WE all need to develop this pastoral spirit or some sense of the
pastoral. I am afraid a great majority of the people, even among
so-called devout Catholics, are still not quite clear about what this
sense of the pastoral means.
To many, pastoral can mean that quaint atmosphere of rural places
marked by stillness and serenity, simple living and the like. Others
may understand it as something that has to do with shepherds, and
that’s getting close to what is being meant here, since the pastoral
spirit has to do with caring and guiding.
But since we hardly have sheep and shepherds here in our country, the
word, ‘pastoral,’ barely registers in our culture. And so we need to
know more about it, since to be pastoral means a certain awareness
that we form one sheepfold with Christ as the good shepherd.
In a sense, each Christian believer is both shepherd and sheep. It’s a
truth of faith that a Christian faithful has to conform himself as
much as possible to Christ, and therefore has to care for others. He
has to have the mind and heart of Christ. But that role also requires
him to be a sheep to be guided by the Good Shepherd. Otherwise, he
would not be a good shepherd to others.
The sense of the pastoral actually refers to all the activities of the
Church that are meant for the salvation of mankind. When one is said
to be pastoral in his ways and lifestyle, it means he is very much
engaged in the salvific activities of the Church. And these activities
can be many, even endless.
Truth is we are all meant to be pastoral if we have to be consistent
to our identity as Christian believers. We cannot help but be involved
in the continuing work of salvation now carried out by the Church as
mandated by Christ.
One of the things that we have to dismantle from our mind is the
belief that the pastoral activity in the Church is exclusive only to
the clergy. No. Everyone has a share of this pastoral duty, though it
is exercised in different ways.
Obviously the formation and training related to this duty is to be
carried out first of all by the clergy who are precisely conformed to
Christ as head of the Church, but the goal is for everyone, especially
the laity, to be involved.
The differences among the various faithful in the Church, whether
clerics, lay or consecrated religious persons, are meant to form an
organic body where the principles of solidarity, complementarity and
subsidiarity and the common good would be at play.
And the reason for this is that everyone has the same vocation to
sanctity and to the apostolate, and as such share a common
responsibility before God and one another.
This is really a big challenge in the Church. Even among clerics,
developing this pastoral spirit can be demanding, since many factors
can work against it. There will always be, for example, the danger of
falling into being merely administrative and bureaucratic in the
clerics’ ministry.
Then other factors like laziness, narrow-mindedness and bigotry, undue
attachments to worldly things, etc., can hinder clerics to give their
all in their pastoral work. There’s also the great need for continuing
formation so that we priests can really have the mind and heart of
Christ, knowing what to say, what to do in any situation.
In short, we should have a global picture of the duty and mission to
continue with the redemptive work of Christ, from beginning to end,
and not get stuck in one level or aspect of the pastoral work.
There’s, of course, some specialization and distribution of
assignments, given the enormity of the responsibility and the
practical conditions of each priest, but this specialization should
not undermine the pursuit of the entire and universal pastoral
ministry.
The challenge is even bigger on the part of the laity. Even in our
country that is known, thanks be to God, for its vibrant popular
piety, how many among the laymen, including the supposedly cream of
the crop, are aware, let alone, are putting into practice in an
abiding way this sense of the pastoral?
I would say, not many. Of course, it’s heartwarming to know that more
and more laymen are getting into the act, but a lot still needs to be
done for the active lay faithful to be competent, consistent and
persevering in their pastoral duties.
We should make an active campaign to promote this pastoral spirit
among everyone, priests, laity and the consecrated religious men and
women!
pastoral. I am afraid a great majority of the people, even among
so-called devout Catholics, are still not quite clear about what this
sense of the pastoral means.
To many, pastoral can mean that quaint atmosphere of rural places
marked by stillness and serenity, simple living and the like. Others
may understand it as something that has to do with shepherds, and
that’s getting close to what is being meant here, since the pastoral
spirit has to do with caring and guiding.
But since we hardly have sheep and shepherds here in our country, the
word, ‘pastoral,’ barely registers in our culture. And so we need to
know more about it, since to be pastoral means a certain awareness
that we form one sheepfold with Christ as the good shepherd.
In a sense, each Christian believer is both shepherd and sheep. It’s a
truth of faith that a Christian faithful has to conform himself as
much as possible to Christ, and therefore has to care for others. He
has to have the mind and heart of Christ. But that role also requires
him to be a sheep to be guided by the Good Shepherd. Otherwise, he
would not be a good shepherd to others.
The sense of the pastoral actually refers to all the activities of the
Church that are meant for the salvation of mankind. When one is said
to be pastoral in his ways and lifestyle, it means he is very much
engaged in the salvific activities of the Church. And these activities
can be many, even endless.
Truth is we are all meant to be pastoral if we have to be consistent
to our identity as Christian believers. We cannot help but be involved
in the continuing work of salvation now carried out by the Church as
mandated by Christ.
One of the things that we have to dismantle from our mind is the
belief that the pastoral activity in the Church is exclusive only to
the clergy. No. Everyone has a share of this pastoral duty, though it
is exercised in different ways.
Obviously the formation and training related to this duty is to be
carried out first of all by the clergy who are precisely conformed to
Christ as head of the Church, but the goal is for everyone, especially
the laity, to be involved.
The differences among the various faithful in the Church, whether
clerics, lay or consecrated religious persons, are meant to form an
organic body where the principles of solidarity, complementarity and
subsidiarity and the common good would be at play.
And the reason for this is that everyone has the same vocation to
sanctity and to the apostolate, and as such share a common
responsibility before God and one another.
This is really a big challenge in the Church. Even among clerics,
developing this pastoral spirit can be demanding, since many factors
can work against it. There will always be, for example, the danger of
falling into being merely administrative and bureaucratic in the
clerics’ ministry.
Then other factors like laziness, narrow-mindedness and bigotry, undue
attachments to worldly things, etc., can hinder clerics to give their
all in their pastoral work. There’s also the great need for continuing
formation so that we priests can really have the mind and heart of
Christ, knowing what to say, what to do in any situation.
In short, we should have a global picture of the duty and mission to
continue with the redemptive work of Christ, from beginning to end,
and not get stuck in one level or aspect of the pastoral work.
There’s, of course, some specialization and distribution of
assignments, given the enormity of the responsibility and the
practical conditions of each priest, but this specialization should
not undermine the pursuit of the entire and universal pastoral
ministry.
The challenge is even bigger on the part of the laity. Even in our
country that is known, thanks be to God, for its vibrant popular
piety, how many among the laymen, including the supposedly cream of
the crop, are aware, let alone, are putting into practice in an
abiding way this sense of the pastoral?
I would say, not many. Of course, it’s heartwarming to know that more
and more laymen are getting into the act, but a lot still needs to be
done for the active lay faithful to be competent, consistent and
persevering in their pastoral duties.
We should make an active campaign to promote this pastoral spirit
among everyone, priests, laity and the consecrated religious men and
women!
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