Pope Benedict said, “On the strength of his hope, Augustine dedicated himself completely to the ordinary people and to his city–renouncing his spiritual nobility, he preached and acted in a simple way for simple people.” If this does not point out some of the most central points of this blog then I don’t know what does. Part of the challenge for me is to take so much of the wisdom of our tradition and distill it for folks who are educated and full of information in so many ways, yet are still simple on the level of faith and on the level of life. Are the people in the congregation fired up about tackling the major cultural problems of this secular-progressivist society? Probably not. Do they need to be? I don’t think so. This is why there is the academic side of this question, and then on the other side (the more important side for us pastors) there is the pedagogical.
For example, I have encountered many instances where people identify a strong and spirited congregation by looking at how much of a percentage do church stuff. Is that really what we are about when we say that the people of God must live out their faith? A large part of our mission as priests, with Augustine as our model, is to remind the people of God of their dignity in the simplicity of their lives. They need not start a television show, or lead a large church group, or start a new ministry. Where they are is where God is sending them. Are they looking for where God is sending them in their life now? Or are they regretting that they cannot dedicate as much time being a lector, or attending church functions, or helping out at the pantry. I cannot overemphasize that I do not mean to discourage by any means participation in the ecclesial life of the Church. But, obviously, not everyone is supposed to help out on the Church grounds beyond what is their duty (tithing, participation in some community functions). If this were so, the Church should be crowded with thousands of people all the time, and the world would be vacuous of Christians. Rather, it is supposed to be the opposite. The people of God ARE the leaven that God places in the dough that is the world to make it rise. Brothers, let us preach this tirelessly.
Tags: augustine, Catholic, church, kingdom of God, people of God, Pope Benedict, Public Square, Spe Salvi
