles were addressed to the whole community.  He frequently mentions women disciples and thanks them for the work they do.  There were disagreements which eventually led to discernment.  He stressed the need to use everyone's particular talents which make up the Body of Christ.
This egalitarian community eroded all too quickly into a two tiered system:  the shepherds and the sheep.  Throughout the 2000 year history of the Catholic Church there has been an impulse toward the recovery of the early church model.  Pope Celestine I held that a Bishop should not be given to those who are not willing to receive him.  In the 12th century Gregory VII accepted the consensus of scholars that the consent of the people needs to be a basic rule. John Carroll, the first American bishop was elected by his priests.
Mr. McClory believes that we are moving into a more open-ended, participative era.  There will always be people who want a church that has all the answers.  They like certitude.  These are not the majority.  In the present critical period the Church cannot continue to be a top-down organization.  It isn't working anymore.  Young people don't accept it.  The Europeans are being lost.  The women who used to be the laborers and the churchgoers, have walked away from it.  Clericalism is not scriptural, it is not part of our theology.  It can't be justified historically or psychologically.  The Catholic laity are as well educated and self confident as the hierarchy.  There is pressure from below and also from above.  There are Bishops who have criticized the power structure of the Church.  Proposals that bishops should be chosen by the people are growing louder.
The machinery for lay participation was put in place by Vatican II, but it hasn't been put into operation.  The laity are now going off in different directions and the Church leadership doesn't know what to do about it.  In time they will have to give way.  Decisions that are made without the consensus of the people won't hold up.
Robert McClory has recently written a new book, "As It Was in the Beginning."  He expounds his ideas and presents support for them more thoroughly in the book.  Look for it in your local book store or library.

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In Case You Ever Had a Bad Day

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(Thanks to Ellen McIntyre for sending this in.)

NCYC 2007

    by Terri Slivka

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(Terri is a member of the Community of St. Malachi.) 

Several weeks ago, the second collection donated money to the High School Christian Formation group’s trip to National Catholic Youth Conference. NCYC is an event occurring every other year where high school teens from across the country come to celebrate their faith. This year it was held in Columbus. Nine girls from St. Malachi’s High School Christian Formation group attended with three of their leaders. It was quite a trip.
Many people I know would be slightly intimidated to hear about 20,000 kids all gathered in an arena to have “church,” but we got pretty excited. After we arrived in Columbus and received our t-shirts and other items we would later be able to trade, we went to Columbus’s Arena for the opening ceremony. Steve Angrisano, our animated and crowd-friendly master of ceremonies, gave us a rundown of what was to come. The theme of the weekend was “Discover the Way.” Over the next two days, the twelve of us were immersed in a completely different atmosphere of faith.
We were blessed with three amazing keynote speakers. The first was Tony Melendez, a guitarist who has no arms or hands, but plays with his feet. Whenever people ask him where he finds miracles, he tells them that “I see your hand, and the fact that you are able to raise your hand, and that’s a miracle to me.” Friday night, we listened to Father Tony Ricard, a priest from New Orleans who was the favorite speaker by a landslide. He has a gift with getting the audience involved in the message he is trying to impress upon them. After a hilarious introduction, he told the creation story in a completely unique way – you can search it on You Tube – and then finished by pounding his message into our heads: “Don’t be Stupid.” Saturday we had Renee Bondi, a singer who uses her partial recovery from a spine injury to inspire others. When she was first in her condition, she could barely speak above a whisper and could hardly move at all, but she sang clearly for us.
During the day when we weren’t at the arena, we were mostly at the Convention Center. There were several workshops, with topics that varied from relationships, to family matters, to comedy and living as a Catholic. There was also Port Discovery, a huge room full of small vendors and games. You could buy a Father Tony “Don’t be Stupid” wristband or take pictures in cutouts. Another major element of NCYC was the trading. Our Diocese of Cleveland t-shirts (which said “Cleveland Rocks, Jesus Rolls) could be traded for moose hats, Iowa baseball caps, tie-dyed “Peace and Love” shirts, or anything else we could find and convince people to give up.
Closing night, we had mass in the arena, which was as powerful and moving an experience as ever. Communion to the entire arena even managed to go off without too much of a hitch. Afterwards we had acknowledgements, sang one last song, Steve said goodbye, and everybody walked out with the theme song stuck in their heads.
Overall, NCYC was remarkable, and none of us will forget it any time soon. Especially the presence of so many people our age united to live for Christ. We’re extremely grateful to everyone for their support; your donations provided a lot of aid in meeting the cost – which was well worth it for everyone lucky enough to go. NCYC was an experience of a lifetime.

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Send articles or comments to joe_pulizzi@yahoo.com. 
Next issue is Jan. 27.
Due date for editorial – Jan. 13.

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