In the World but Not of the World: A Guide for Pastoral Ministry- Part II

A true Christian cannot, and should not, accept, affirm, or encourage, the commission of sin under any circumstance, let alone, under the guise of establishing community with those who have made the choice to live outside of the Gospel Truth.

Not only does St. Gregory the Great, speak of this, in chapter ten of Liber Regulae Pastoralis, but also, of the qualities one should possess – that he be entrusted with the pastoral care of souls:

That man, therefore, ought by all means to be drawn with cords to be an example of good living who already lives spiritually, dying to all passions of the flesh; who disregards worldly prosperity; who is afraid of no adversity; who desires only inward wealth; whose intention the body, in good accord with it, thwarts not at all by its frailness, nor the spirit greatly by its disdain: one who is not led to covet the things of others, but gives freely of his own; who through the bowels of compassion is quickly moved to pardon, yet is never bent down from the fortress of rectitude by pardoning more than is meet; who perpetrates no unlawful deeds, yet deplores those perpetrated by others as though they were his own; who out of affection of heart sympathizes with another’s infirmity, and so rejoices in the good of his neighbour as though it were his own advantage; who so insinuates himself as an example to others in all he does that among them he has nothing, at any rate of his own past deeds, to blush for; who studies so to live that he may be able to water even dry hearts with the streams of doctrine; who has already learnt by the use and trial of prayer that he can obtain what he has requested from the Lord, having had already said to him, as it were, through the voice of experience, While thou art yet speaking, I will say,” Here am I” (cf. Isaiah 58:9) {Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers}.

Here we must understand the pastoral care of souls belongs most properly to bishops, yet, the bishop can delegate the care of souls to parish priests. Deacons can be involved in pastoral care as regards the sick and dying, through visitations, prayer and bringing those who are close to death, viaticum. Bishops are also known as shepherds, just as the pastor of a parish is known as the shepherd of his flock. There are three degrees, or orders, bishop, priest, and deacon, and each receives this particular order, when he receives ordination in the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

St. Gregory refers to the qualities a pastor or shepherd should possess, that he provide pastoral care to the faithful. Specifically, that a pastor lead by the example of his life, that he, live a life above reproach, that he, renounce all fear and trust in God. That he, seek out what is above, over the comforts and rewards of this life. That, through his compassion for others, he be quickly moved to pardon, without compromise to sound morals or behavior in pardoning what should not be pardoned. Rather, with charity, and sympathy, he should instruct and admonish all who have erred, according to – the truth, morality, and the teachings of the Church, out of love for his brothers and sisters in Christ.
With this in mind, it would seem fitting for those seeking entrance into the Catholic Church, to know beforehand what it stands for and expects of its members. In this regard, one is free to study the Faith and implore the Lord in prayer, for guidance concerning the many ways one’s life has strayed in error. Yet, if this seems unfamiliar or infeasible to an individual, perhaps this is where the true pastoral care of souls begins. The individual is free to seek the counsel of a priest, to ascertain where his or her life differs from that of the teachings of the Church. And, as a result, what must be reconciled, that one’s life conform more closely to the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Thus, is there a model for true accompaniment? All one need do, is look to the Gospel of John:

Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father (John 10:7-21).

Again there was a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, ‘He is possessed and out of his mind; why listen to him?’ Others said, ‘These are not the words of one possessed; surely a demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?’”

Christ is the Good Shepherd, and the Gate. If we long to be raised up to Eternal life, then we need to enter – this Gate. But, how is it that we are prepared to enter this Gate? By following after The Shepherd, by recognizing His Voice, and His Word, by renouncing our sins and remaining open to His grace.

False prophets and thieves come to steal, slaughter and destroy. The teachings of those who stray from the natural law, the revealed word of God, and the deposit of faith, those, who take what is profane and make it seem sacred, those, who would boldly proclaim error, and call it charitable, or pastoral, to them it is said:

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:6).

Jesus became Incarnate, that we might have life and have it more abundantly. The Good Shepherd laid down His life in sacrifice for our sins – the Loving Shepherd Who knew no sin – took upon Himself the sins of us all and offered His life as a ransom.
And, just as Christ offered His life in sacrifice, to protect and shield us from the pitfalls of sin, the bishop and ministerial priest must follow after the High Priest, Jesus Christ, in laying down their lives for their flocks, that the souls of men be saved. This is a great responsibility and cannot be evaded, nor accomplished, without the grace of God.

Thus, is the revealed word of God, prayer, and the sacraments, essential in the care of God’s people? All of these must remain at the core of the pastor’s life as he attends to the souls of the faithful. If these fail to remain central to his ministry, he is lost, because he has ceased relying upon God and His grace, and has decided to depend solely upon himself. This will not end well, perhaps, in exhaustion and burnout, if not God forbid, in the enslavement of sin, through addictions and the like.

The other sheep who do not belong to this fold, these also the Good Shepherd must lead. Does this mean, those living outside of the teachings of the Church? One would have to conclude, yes! Nonetheless, should this elicit a pastoral response which would accept and encourage sin, in those whom bishops and priests expect to lead toward a lasting conversion? Not at all! Rather, it is truly charitable, loving, and pastoral, to assist those living outside of natural law, the revealed word of God, and the deposit of faith, by fostering in them, a recognition of their need for conversion. This is a noble pursuit, and not, an insignificant matter. What is at stake is the Eternal consequence of the individual’s soul.

The fact is, Christ established the Church for the spiritual benefit of souls, not to appease those who would change or include teachings – the Lord did not set forth in the deposit of faith. Because, these so-called modernizations, would not serve to save the souls of men, or unite them to Himself in Eternal life.

Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen summarizes these realities in this antithesis – what is wise in the ways of the world is foolishness to God – and the Wisdom of God seems folly – to those who are wise in the ways of the world:

From a worldly point of view, Our Lord did the foolish thing. What would you think of a man before a court who might clear himself of a charge by a word, or a show of power, and yet refused to do so? Well, here is Our Lord going to the Cross and to death, simply because He will not do the worldly thing. Herod wanted one thing, and Christ gave him another. Herod wanted a trick—something to relieve the intolerable monotony of his sensuous life. He wanted fireworks, and He who claimed to be the Light of the World, offered him Light instead, the white flame without flicker of a Divine Personality, in the lantern of His sacred Humanity. That was foolishness! The folly of Omnipotence! And so Herod robed Him in the garment of a fool!
And from that day to this, the Church has been robed in the garment of a fool, because she never does the worldly thing (Moods and Truths).

The Church must always bear the taunt of being unmodern and unworldly, as Our Lord had to bear it before Herod. And Our Lord warned us that it would be the mark of the Divinity of the Church: ‘If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you…. If the world hate you, know you that it hath hated Me before you.’ In other words, ‘if you ever want to discover My religion on the face of the earth, look for the Church that does not get along with the world’.

The religion that gets on with the world, and is accepted by it, is worldly; the religion that does not get on with the world is other-worldly, which is another way of saying that it is divine.

The Church is very modern, if modern means serving the times in which we live, but she is not modern, if it means believing that whatever is modern is true. The Church is modern, if modern means that her members should change their hats with the seasons, and even with the styles, but she is not modern, if it means that every time a man changes his hat, he should also change his head, or in an applied sense, that she should change her idea of God every time psychology puts on a new shirt, or physics a new coat.

She is modern, if modern means incorporating the new-found wisdom of the present with the patrimony of the centuries, but she is not modern if it means sneering at the past as one might sneer at a lady’s age. She is modern, if modern means a passionate desire to know the truth, but she is not modern if it means that truth changes with the calendar, and that what is true on Friday is false on Saturday. The Church is modern if modern means progress toward a fixed ideal, but she is not modern if it means changing the ideal instead of attaining it.

The Church is like an old schoolmaster—the schoolmaster of the centuries—and as such she has seen so many students pass before her, cultivate the same poses, and fall into the same errors, that she merely smiles at those who believe that they have discovered a new truth; for in her superior wisdom and experience, she knows that many a so-called new truth is only a new label for an old error (Moods and Truths).

To read Part I