Deborah Organ shares her experiences in the lay ecclesial ministry, giving guests at St. Catherine University a pattern that will avail them prosper in their work.
For Dr. Deborah Organ, the lay ecclesial ministry is a bit of heart.While the current Chair of the Catholic Association of Teachers ofHomiletics also keeps her mind about her as she goes about her work, sheseeks out communities that are deep in need.
Organ has worked with young on weekends in the key city parish ofSt. Paul in Dorchester - a portion of Boston. She has counseledadults in Tamaulipas, Mexico. She has prepared congregants forsacraments in two languages in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has coordinatedreligious events at Stephens College, a women`s college in Missouri.She has advocated for Latino immigrants at Our Lady of Lourdes inColumbia, Missouri, and she currently ministers to the undocumentedimmigrant community at Holy Rosary Church in south Minneapolis.
In celebration of the "Category of the Liberal Arts" at St. CatherineUniversity, Organ spoke on "Lay Ecclesial Ministry in the Church Today: AView from Inner-City Minneapolis," on Wednesday, April 6, in theRecital Hall on the St. Paul campus of the University.
William McDonough, S.T.D. associate professor of divinity at St.Kate`s, introduced Organ at the event, which was presented by the Masterof Arts in Theology Program and the School of Humanities, Arts andSciences at St. Catherine University.
"We make tonight a deeply rooted and grounded lay pastor in theCatholic Church. She is a lot of sight for us," said McDonough. Headded that Organ will join St. Catherine University in the release as anadjunct faculty member.
When Organ took the stage, she opened with a tale about a bat that hadflown down upon her and her colleagues in church one morning. Itinterested her to mention that bats fly toward the vibration of the humanvoice, and she drew a duplicate from the floor to the lay ministry.
"We hunger for God and we celebrate in and within grace," said Organ. "We dodraw one another by the heat and quivering of our voices, sometimesunexpectedly but generally unmistakably."
Organ said each person in the lay ministry builds connections indaily life, both indoors and by the church walls. She said itusually takes a catalyst, however, to produce an individual aware of thoseconnections. Organ compared this catalyst to the bat swooping down fromthe church ceiling. She detected an "urgency of connection" coming fromthe creature, though her colleague had to get opened his lip to drawthe bat toward him.
"Human beings are worn through the senses as well, though often notcompletely blindly," said Organ. "As human beings in church, we lovebecause God first loved us. We are drawn into the light of God fromformal church activities. We`re drawn into our essential life with Godand, out of that, to a reception in bed that transforms the world."
Organ also recounted the history of a middle-aged woman, who rushed intochurch just as lot was near to get one day. The charwoman had led a lifefull of injury and pain, Organ had recently learned, and she wasstruggling to see her home in the world.
"She came to the foremost pew, slid in - just in time for mass," saidOrgan. "I was seated there off to the face and I started to weep. Shewas drawn to that first pew quite simply by the love of God."
Organ said in her initial sessions with the woman, the charwoman had often complained, "I don`t understand. I`ll never understand."
"Though she had very little opportunity for formal education, she foundherself able to be right up against secret and make it squarely,"said Organ. "Then the smell that she had nothing to go and shecouldn`t learn started to change."
During her presentation, Organ invited the interview to quietly reflecton their own experiences several times. She also encouraged her audienceto move by the obstacles standing in their way as lay ministers, andto regard lay ministers as "iconic mystics" wielding the office of God.
"A lay ecclesial minister is somebody who is and does that which isnecessary for masses to see themselves as front pew material," saidOrgan. "The ministry is basically concerned with a communal and activeliving out of and into our fundamental reality - the spirit in and withGod. Thirty days of professional ministry have worn me into awarenessthat the Earth that we want to make is already our most basicreality, evidenced by the resurrection."
She encouraged those in the head to be mindful of that concept, toclaim it, reflect it and be it. And she said Christians must bothrealize there is more to any situation than meets the eye, and carry outof their ministry together.
Organ then took time to have her audience a formula for flourishing inthe lay ministry today. A few of the ideas she brought forward includedreleasing personal grief, committing to the ministry even when it isunclear what lies ahead, listening and creating a note of home, andextending a touch of class across class lines. She too said layministers must consider that their ministry will assist the charge of theChurch unfold in the world.
Organ concluded her presentation on Wednesday with a receipt for thosein the audience, who ranged from students, faculty and alumni of St.Kate`s to community members and Organ`s colleagues from Holy RosaryChurch.
See also: Catholic Identity, Liberal Arts
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