LITURGICAL ARTS
Simon, William E. Jr.
able to refer to last Sunday's readings when speaking with ticipation has emerged since the council as well. For a vari- my Episcopalian or Lutheran friends but not when...
...every Sunday, waiting to be summoned...
...The laity are mitted to addressing the issues and concerns facing the particularly suited to witness the gospel to inactive Catholics...
...ence of political, social, cultural, and ecclesiastical objections-and, no doubt, this complexity and its long history require today's advocates for lay inclusion to approach the LAY PREACHING issue with a humble spirit...
...their lives...
...One is the Catherine of Siena Institute in lieve in us...
...ses in six states and three foreign countries...
...is a business executive, lawyer, and participated in these workshops, representing fifty dioce- philanthropist...
...Thus, there would appear to be a compelling, practical Both programs are parish-based and parish-focused, comlogic to promote lay preaching in the church...
...Vatican II urged priests to "discover with the instinct of The new code effectively repeals the prohibition of the 1917 faith, acknowledge with joy, and foster with diligence the code...
...But the landscape has changed dramatically in recent years...
...experience of their work, creativity, prayer, and relation- Despite these successful initiatives, and despite the need ships...
...Such virtue of baptism and the power of the Spirit...
...And since the end of Canonically, important new guidelines on lay preaching the council, the need for active laity has only increased...
...It affirmed that the laity, by virtue faithful are witnesses to the gospel message by word and of baptism, are entitled to hold office in the church and that by example of a Christian life...
...But a special effort will be required if lay preach- Dominican provincial chapter in San Francisco...
...For a varimy Episcopalian or Lutheran friends but not when speaking ety of reasons-primarily the baptismal mandate, but also, with fellow Catholics who have attended the Tridentine for instance, the alarming decline in religious and priestly voMass can only be described as perverse...
...Founded in 1997 by Michael Sweeney, and in the approval of the church, through the explicit supa Dominican priest, it has developed innovative, parish- port of Canon Law...
...11 course, this necessarily precluded the possibility of women preaching...
...In every gesture, prayer, and rubric The purpose of this short article is to focus on one initiative, it was the same Mass I knew in childhood, and yet in an- lay preaching, as an opportunity for effective lay participation other sense it was not at all the same...
...As a layperson A critical issue remains, however: Who will form and pre- who has preached on numerous occasions-at the 1999 Repare these lay preachers...
...Lay preaching is an important opportutheir calling to spread the gospel...
...cations-there is today an urgent need to form laypeople Revisiting the Tridentine Mass left me with strong but for specific responsibilities...
...Rather, put your trust in the Christ within us Seattle, Washington...
...Jesus' charge to his disciples to "teach either the Tridentine or the present rite, I found myself imag- all nations" was not an exclusive franchise awarded to the ining a form of the Mass that combined the most admirable Twelve...
...As you do, look to the church's pressing based programs to enable Catholics to discern God's call in needs and to the benefits greater lay involvement can bring...
...Through its "Called and Gifted" workshops, local Millions of laymen and laywomen stand ready to bear witparishes are visited by teams that help individuals discern ness to the gospel...
...The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) banned it outCatholics disagree...
...the twenty-first as well...
...And canons 762 through 772 specifically focus on the subject of lay preaching, with canon 766 explicitly reopening a door that had been closed for centuries: "Laypersons can be admitted to preach in a church or ]~`-~ oratory if it is necessary in certain circumstances or if it is useful in particular cases according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops and with due regard for canon 767, l." -77 In interpreting this last provision, two outstanding contemporary canonists, James Coriden (The Code of Canon Law, x; 1 Paulist Press) and John Huels (More Disputed Questions in tf may_ 1 Lr...
...But I quickly abandoned the fantasy...
...they can also be called to cothey are expected to speak to the world from within the operate with the bishop and presbyters in the exercise of world...
...It would only add to the list of issues about which century...
...More recently, the 1917 Code of Canon Law stated task of modifying it to those who can speak for the the uni- that the laity were forbidden to preach, and that the charism versal church, which, to borrow a phrase from Wordsworth, or "faculty" to do so was restricted to priests and deacons...
...And they can do so without the sometimes off-putting for greater lay participation, some Catholics will resist change trappings of religious garb and Roman collar...
...The institute then offers an nity for the church to further that witness...
...were laid down in the 1983 revised Code of Canon Law...
...Canon 759, for example, underscores the role of the various charisms of the laity...
...It should be eight-week, in-depth follow-up, "Extended Gifts Discern- encouraged and celebrated...
...It states: "In virtue of their on the entire church to evangelize the modern world through baptism and confirmation, lay members of the Christian renewal of the laity's role...
...in the traditional roles of priest and people...
...And strong canonical support for increased lay par- the ministry of the word...
...Since Tridentine Mass in the name of tradition nor those who that time, however, church fathers have generally opposed wish, also in the name of tradition, to preserve the present it, sometimes vociferously, as with Leo the Great in the fifth rite...
...The form of the Mass may undergo fur- right, a ban that was reaffirmed at the Council of Trent in ther modification in the future, but I'm happy to entrust the 1545...
...Since the institute's inception three years ago, over forty-seven hundred laypeople and clergy have William E. Simon, Jr...
...0 ment Program...
...conflicting impressions...
...A similar proThere is historic precedent for these, not only in the early gram is conducted by The Leaven Center, a national training church but also in the period following Vatican II...
...and at my ing is to bear fruit...
...A tremen- phasis on the gospel mandate that all the baptized preach to dous pool of talent and energy inhabits our pews the ends of the earth...
...Lay preaching is also approved at other gatherings: during Commonweal 26 September 8, 2000 parish missions, at retreats, and at small-group sessions...
...church today at the local level, and both have gained eccleThis is because the laity can speak about their faith from the siastical approval...
...Not only have the needs of the hirty-five years after the close of Vatican II, the church and the world deepened, but also Vatican II and the role of the Catholic laity remains generally un- papacy of John Paul II have underscored the theological emderdeveloped and underappreciated...
...The Society of Mary (Marianists), The Daughters of Mary Immaculate, And The Marianist Lay Communities Gratefully Announce The Beatification of their Founder, WILLIAM JOSEPH CHAMINADE Apostle of the Laity and of the Transformation of Society Through Education...
...Bill Shuter is a professor of literature at Eastern Michigan Univer- The reasons for the prohibition were complex-a conflusity in Ypsilanti...
...a construction would amount to a tertium quid, some third For the first five hundred years of the church's history, thing that would satisfy neither those who wish to restore the the laity were permitted, even encouraged, to preach...
...Further, the council called laity as envisioned by Vatican II...
...Of "moveth all together, if it move at all...
...the Liturgy, Liturgy Training Publications), maintain that while the homily itself is reserved to a priest or deacon, 'If a four-and-a-half-hour sermon isn't a sin, when "necessity or usefulness require it" laypersons are auI don't know what is!' thorized to preach, even within the context of the Eucharist...
...This is not a new issue, for it has al- ligious Education Conference, the largest convention of ways applied to the training of bishops, priests, and deacons Catholic leaders throughout the country...
...Unwilling to sacrifice in spreading the gospel...
...On the contrary, each person has specific claims by qualities of each...
...own parish, Saint Monica's, in Santa Monica, California-I A number of programs have been initiated in this country would say to these fellow but hesitant Christians: Don't beto address the need...
...Commonweal 2 7 September 8, 2000...
...and formation ministry based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota...
Vol. 127 • September 2000 • No. 15
