"Clericalism and the Liturgy" -- Food for Thought

I do get behind in my reading, but today I finally got around to an article by Dominican friar Paul Philibert in this post's heading, found in the recent Celebration publication, a liturgical resource we use here at St. Bridget. Actually it was also reprinted in an NCR article from April 5th, which you can access here; unfortunately, this shows you how far behind I really am in my reading.

As a member of the clergy myself, I guess I find topics like this interesting... this one particularly so. I'm of course not the only one who's noticed a "new clericalism" that seems to be finding favor in recent years. The article notes many symptoms, "... from cardinals unpacking their 15-foot trains of scarlet silk ... to seminarians and young priests living full time in cassocks; from the disappearance of inclusive language in church texts and preaching, to the nearly exclusive focus upon clerical vocations in diocesan letters. These details are debatable; they vary from place to place. Far more significant is the underlying vision and practice of what goes on in the local church."

Fr. Philibert then notes three aspects of "an implicit popular theology of the church that appears to be widespread."
"In this popular theology, the priest represents Christ, while the people represent those to whom Christ ministered. However, I have yet to hear anyone echo the clear teaching of St. Paul that each of the baptized is an alter Christus -- another Christ -- and has a vocation to share the church's mission through an apostolic life in the ordinary world."
"In this popular theology, the ordained priest is understood to be the one who is active in the Eucharist ... while the people are sacramentally passive as recipients of the priest's sacred action ... This reduction of the laity to passive bystanders instead of active participants in Catholic worship is the most characteristic manifestation of clericalism."
"One additional aspect of this ... theology has to do with the Holy Spirit. It imagines that if the Spirit is bestowed on the faithful, it will come exclusively through the ministry of the ordained ... This ignores the rich teaching of Romans and 1 Corinthians that baptism gives the faithful the power to live and act under the impulse of the Holy Spirit and to be powerful witnesses to God's action in the world."

Fr. Philibert isn't describing anything that is as yet very well-developed as a theology, but it's clearly a trend. And it's not a trend that's arising from the people of God, although I acknowledge that some may welcome it; it's more of a "top-down" thing. I think I'm glad that as a deacon I'm on one of the bottom rungs -- good company. That's where Jesus hung out.

But where does this go from here? I committed myself to being a disciple a long time before I ever applied to be a deacon. Are we not really calling the laity to be full & active disciples? As a parishioner wrote to me the other day: "A funny thought I had this morning....what if that somewhat tired adage of Pray, Pay, and Obey transformed into Pray, Convey, and Portray (Christ)?"