I was a member of Pax Christi Ministry for approximately 8 years and facilitated a Pax Christi Parish Ministry in Albuquerque New Mexico. My aim and my objective was to integrate the Catholic Peace Movement into the very fabric of Parish life. For many years I had the support of my Pastor. However, at the discretion of the Archbishop, our Pastor was relieved of his responsibilities as Pastor due to medical and health issues. When the next Pastor was appointed, I dutifully contacted him and arranged a meeting regarding Pax Christi Saint Bernadette’s ongoing agenda, in order to go over areas where collaboration and cooperation with our Pastor were essential to the effectiveness of our ministry. Subsequent to that meeting, I attempted numerous times to arrange follow-up meetings. I must say I was totally ignored or perhaps shunned. To this day I have been unable to comprehend why this man, this Pastor treated Pax Christi Ministry and its members as persona non grata, as persons without grace. Pax Christi Saint Bernadette reached a critical juncture and, by consensus, agreed to suspend the activities of our ministry. Without the cooperation of our Pastor and other ministers responsible for Parish Life, our ministry lost its impetus and capacity to serve. I must say that the inaction of the Pastor saddened me and pained me as the opportunities to serve Christ and His Kingdom were sidestepped. As an alternative to formation of a Pax Christi Ministry on the Parish Level, there was an effort made to form a Pax Christi Albuquerque - the word that we were to convene on a Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. would be sent out. It was disheartening when only one or two or at most four people would show up. Some Monday evenings no one would show up. It was apparent that there was “no calling” or an interest in a regional Pax Christi. There was always a feeling in the depths of my soul that without the intimacy of Parish Life that a regional Pax Christi would lack a heart and a soul. In my opinion, for a Catholic Peace Movement to have some effectiveness in its Mission to this World there is a need for an intimate collaboration between those ministers of the Catholic Peace Movement and Parish ministers, administrators, priests and pastors. There is a need to see in the Catholic Peace Movement a participation in a greater evangelization of this world; a bringing to the world the Word of God; an opening of the doors for the Christ to enter in an authentic way into the lives of countless human beings. Our Parish Life, its intimacy, is the Heart and Soul and Divinity of Christ in the throes of labor pains to give birth to the Body of Christ, the People of God. My original inspiration holds true, that the Catholic Peace Movement needs to be a collaborative effort and ministry on the Parish level. To be effective, solidarity and a commitment to Our Lord, to the dictum of Our Lord, to “Put your sword back in its sheath…” is critical. Propaedeutic to any Peace Ministry within a Parish situation is an understanding of Scripture and the Church’s tradition and teaching on Peace. Once empowered by the Word of Our Lord, we must embrace “The Great Commission” as found under Matthew Chapter 28 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Too often in our Parish Life there is more of a commitment to a worldly wisdom, then to the Word of God. Too often our Pastors do feel threatened by a Message rooted deeply in Holy Scripture and validated by our Tradition. Too often our Pastors respond anemically to the Word of God, water it down to make it palpable and less offensive to the congregation. They fail to respond to the Word in the face of the evil in this world. They capitulate to the wisdom of the world. We must teach and preach before we act. We must be certain of who our commitment is to. It is to the person of Jesus Christ, not an idea and not a program. Once the teaching of Christ is embraced, words will be given to us and actions will follow. They will know who we are by our Love.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 21:10:58 +0000
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