DUTIES OF PASTORS WITH THE HELP OF LAY MEMBERS - PART I

Last Saturday, I presented a leadership retreat to the Parish Council of Epiphany Catholic Church here in Louisville entitled "The Responsibilities and Disciplines of a Pastor and Those Who Share in His Pastoral Leadership."  While the two posts this week are not complete copies of those presentations, beginning this Tuesday and Wednesday as well as this coming Thursday and Friday, I wanted to share some partial follow-up summaries with those who attended and with the readers of this blog. 

PART I- THIS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

SOLID THEOLOGY ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP OF PASTORS AND LAY MEMBERS

Father Ronald Knott

PART ONE

CANON LAW #528

The pastor is obliged to see to it that the word of God in its entirety

is announced to those living in the parish…and with the aid of the Christian

faithful to bring the gospel message also to those who have ceased

practicing their religion or who do not profess the true faith. 

For many pastors, taking the word of God to “the world” presents a significant leadership challenge. Most pastors today, because of the priest shortage and other reasons, are challenged simply to meet the sacramental needs of their immediate congregations. There is little or no time to focus on inactive Catholics or the unchurched. As a result, there is a tendency to focus on “maintenance,” rather than “mission.” Did Jesus not advise in his famous parable, (Matthew 18:12) "will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?" 

Typically, a pastor is called to be “in mission” to at least four distinct groups. He is indeed called to be a pastor to all of the following:

          1.THE CHRISTIAN FAITHFUL

These families and or individuals rarely miss Mass, are present at most parish functions, take advantage of opportunities for faith formation and spiritual development, participate in the social ministries of the parish support the parish financially, value a strong family life, take parenting seriously, and seek out the opportunity to socialize with other Catholics. In their personal lives, they are prayerful; they search for the presence of God in their daily lives; they are respectful of the dignity and sacredness of others; and attempt to imitate Christ in their conduct with others. When they fail to meet these standards, they are not at peace until they make amends, or are reconciled with others.

         2. INACTIVE CATHOLICS

There are about 20,000,000 Catholics in this group. They may still be registered members of the parish, but attend Mass infrequently, only on major holidays, or not at all. They do not participate in parish activities, even though some of them send their children to sacramental preparation or religious education. They are not regular contributors. When asked, they may identify themselves as “Catholics,” having been “raised Catholic” or as “former Catholics.” Among this group, we find:

   THE MAD – those who describe themselves as having been hurt, abused, or neglected by the Catholic Church, its clergy or other church workers. Typically these people have some anger and resentment toward the Church.

    THE SAD – those “separated” from the church because of marriage, divorce, sexual orientation or doctrinal issues. Typically, these people feel a sense of loss.

    THE IGNORED - those who stay away because they do not feel accepted, feel that they fit in or not finding people like themselves.  Typically, these people have a strong devotional/prayer life and are vulnerable to being picked up by the evangelical churches.

   THE BORED – those who have no particular complaint with the Church who have steadily grown weaker in the practice of the faith or may not have been strong to begin with. Typically, these people feel “bored” by the Church. The prevailing culture and their life ambitions claim most of their energy. Many young adults find themselves here.

         3. OTHER BELIEVERS – Outreach to this group has taken a serious hit in the last few years, but it nonetheless part of the pastor’s concern. They are believers who identify with another faith tradition and practice it with varying degrees of fidelity. Their attitudes toward Catholics vary from outright hostility and suspicion to that of interest, respect and mutuality. The Church seeks connection, dialogue and, where possible, common cause in the service of humanity, in an atmosphere of mutual respect and recognition of legitimate difference. The desired result of this strategy is twofold: that others have a more accurate and appreciative perception of the Church and that Catholics may have a greater understanding of the differences among traditions  and be able to develop lasting and mutual respectful relations while we continue to work, learn and pray together for unity. Special attention and recognition should be given regularly to the spouses of parish members in interfaith marriages. 

          4. UNCHURCHED – These people do not identify with any organized or historical faith tradition. This group represents the largest segment of the population within the parish boundaries, sometimes up to 50% of the population. They present themselves as “not interested in religion,” “spiritual, but not religious,” philosophically opposed to religion or as skeptics or agnostics. The best approach to this group would be to upgrade the image of the Church and to build positive relationships with them as individuals through participation in neighborhood and civic organizations.

If the pastor is to pastor these people as well, each of these subgroups requires different approaches and strategies, though all will require strong outreach efforts to reconnect with them.

Rather than trying to work “longer and harder,” this requires that the pastor insert himself into his current activities with a different perspective on his leadership and his leadership activities. He must identify different facets of pastoral leadership and look for more ways to engage the people of the parish in “building the kingdom.”  In truth, he must translate the words of Pope John Paul II into practice when he said, “Christ gives to priests, in the Spirit, a particular gift so that he can help the People of God to exercise faithfully and fully the common priesthood which it has received.” It is not merely a nice thing for a pastor to empower the laity to help him in this mission, especially within their civic communities, he is indeed obliged by canon law, need and necessity.  

The pastor’s call to teach, to preach to, and pastor all these groups is an awesome responsibility. The challenge can be overwhelming for the pastor of the parish unless he mobilizes the Catholic faithful to work with him. He must invite the faithful to become co-responsible with him in “shepherding” this large and diverse flock.

WHO DO PEOPLE THINK JESUS IS?

But, you, who do you say that I am?

Matthew 16

People talk! Thanks to talk radio, cell phones and cable news, people seem to be talking more than ever? It seems that everyone has an opinion on everything and everyone is more than willing to express that opinion! The late Jerry Springer made a fortune from giving the most pathetic human beings on the planet a stage and a microphone to tell the world just how pathetic they are! Hollywood stars, who have failed at multiple marriages, are more than willing to give endless advice on love without batting and eye!  Some cable news show hosts pass off personal opinions and half-truths as “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!”  Rumors, gossip and salacious interests are increasingly packaged under the banner of “the people’s right to know.”  You can hardly go into a restaurant or grocery, you can hardly drive down the street or take a walk, you can hardly even go to the restroom or to church without encountering a bunch of people without the ring of cell phones. Have you ever wondered what in the hell they are talking about for all that time? All this encourages us to never have a thought without sharing it with somebody! People do talk!

People talked at the time of Jesus, as well. The only way of communication open to the great masses of people was talking: passing on the news and passing on religious history from one person to the next, by word of mouth. In fact, the contents of the gospels themselves were passed on by word of mouth for years and years before they came to be written down. Choosing a special place called Caesaria Phillipi, a place littered with pagan temples, the shrines of nature religions and the memories of Jewish history, Jesus, knowing that his identity was being discussed, asks his disciples this famous question, “Who do people say that I am?” It is as if Jesus deliberately sets himself against the background of the world’s great religions and demands to be compared with them and to have a verdict given in his favor. Knowing Peter to be a man of loose lips, willing to spill the beans, without hesitation or without gilding the lily, Jesus proceeds to ask Peter two questions: (a) “who do people say that I am” and (b) “who do you say that I am?”

(a)                     People talked.  Some said that Jesus reminded them of John the Baptist. Some even thought Jesus might actually be John, come back to life! Jesus reminded others of their greatest prophet, Elijah, who was expected to return before the coming of the Messiah. Some thought maybe Jesus actually was Elijah come back to life! Jesus reminded still others of Jeremiah, who was expected to return right before the coming of the Messiah. Some of them thought maybe Jesus actually was Jeremiah come back to life.

(b)                     It was good old clumsy and talkative Peter who was the first to get it right. In this story Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Forget what everyone else is saying about me. You, who do you say that I am?’ He asks Peter to move from parroting other people’s faith to claiming a faith of his own. As always, Peter steps up to the plate. Peter says that he believes that Jesus is not just some old prophet announcing the Messiah, he is the Messiah! He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. “Christ” is simply the Greek word for the Hebrew word “Messiah,” both meaning “the Anointed One.” 

This is a very important moment in this gospel. Jesus now knew that at least one person had publicly recognized him for who he was. It was on Peter’s faith that Jesus would build his church on the faith of many more such believers. Our text ends with Jesus saying something very strange. He tells Peter not to talk about their exchange until he had time to bring others to that same faith. If that news got out before he had the chance to teach the others, rumors and gossip would cause a lot of people to come to all kinds of strange conclusions, one of which was a movement that rose up to try to make him a king!  In other words, it was not the right time to tell the world at that point.  

“But, you, who do you say that I am?” Sisters and brothers, this question is asked of us today. Whether you are a young adult beginning to chart your own course, or someone whose childhood faith has lasted for generations, it is time for you to move from parroting other people faith to a faith of your own. It is no longer acceptable for you to answer that question by saying “my parents said this, my pastor said that, my religion teachers said the other thing.” Jesus leaps off the page today to ask all of us, “Who do you say that I am?” It is s blunt challenge to move from an inherited faith to a personal faith.

When I was working in the Bellarmine Campus Ministry Department, we were there to help students answer that question! Jesus called them to faith, but we were there to help their questions! Entering college is traditionally a time when some of them would leave the church, if not for a while, maybe permanently.  However, it was also a time when some of them would begin the challenging process of making the faith of their parents their own personal faith. At that time, Ms. Melanie Prejean Sullivan was the head of the campus ministry program. She is a faith-filled capable woman who was dedicated to helping them internalize their inherited faith. If they were not Catholic students, we tried to help them find a faith community of their choice to worship with or we invited them to join the Catholic students, whenever they wished, who attended our Masses at Our Lady of the Woods Chapel.

My job in the campus ministry program was to preach and celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday night in their beautiful chapel, as well as at Baccalaureate Masses. I was also available to them for spiritual advice. My favorite thing to do there as a priest was to preach, to introduce young adults to the Jesus of the Bible and the wisdom of the church. I worked hard at it. I preached, not condemnation, but encouragement. I preached the fact that God loved them no matter what they had done or failed to do, no ands, ifs and buts about it! I preached the fact that their best was good enough for God. Instead of looking for faults to condemn, I tried to look for the goodness in them and encourage that! I tried to make them feel valued and appreciated by the church. We had a great chapel community, and with their attendance and enthusiasm, we attracted more and more students every year. One year, we had so many students coming to Sunday night Mass that we had to ask our visitors to go back to their parishes so that the students could get in to the Chapel! I reminded them that even if they chose not to get involved in the other campus ministry programs, they could try to give God one hour each week. I challenged them to spend that hour with a community of students that I found deeply spiritual, sometimes ravenously so! I challenged them to become part of a community of students who were trying to answer Jesus’ question in today’s gospel, “You! Who do you say that I am?” 

CHURCH CHAT #42

 

 

 

EXPECTATIONS, DISAPPOINTMENTS AND PERSONAL PAIN

 

A UNIVERSAL REALITY

I have learned the hard way that one of the greatest sources of my disappointments and its resulting personal pain is my attachment to positive responses to the outcome of my good deeds.  Whether Buddha or Shakespeare said it first, all my disappointments and heartaches can be traced back to a stubborn attachment to the results of my overly positive expectations. 

I have learned that if I let go of my "expected positive responses" and accept my "no responses" and let go of "negative responses," I can eventually find my way to be at peace with reality. That, I have learned, takes time and practice! Such a "reconciliation with reality" is the only path that will lead to a heart filled with peace! 

After much reflection, I have come to know that my options are these: (1) I could quit doing good deeds as a way to escape the hurt of being disappointed over and over. (2) I could try to ignore or overlook the negative or no responses I get. (3) I could try to focus only on the positive responses I do get. (5) I could just focus on my love of doing good deeds regardless of the responses I get.  

I am not always successful, but I am focusing on trying to choose #5 because I know it is the only way to insure a peaceful center that no "lack of a positive response" can break!   

ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS FROM THE INTERNET

What Are the Most Common Types of Life Disappointments We Face?

The most painful disappointments usually come from the people and situations we care about most – family, friends, love, and career. Let’s be honest about the disappointments that hit us hardest. They usually fall into a few categories that most of us will recognize from our own lives.

Family Disappointments

Family disappointment hurts differently because we expect our relatives to love and support us unconditionally. When parents don’t understand your dreams, siblings betray your trust, or extended family judges your choices, it cuts deep. These disappointments about defective parents and family betrayal speak to the unique pain of family letdowns.

Friendship Betrayals

Friends are supposed to be the family we choose, so when they disappoint us, it feels like a double betrayal. Maybe they gossip about your secrets, choose other people over you, or just disappear when you need them most. Friendship disappointments for betrayal capture the specific hurt of losing someone you trusted completely.

Romantic Letdowns

Love disappointments might be the most universal human experience. Someone you care about doesn’t feel the same way, breaks promises, or just isn’t who you thought they were. Disappointments in relationships help express feelings that are hard to put into words.

Career and Educational Setbacks

You work hard, follow the rules, and expect to succeed – but sometimes it doesn’t happen that way. Job rejections, failed exams, or career stagnation can leave you questioning your worth and abilities. These disappointments affect not just your present, but your entire vision of your future.

Self-Disappointment

Sometimes the person who disappoints you most is yourself. You know you could have done better, tried harder, or made different choices. Self disappointments capture this internal struggle when you don’t live up to your own standards.

Understanding these common disappointment patterns helps you realize you’re not alone in your struggles. Everyone faces these challenges, and everyone can survive them.

THE PATH TO SURVIVING THE DISAPPOINTMENTS OF UNMET EXPECTATIONS

 

ANOTHER FABULOUS "TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL"

On July 20th, a group of friends and I drove to the beautiful sprawling farm of close-friend Lois Mateus outside Harrodsburg, Kentucky, for a visit, a wonderful dinner and a drive-around the farm in a small four-wheel vehicle. Here we are in that vehicle (below). 

LEFT TO RIGHT: me, Tim Tomes, Doreen Ovca, Lindy Street and owner Lois Mateus. 

With Tim Tomes driving, the four of us had a wonderful, talkative and relaxing trip down and back. Most of us have been there two, three or more times, but once is never enough. Her huge farm is a marvelous array of grasses, flowers, trees, animals, rolling fields and stone structures. There are engaging art pieces everywhere, inside and out, to catch your attention. To say that the rolling acres, with their old and well preserved buildings, are a marvel is to understate the fact for sure! 

Below, is one of the outside art pieces that caught my attention as we drove onto the farm road leading up to the house. It was a copper remnant from the renovation of our Cathedral of the Assumption that Lois had bid on and won at a fund-raising auction. I recognized it right off. It was copied and replaced because of some damage over the years to the original. It stands in a perfect setting with with the rolling hills all around and even the jet-stream of a plane probably landing at the nearby Lexington airport. 

CROSSING BOUNDARIES

 

Muslim Leaders Invited to Catholic Mass (Gaudate Sunday) by Bishop Mhasi, December 14, 2025

They Asked If Their Children Could Attend the New Catholic School To Be Opened In 2026

The woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord help me.” Jesus said to her, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs!” She said to Jesus, “Please Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps from the table of their masters!”

Matthew 15:21-28

Well, since I didn’t see anybody laughing or even smiling when I read it, I guess I will have to explain today's gospel story which I consider one of the funniest in the whole New Testament! 

First of all, however, I suppose I should give you a little background. This is the first and only time Jesus is reported as being outside Jewish territory. Jesus deliberately went there to get away from the demands of the crowds who were constantly pursuing him and to get away from the hostility of the Scribes and Pharisees. He needed some quiet time to think and pray about the terrible days he had come to realize that were ahead of him. By leaving Jewish territory and entering Gentile territory, he assumed that very few of his fellow Jews would follow him.  

No sooner than Jesus had crossed the border, a woman who had heard about him and the wonderful things he could do for hurting people, showed up and came up to him asking for help for her afflicted daughter. She was not only a Gentile, she was a Canaanite Gentile and Canaanites were ancestral enemies of the Jews.

The text says that Jesus didn’t say a word to her in to answer to her request! Maybe it was because Jewish men were forbidden to speak to women in public? Maybe he was just trying to pull himself together and think about how to help her? In any case, imagine that moment of awkward silence as they stood there in a stand-off – Jesus not saying anything and her not leaving!  Not being able to stand that awkward silence, the disciples of Jesus intervene. “Jesus, tell her to get out of here and quit calling out after you!” Not dissuaded by their angry rebuff, the desperate woman approached Jesus, bowed to him and said simply, “Lord, help me!”  

Here's where the fun starts! It loses something in translation so I am going to have to try to explain it in such a way that you’ll get the humorous exchange. Jesus says something quite awful-sounding to her, but you have to imagine him smiling and winking knowingly at her as he says it. Both Jesus and the woman knew, and everyone standing around knew, that the Jewish nickname for Gentiles was “dogs.” Jesus says to her in response to her request, “It is not right to take food that belongs to Jewish children and give it to “dogs” like you!” (Wink! Wink!) The slang word he used here is similar to the "b" word we have for “vicious females!”  

She must have picked up on Jesus winking at her as he was saying out loud what everybody looking on was thinking about her. Instead of using the “b” word for a female dog, in her answer she uses the word for “little puppies” or cute “household pets.” “Please, Lord, for even “little puppies” like me don’t mind eating the scrapes that fall from their master’s table!” (Wink! Wink!) It's almost like she is saying to the smiling Jesus, “Just help me because harmless little "puppies" like me don’t mind eating left-over scraps from Jews like you!”

I have always imagined them laughing and hugging each other afterwards as Jesus says to her, “O, woman, great is your faith! Let it be done as you wish!”

Remember, this story takes place outside Jewish territory. The significance of this story is that it foreshadows the going out of the gospel to the whole world; it shows us the beginning of the end of all the barriers between God and the peoples of the world!

We have a long way to go, but some of us remember the days when we Catholics believed that all non-Catholics would probably not make it to heaven? Others of us will remember the days when many Protestants thought we Catholics would certainly not make it to heaven because we did not have that “born-again” experience that they had!

Just to remind you of how far we have become, let me remind you of what the Catholic Church actually teaches today about other religions. These words come from the Vatican Council II documents.

The Document of Ecumenism says this: “Catholics must joyfully acknowledge and esteem the truly Christian endowments from our common heritage which are to be found among our Protestant brothers and sisters.  Nor should we forget that whatever is wrought by the grace of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of our separated brothers and sisters can contribute to our own edification.” (That's worth repeating!) Wow! We have come a long way, haven't we? I have benefitted greatly by what I have learned over the years since those post-Vatican II years. I preached one whole summer in Crater Lake National Park under the auspices of the United Church of Christ. I got more help in leaning to preach from them than I did from Saint Meinrad Seminary! I got my Doctorate in Parish Revitalization from the Presbyterian Church seminary in Chicago! It was because of what I learned from Presbyterians that I was able to do what I did to revitalize the Cathedral of the Assumption parish downtown in the 1980s and 1990s! 

The Document on Non-Christian Religions says this: “The Church rejects, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against others, or harassment of them, because of their race, color, condition of life or religion.” (That too is worth repeating!) Wow again! We have come a long, long way, haven't we? It was because of that Vatican II Document that we were able to start the Cathedral Heritage Foundation, now called the Center for Interfaith Relations, which is still functioning around our Cathedral downtown for almost 50 years now! 

Would that we would all dedicate ourselves to living what the passage today from the Gospel of Matthew tells us and what the Church clearly teaches us in our relations with other peoples and their religions!  Yes, indeed, we have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go!  Let us especially reject those loud screeching voices today who want to take us back to the way things used to be - from the tolerance and ecumenism of today to the intolerance and religious bigotry of yesterday! I don't know about you, but I'm certainly not going back to those days! 

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In case you did not see it the other day, here is a little video to prove what "crossing boundaries" can do to help heal Christian/Muslim conflicts in one place on the other side of the world. Catholic and Muslim children singing together "We Are Happy Today" and giving a "thumbs up" sign when the new Catholic school that we have help build opened on July 30, 2026

                                                  expand the screen and turn up the volume to hear the singing