In the Catholic Times in its Theological Lecture Hall column, the Director of the Catholic Culture and Theology Institute gives readers some helpful advice on how to develop our communities.
■ Honest diagnosis of parish reality— Parishes are returning to pre-corona status. Of course, it has not completely returned to its pre-COVID-19 state, and it may not be completely restored.
In the past, many things were done in the parish. Believers spend a lot of time in the parish. It seems that believers spend hardly any time in the parish these days, except attending Sunday Mass. The amount of external time the faithful spend at the parish cannot be a measure of the parish's vitality. However, it would be sad if the parish was just a place to attend Mass.
Individualism and materialism in modern society make people increasingly indifferent to the community. They live for external and material pleasures rather than internal pleasures. In addition, consumerism, the biggest characteristic of modern capitalism, allows even faith to be a matter of consumption. Consequently, the parishioners' life feels like an annoying restriction and restraint. In fact, compared to the past, people's expectations for parishes are much lower. The lowered level of expectations and the parish structure that does not satisfy people's healthy desire and desire for religion are intertwined, further reducing parish vitality.
Is it possible for one priest to pastorally care for hundreds of believers? Could it be that the majority of believers are just participating in the Sunday Mass without a soul? Could it be that we are living a life of faith that seeks only relief and self-consolation rather than community service and dedication? Could it be that the absence of continuous education on faith and spirituality and the operation of a parish centered on a minority are driving believers to lead a passive inactive parish life?
Recognized Community of Faith — The church is a community that recognizes and embraces all others in the faith. The healthy interest and recognition of others also give us comfort and strength in the arduous journey of life. As long as we live in relationships with others, we ask for the attention, love, and recognition of others. Healthy attention, love, and recognition make us independent and able to grow.
In all organizations and communities, some form of accreditation system is operating. Sometimes emotional intimacy, sometimes blood ties, and sometimes the depth of various ties affect the recognition system. However, most secular recognition systems are based on capital, power, and ability. To be a church means to be a recognized community of faith. In the early church days, church communities were attractive to people because of their unique recognition system. We practiced interest, love, and recognition for each other only in faith, not in the way of secular recognition. Rich or poor, nobility or slaves, they lived as brothers and sisters in the faith.
What type of accreditation system is operating in today's parish community? Is the recognition of each other only in faith? Is it possible that the secular recognition system is still working in the parish? How do we build a correct recognition system for the Christian faith?
The way the church has pursued large-scale and external growth must change. The life of faith in the future will be centered on small communities. The physical radius within which people can emotionally feel a sense of belonging and intimacy is not very wide. A faith community of intimacy and communion centered on small gatherings is desperately needed.
Faith gatherings in the form of large gatherings will be reduced. Small gatherings can spread and develop into larger gatherings, but it becomes increasingly impossible for strangers to gather and form large gatherings from scratch. Of course, large gatherings that occur in sports and entertainment areas may be possible to some extent in religious events. But events always end at events. Events may provide some stimulation, but no community of faith is formed through events. A true community of faith is always formed based on everyday life.
The experience of the corona pandemic can be a paradoxical medium that promotes the church's small community movement. Faith will be practiced in various places of daily life rather than developing a life of faith centered on a fixed space called a church. The place where we live together will become a community and become a church. The parish of the future will serve as an intermediary to unite and unite these small communities.
The pastoral care of the parish should also take place in the form of a small community. True encounters, dialogue, and communion are always possible only in small groups. If only the celebration of the sacraments takes place in the form of large assemblies, and if the religious spirit of the believers is not transformed into personal faith, that is, if the faith of the believers operates only in the realm of the parish and not in all places of life, then Christianity will simply fall into a cultural religion.
In particular, "personal spiritual companionship will be the most important and most necessary pastoral task of the church". The orientation and purpose of spiritual companionship is to cultivate a contemplative attitude toward the world and one's life. To be able to practice spiritual walking, one must become a spiritual and contemplative person. The ministry of spiritual accompaniment must not be reduced to the clergy alone or to the realm of special pastoral care. The duty of spiritual companionship is a duty that all believers must perform.
In modern society, a new type of community is needed to radiate the presence and charisma of faith. The traditional parish community format alone will not respond well to the challenges of modern society. In fact, new interpretations and ideals of the community are re-emerging today. But we will not give up the form of the parish. There is an urgent need for a new form and content of parish composition and management that can revive the essence, purpose, and orientation of the parish.
A new type of community will emerge, a new center where clergy and laity can jointly share the Gospel. "Centers especially for spirituality and spiritual accompaniment" may become the center of pastoral and religious life. The parish of the future should be a place not only for the celebration of the liturgy and sacraments but also for synodalitas meetings and dialogues between the People of God, true education in the faith, spiritual formation and accompaniment, communion, service, and charity towards the world.
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