The biggest obstacles for the universal Church to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit are a closed heart and a chained mindset. The Church is in transition, albeit a painful one for many who cannot tolerate its transformational process. Yet we all know new wine cannot be kept in old wineskins; otherwise they simply burst.
It is the same with the local Church. Many old wineskins simply do not tolerate change. Despite good intentions, they have retreated into their sanctuaries of tradition which seem to provide their own security and comfort rather than developing a missional mindset. They are more eager to preserve the so-called ‘museums of memories’ rather than, as Pope Francis put it, “portraying the Christian faith as a source of inspiration”.
We are in a time of ‘missional renaissance’ where the Church can no longer afford to revolve among a relatively small, insular group of priests operating in religious circles. The calling is clear, as pointed out by Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who said the strongest message to emerge from the latest synod at the Vatican is ‘a willingness to have an open Church’.
This resonates with Pope Francis’s decree that Church leaders should confront difficult issues “fearlessly, without burying their heads in the sand”. He called for a more open-hearted Church, and added that “a faith that does not know how to root itself in the life of the people remains arid and, rather than oases, creates other deserts”. He warned against ‘a scheduled faith’ where everything was programmed, and a condescending point of view, where “whoever bothers us or is not of our stature is excluded”.
Closed hearts in the Church condemn, judge and often fail to distinguish between the sin and the sinner. Closed hearts fail to show mercy and tend to form clusters and clans of presumably holy people who defend outright whatever is a threat to their comfort zone, and all this in the name of ‘religion’. They are so absorbed in their pride and pomp they forget that God’s missional priority was the redemption of mankind.
Closed hearts are self-absorbed and seek their own attention rather than caring about reaching those who are lost; yet Jesus came to “seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10) and “God sent his son into the world not to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17)
New wine cannot be kept in old wineskins; otherwise they simply burst
Chained mindsets are also a big hindrance to the transformational process of the Church towards developing an incarnational ministry, a ministry of being with the people, with the vulnerable and emarginated. How often do we find in the local Church, parish pastoral councils quibbling over trivial pursuits, spending priceless time and energy deliberating the logistics of an external festa and maintaining what is going on within the four walls of the Church’s building? How often does form overrides substance, and do such councils fail to discern the promptings of the Holy Spirit for the spiritual development of their local community?
Does the Church need a process of ‘de-cluttering’, or need to find ways and means of minimising the vast energy and financial resources spent on ‘maintaining’ its ‘museums of memories’ so as to release more energy in being with and for the people?
In a recent discussion about the future of the Church, German Cardinal Reinhard Marx told reporters that some synod members seem to view the Church as a ‘castle to be defended, surrounded by enemies’, something which was beyond his comprehension. “The Church,” he said, “is a sacrament in the midst of the people, reaching out, challenging and bringing healing.”
A Church living in the midst of the people obviously is challenged by the variety of cultures those people represent. Maintaining unity while responding to diversity and even learning from it has been a task the Christian community has struggled with from the beginning.
The Church is facing crucial challenges. Strategic leadership is a must but it can only be energised into accomplishing its mission by faithfully yielding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit for a renewed and revived Church, open to all, bringing forth a joyful hope. There is no room for closed hearts and chained mindsets.
As they say, ‘when our memories of the past are more exciting than our vision for the future, we have begun to die’.
gordon@atomserve.net
Gordon Vassallo is an accredited spiritual guide at the Centre for Ignatian Spirituality.