ADVENT RECOLLECTION – Lay Ministry is a Call to Holiness
In preparation for Christmas 2021, Fr. Joe Stephens CSSR was invited by the parish to give a series of reflections on “Lay Ministry”.
In the first session on the “Origin of Lay Ministry”, Fr Joe said that the Lay Ministry began with Vatican Council II sometime between 1962 and 1965. Thus, he said, the lay ministry is in its infancy stage and is a learning process for both priests and laity.
Lay ministry is a call to holiness- a closer relationship with God through a call to serve in the ministry on behalf of the Christian community, for the growth of God’s kingdom. In his talk on “Called”, he spoke on how Mary’s “Yes” at the annunciation was a call to Be, to Live and to Do whatever is needed to bring her closer to God, to her Nazareth family, to the apostles and later the church- all those whom she lived and came in contact to. We are called as Christians to Do whatever is necessary to bring Christ to the world and the world to Christ. “Ministry” is not just limited to a church but can also be out there where God calls us to be witness to His love and presence in the world.
In his talk on “Attitudes we need in the ministry”, Fr. Joe acknowledged that at times parishioners are hurt by the attitudes of priests and lay ministers. They are human and at times lack knowledge of the different personalities, cultures and attitudes of the parishioners. This is inevitable as a lay ministry is only about 60 years old, still in its infancy stage of over 2000 years of church history. ‘Attitude’ , is the sum of our feelings, our learned predispositions and our behaviour. Therefore, to ensure success in our ministry, we as lay ministers need to inculcate in ourselves a caring, sensitive, confident and humble attitude. We need to heed the inner voice and develop good values, integrity, character and positive values. “ Who you are today is the result of choices you made yesterday. Tomorrow, you will become what you choose today”, he quoted.
In his talk on “the future of the lay ministry in the midst of covid-19”, he talked about the emergence of two types of people – fear-filled and innovative people. The fear-filled people are traumatised and are still scared to go out, unless necessary. As for the innovative people, they have learned to adapt to the situation and move on. The future of the lay ministry will depend on the choice we make – to either sit and wait or rise to the occasion to witness to the presence and love of God in this time of suffering by reaching out, responding with faith, hope, and love.
In his final reflection on “Lay ministry rooted in God’s love”, Fr. Joe compared the success of the Lay Ministry to that of a strong, healthy fruit-bearing tree with healthy roots. For a Lay ministry to be sustainable and successful, it must root itself in God’s love through personal prayer. He explained that many lay ministers and priests who left their vocation said they forgot to pray. He said a personal prayer and a relationship with God are essential to remaining faithful in our call. It is then we can hear the inner voice of the Holy Spirit, discern and do God’s will. He suggested that lay ministers should set aside a time and place to meet God, no matter how busy they are. He said we need to bring our weaknesses and strengths, our struggles and challenges and our vocation to God in prayer.
At the end of his talk, Fr. Joe reminded the lay ministers that lay ministry exists for the church and the world. So ministry is not only confined to the church community but also to the world at large. (Ann Marie Yap)