Fr. Jan Kevin Schmidt
Director, Pastoral Vitality
Chapter 29 in the Book of Proverbs, the New American Bible (NAB), the translation we read from at Mass, renders verse 18a: “Without prophecy the people become demoralized.” I rather prefer the King James translation of the same verse: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
I like playing with that little piece of scripture a bit and restating it as, “Where there is vision the people pArish.” That is to say where there is vision or the mode of seeing or conceiving, of discernment and foresight there, in that place is where the people of God become a community, a parish….a Church. The word “parish” comes from the Greek words para + oikos, loosely translated it means, “house of strangers.” I think that it is not strange at all that we use this word, parish to describe the place where strangers come together and become a family. The parish, our spiritual, emotional and physical home that connects us to God and to one another is the place where we are formed, thus becoming God’s faith filled people…the Body of Christ!
There is a church in Sussex, England circa 1730, which has inscribed upon its walls the words, “A vision without a task is a dream. A task without a vision is drudgery. A vision and a task is the hope of the world.
I believe the vision of just who God wants us to be is set forth in the Gospels, God wants us to be a faith filled and loving people. It is truly as simple as that. Christ established the Church as a means whereby His presence in the world would be forever established. The Church is the place where people come to know the Lord through the Sacraments and through those who are members of the Church, those who are disciples of Jesus Christ, those who are true stewards of God’s gifts. The Church is Christ’s body and thus holy. The Church is Christ’s presence in the world and thus perfect. Our responsibility as God’s people is to take upon ourselves the tasks necessary in order that the vision may come to fruition, in order that the Kingdom of God may be established.
Naturally, the difficulty with all of this dwells not in the Church but in those who are its members, our humanity gets “in the way.” It’s people who sin, it’s people who make mistakes, from peon to pope, we all do it, sin that is! The Church is here to help us overcome that sinfulness and to live more fully a life modeled on Jesus Christ (God). But people have to give the Church a chance. We have to give Christ a chance. Just as thank God, Christ gives us the chance a multiplicity of times (I think He said something about “70 times 7” somewhere in the Gospels!).
How is the vision of the Gospel to be accomplished if not through the Church? I am not certain how anyone thinks it can be!
Christ established the Church, Christ is in the Church and has been since He established it nearly 2000 years ago. The Church has been faced with plenty of sin in it’s past and will be in it’s future, it’s a human institution. Don’t forget, we human beings are the ones who think we run the Church we human beings are the ones who are its members. But always it is the good that wins out…it is Christ, the One who really runs the Church and calls us into a loving relationship with God and each other. It is Christ who comes to the fore and who helps us to overcome the evil that is in our hearts.
I am a firm believer that the Church will do the right thing. In the meantime, we as members of Christ’s Body must persevere in prayer and in the tasks that bring the vision of the Gospel to accomplish Christ’s work in the world. If we remain steadfast in the hope of God’s grace and mercy the vision will be fulfilled. But we must do our part; we must remember that we have a task to fulfill, to cooperate in the work of the Church…the work of Jesus Christ.
We have a vision and we must remain task oriented if there is to be hope for the world. Remember, we are responsible for supporting one another on this journey of life that we have entered into together called the pArish…our family. If we do not remember this most important part of the task we shall perish.
If I may, please allow me to return to my opening remarks about the NAB translation of Proverbs 29, “Without prophecy the people become demoralized.” I think we could find ourselves in that place…demoralized…if we leave Christ out of the equation. Christ provides us with a vision, expects us through His grace, to join in the task of bringing it about and together we look forward to its fulfillment.
