Last week we started a great conversation (which continues) on the symbols, and ministry of ordained OC/IC service. In the course of that conversation, naturally, we also started to talk about the symbols and charism of the laity. I think, especially given our community’s pre-disposition toward ordaining more or less everything, that that conversation deserves a full airing.
Lyngine has started us off with some great observations in the comments of last weeks conversation – I’m reproducing them here in the hope that it will kick start a more in-depth exploration.
Lyngine writes:
“The charism of being laity goes beyond having the time and energy available that is not taken up by sacramental duties required in ordained life. The issue goes deeper and hits at the intrinsic nature of being laity. Because as laity, I hold no official power or authority within my local community and because it’s fairly common knowledge that I have no intention of ever seeking ordination–and therefore will never be in such a position, I am pretty much represent zero threat to folk who have had very negative past experiences with authority and clergy, which can be a large segment of people walking into OC/IC/ISM communities. This means I can be an easier person to approach about certain issues or to ask certain questions or if folk just need a little more encouragement to approach a priest about an issue. So people have another venue in which they make contact as they explore their faith. There is gift in being without overt power or authority in serving a community in which members have had past negative issues with power/authority. The gift lies precisely and intrinsically in the lack of the ordained status and the position that puts one in (as nicely described by Tim in an earlier comment). This also speaks to why someone ordained may want to remove one’s collar once in a while–it’s a constant symbol of authority and wearing it constantly can make it difficult to connect with those one serves.
The other gift of the laity is that , in general, most are not so completely immersed in religious/church/jurisdictional life and so bring outside loves, passions, and issues into the community—such a necessary gift if we are to keep from becoming overly internally focused as a group.
It’s not only that laity have some of their time freed up due to the lack of sacramental duties (though this is indeed true), the state of being laity itself holds/confers within it a particular charism that can complement that of priesthood within a worshiping community.”
The only thing I would add to this inaugural post on the symbols & charism of the laity is that without the laity a local assembly is incomplete, lopsided, and lacks the fullness of the spiritual gifts – in short it is as if it is not a “catholic” assembly.
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