Friday, 9 August 2019

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE LAITY


THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE LAITY

INTRODUCTION

The church is a family of God’s children; made up of the Christ’s faithful. Christ is the Head and we are the members of the one Body, living in deep communion with one another. Within the Christian faithful are the consecrated persons. However, the ministry of the church is entrusted to the whole Christian faithful; this implies that there is a basic necessity for mutual correlation and collaboration for the work of the church. The church is a communion and the ministry is collaborative. The ministry of the Church is not carried out in isolation. However, the Church is a mystery in which communion and mission are profoundly interconnected.

The faithful are different parts of Christ body which is the church. Each finds it fulfillment by being part of the whole. However, the different states of life and vocation within the church contribute to the strengthening of the communion and mission of the church as a whole.[1] Each vocation is given for the good of the church and her mission. However, in this paper I am going to focus on the relationship between the consecrated persons and the laity.

CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION

For a proper approach and understanding of the subject matter of this paper, I would like to make a conceptual clarification or a definition of term to aid a better understanding of the paper.

WHO ARE THE CONSECRATED PERSONS?

The consecrated persons are Christian faithful who have willingly given their selves in radical response to the mission of the church, through and within a specific institute of consecrated life, professing, embracing and living out the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience. Therefore a consecrated person is a Christian faithful who has set himself apart through the profession of the evangelical counsels, to follow Christ more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit.

WHO ARE THE LAITY?

The Laity are members of the Church (the community of the baptized) who belong neither to the Clergy nor Consecrated Persons. However, this is a negative definition of the laity in the past because it only said who the laity are not and said nothing about who they are. However all thanks to the Christifideles Laici, the Post-Synodal Exhortation of John Paul II on the Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World, which provided a positive definition of the laity. The laity by virtue of their baptism are Sons and daughters of the Father in Jesus Christ, members of the body of Christ, the Church, holy and living temples of the Holy Spirit, sharers in the priestly, prophetic and kingly mission of Jesus Christ, and persons called to a holiness which they achieve through their involvement and participation in secular realities. The lay people share in the mission of the Church because of their baptism. The priests and religious do not own the mission of the Church.   

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE LAITY

The teaching of the church as a communion had brought about a growth in the awareness that the members can and must unite their efforts in cooperation and exchange of gifts, for an effective participation in the mission of the church. This renders an effective response to the great challenge of our time. The laity are therefore invited to share more intensely in the spirituality and mission of the consecrated persons.[2]

There are different types of consecrated lives: the active and contemplative. Thus there are different kinds of consecrated persons. This would imply that the mode of relationship between contemplative consecrated persons and the lay persons would be different from the kind of relationship possible between and active consecrated persons or consecrated persons of apostolic life and the lay persons. Thus the relationship with the contemplative consecrated person would be more on the spiritual realm, while the relationship with the active consecrated person would be more on the apostolic and pastoral realm. However, irrespective of whatever state, the charism of the consecrated persons can and should be shared with the lay persons.

Collaboration and compatibility between the consecrated persons and the laity are essential for effective evangelization. However to foster an effective collaborative relationship between the consecrated persons and the laity, the consecrated persons need to step away from their hierarchical beliefs and see the lay people as an equal and a collaborative partner in the mission of the church. A shared sense of mission should be established. This relationship is very important because the consecrated person and the lay person have a distinct contribution to the mission of the church which essentially would be realized through collaboration between the two persons.

 The laity are not left out in the church, they constitute a central and important part of the church too. In his apostolic exhortation Christifideles Laici, John Paul II states clearly the model of the church and the relationship between the consecrated persons and the laity. Thus In Church Communion the states of life by being ordered one to the other are thus bound together among themselves. They all share in a deeply basic meaning: that of being the manner of living out the commonly shared Christian dignity and the universal call to holiness in the perfection of love. They are different yet complementary, in the sense that each of them has a basic and unmistakable character which sets each apart, while at the same time each of them is seen in relation to the other and placed at each other's service[3]

There is a necessity for a relationship; mutual collaboration between the consecrated persons and the laity. This is basically to bring more effectiveness to the mission of the church and to avoid passivity of the laity in ecclesiastical life. The Vatican II council in its definition of the church as the people of God justifies the oneness of the church and brought to light the dignity common to all the members of the Christian faithful and the vocation of all to perfection and holiness of life. Both the consecrated person and the lay persons need each other because we all form a single body within the church and are to be at the service of each other.

In the course of history, alongside different forms of consecrated life there have always been groups of lay people, men and women who manifested special interest to share in foundational charisms of the consecrated person and they have also contributed and supported the consecrated state of life. This relationship has grown and evolved following the inspirations and ordinances of the second Vatican council. However historical changes and evolvements have also affected the activities of the consecrated person; the consecrated persons need the help and cooperation of lay people in their mission. This quest for a mutual relationship merits consideration.

The oneness of the church is perfectly exemplified by the love and unity which binds the Trinitarian God and this same unity is what is expected of the people of God irrespective of what state of life one lives. The Trinitarian Model of communion necessitates the relationship between all the faithful, and thus also the relationship between the consecrated persons and the laity.

BASIS FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CONSECRATED PERSONS AND THE LAITY

There are some foundational reasons that characterize and prepared the bedrock for the relationship between the consecrated persons and the laity. This basis can be characterized under the followings:

v     Communal relationship of the consecrated persons and the laity as a fundamental perspective: The laity are considered to be co-responsible for the charismatic inspiration of the Christian mission. Here the knowledge and commitment to the charism of the consecrated persons are demanded of the laity. However, when a lay person takes up a vocation of service in collaboration with the consecrated persons, he or she make a conscious decision to belong to that particular charismatic family; sharing the same charism and therefore are co-responsible for the success of the mission. Beyond the dimensions of the Christian mission, individual charism of the lay person matters.

v     Free choice of lay people for ecclesiological reasons: here the faithful takes up a strong commitment to the ongoing development of apostolates, giving a Christian witness with a vocational sense, and striking a balance between their lives and their values. However, here the lay persons need to be better acquainted with the charismatic inspiration on which the specific apostolate was founded. Sometimes, a formation in spirituality and charism maybe organized.

v     Involvement and relationship as a result of changing circumstances:  here the faithful are invited to contribute and cooperate to the apostolic works decided on by the different institutes to attain specific objectives. However, the lay person here need to acquire the professional competence required, and are to equally live lives that conform to the principles of Christian faith.

BASIC REASONS FOR RELIGIOUS AND LAY RELATIONSHIP

v  For a renewed spiritual and apostolic dynamism

v  For the purpose of fostering unity of the different persons in the church

CONCLUSION: John Paul II expressed this well in his apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata (1996): Today, often as a result of new situations, many Institutes have come to the conclusion that their charism can be shared with the laity. The laity are therefore invited to share more intensely in the spirituality and mission of these Institutes. We may say that, in the light of certain historical experiences such as those of the Secular or Third Orders, a new chapter, rich in hope, has begun in the history of relations between consecrated persons and the laity.[4] The participation of the laity often brings unexpected and rich insights into certain aspects of the charism, leading to a more spiritual interpretation of it and helping to draw from it directions for new activities in the apostolate.[5]

At times in the recent past, collaboration came about as a means of supplementing the decline of consecrated persons necessary to carry out activities, now it is growing out of the need to share responsibility not only in the carrying out of the Institute's works but especially in the hope of sharing specific aspects and moments of the spirituality and mission of the Institute. This calls for an adequate formation of both consecrated persons and laity to ensure a collaboration which is mutually enriching. When the understanding of the charism deepens, new possibilities of living it are discovered.



[1]
[2] Vc 54
[3] CL, 55.3
[4] VC, 54.2
[5] VC, 55.2

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