How do Money and Ministry Mix?
by Fr. David M. Knight
June 29, 2024: Saturday of the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
Vigil Readings: Acts 3:1-10/Gal 1:11-20/Jn 21:15-19 (590)
Day: Acts 12:1-11/2 Tm 4:6-8, 17-18/Mt 16:13-19 (591)
Acts 3:1-10: Everyone knows the story of a pope who said, commenting on this text amid the riches of the Vatican, “Peter can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’” A saint replied: “No, and neither can he say, ‘Rise and walk.’”
Since the remark is attributed to various saints, it may be just legend, but it makes us think: how do money and ministry mix?
No one questions the need parishes and dioceses have to pay salaries, provide services and put up necessary buildings. The question arises when buildings, their ornamentation, or the lifestyle of priests and bishops, project an image of wealth. When does the magnificence of a church make us see it less as a place of worship and more as an art museum? Or as proof to ourselves and others, where the Church has a poor and immigrant past, as in the United States, that Catholics have “arrived”? Apart from obvious needs for funding, can a rich Church minister as well as a poor Church? Jesus apparently thought not:
Proclaim the good news.... You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag, or two tunics, or sandals....
Ministry in the Church has repeatedly been renewed by “mendicant” religious orders, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits, who all, in their beginnings, at least, followed these instructions almost literally. And it is constantly in need of renewal.lii
Most important of all is the “first law of ministry,” which Jesus gave to Peter in John 21:15-19: “If you love me, feed my sheep.” When Church officials are more intent on making rules and enforcing them than on facilitating access to Communion, something is wrong.
Galatians 1:11-20 is an essential text for reconciling the “ordinary magisterium” of the Church with prophetic witness. In the wake of the Protestant Reformation, Catholics became fixated on obedience to the pope as proof of orthodoxy. The phrase, “Roma locuta est, causa finita est” (“Rome has spoken; the discussion is over”) was interpreted in practice in a way that silenced the Spirit. It shocks us to hear Paul insist that he “did not receive from a human being” what he preached, “nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” It was only “after three years” that he “went up to Jerusalem” to compare notes with Peter. In ministry authority and charism either respect or ruin each other.
Initiative: Listen when God speaks. Discern what makes you open to his voice.
Bonus Post
Our Triple Mission, Given at Baptism
June 29, 2024
Saturday of the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time
Lectionary 376
Lamentations 2:2-19; Matthew 8:5-17
It is appropriate that the liturgy puts here this one reading from Lamentations 2:2-19. We have just read how the infidelity of the kings and people to their Covenant with God brought on catastrophe after catastrophe, culminating in the deportation of the whole nation to Babylon. Now an eyewitness of those consequences gives expression to “the profound grief, the sinful responsibility, and the enduring hope of the suffering community.”
It is significant that, in acknowledging the nation’s guilt, the author focuses precisely on those three areas where Christians are committed and consecrated by Baptism to continue the mission of Jesus-Messiah.
The destruction of the nation was due to the failure of prophets, priests and kings.
Her king and her princes are among the pagans; priestly instruction is wanting.... Your prophets had for you false and specious visions. They did not lay bare your guilt, to avert your fate. They beheld for you in vision false and misleading portents.
It is not simplistic to say that everything wrong in both Church and society today is rooted in Christians’ failure to fulfill the triple mission given in Baptism.
Jesus proclaimed and sent his disciples (us) to proclaim that the Kingdom of God was at hand: Thy Kingdom come!” If the Kingdom is slow in coming, it is because we are slow to proclaim it.
When is the last time you spoke of the Kingdom at home, at work, with friends or strangers? Compare yourself to the early Christians. Read the Acts of the Apostles. Laypersons brought the Gospel to Samaria. Philip, Apollos, Priscilla and Aquila were laity. The first Apostles met Jesus through each other.
Vatican II called the ordained “presbyters” instead of “priests” because all the baptized are “priests in the Priest.” If “priestly instruction is wanting,” it is because the laity are failing to learn and share the word of God—at home, at work, everywhere. If enough prophetic voices are not calling the Church and society to reform, it is because the laity are silent. If business, politics, education, family and social life are not being renewed, it is because too few of the laity are faithful stewards of the kingship of Christ. This is the age of lay leadership. If the laity don’t lead, disaster will follow.
Matthew 8:5-17: Consciousness of orthodoxy cultivates complacency. “Many will come from east and west... while the heirs....” Those who come to Christ are looking. If those who have found him are not still looking, they haven’t really found him.
Initiative: Take responsibility as prophet, priest and steward of Christ’s kingship.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
