|
In one Spirit
Do you ever look around on Sunday and wonder at the amazing diversity
among we who are in one Spirit in Christ? I speak not only of ethnic diversity
but also of diversity in age, life experience, faith development, devotional
practice, and participation in ministry — such a rich sign of the wonder
of God! We are brought together through the Spirit, baptized into the one
Body of Christ; as each of us is created in God’s image and likeness, our
participation together signifies much. I think that might be some of what
our bishops meant when they wrote the following in their pastoral letter
on evangelization, Go and Make Disciples:
Unless people know the grandeur for which they are made, they
cannot reach fulfillment and their lives will be incomplete. Nor will they
know that they are called into interpersonal union with God and with each
other. (31)
This interpersonal union with God and with each other in one Spirit is
not something that most people recognize early along on their journey of
faith. It is something we grow into, and it is a reality that we who are
pastoral ministers must foster carefully and with intention.
Forming the community
As I speak with people about stewardship, I often quote the introduction
to Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response, which includes these words:
Although religious faith is a strong force in the lives of
many Americans, our country’s dominant secular culture often contradicts
the values of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. This is a culture in which
destructive “isms” — materialism, relativism, hedonism, individualism,
consumerism — exercise seductive, powerful influences. There is a strong
tendency to privatize faith, to push it to the margins of society, confining
it to people’s hearts or, at best, their homes, while excluding it from
the marketplace of ideas where social policy is formed and men and women
acquire their view of life and its meaning.
These two quotations from the bishops are intimately related, and forming
the community to live as both disciples and stewards is key. When we form
people to actively cultivate within themselves a spirituality that is open
to union with God and with others and to give freely of their talents,
their time, and their material resources, our communities become a strong
force in people’s lives, helping them to mediate those destructive “isms”
and to instead live with deep meaning in one Spirit.
Formed through life within the community
Stewardship is contagious. A few years ago, Barb was concerned by the
number of families who went through crisis alone with no apparent support
from our parish, especially the crisis of the death of a child, a miscarriage,
or a multiple birth. She found out about Elizabeth Ministry and came forward
asking to begin this special outreach within our parish. Given the assent
to begin, Barb talked with friends, who spoke with others, and in just
a few weeks, the ranks of the ministry began to fill; people heard about
it and began sharing their stories, inspired and ready to offer their gifts
to alleviate such anxiety for others in any way possible. The lives of
those giving and those receiving have been enriched. Such is the steward’s
way.
Forming pastoral practice
Most parishes begin to foster stewardship out of financial need. The
pastor, a staff member, or the pastoral council study what has helped other
parishes to relieve debt, care for facilities, offer ministry within the
parish, give generously in outreach and mission, and foster faithful living
among members. Inevitably the research surfaces the transformation that
stewardship brings about. It is a way of life that requires people (and
their parishes) to learn to trust in God above all, facing the truth that
there is no security in material wealth, that all we are and have and will
be comes from God. This recognition changes the way people live out their
lives, and even in the face of the insecurities of life, they learn to
give in lavish imitation of our always generous and giving God. Even more,
as people learn to trust, they find great joy in the actions that result
from this union of hearts and minds with that of God. They find their living
discipleship calling them together, transcending the lure of the surrounding
culture, living as Paul enjoined the people of Corinth:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the
members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For
in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks,
slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor 12:12–13)
ML
Leisa Anslinger is pastoral associate for faith formation
at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Cincinnati. Author of Here
Comes Everybody! Whole Community Catechesis in the Parish, she is a
national speaker on topics including whole-community catechesis and pastoral
leadership.
SUBSCRIBE
NOW!
What do YOU
Think?
Send an e-mail
to ML Editor or post an entry
on the ML Current Issue Discussion Board. (All
submissions become the property of RPI and may be edited for length.) |
|
