AD CLERUM - JANUARY 2005

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

In his book Living on the Border of the Holy William Countryman says that if we want to make sense of ordained ministry we must not begin with ordination, nor with the ministry of all believers, but with what he insists is "the priesthood of all humanity". We are spiritual beings, he says, on a pilgrimage through life in a world that is created and indwelt by God. Whether we are aware of it or not, we all live in the presence of God, on the edge of encounter. This is why he talks so emphatically of the "priesthood of humanity" because the word "priesthood" carries for him the connotation of standing in the presence of the Holy.

Encounter with God is always an act of God's grace, unbidden and serendipitous. The "priesthood of humanity" is not simply a waiting around for God, but is the process of everyday life lived in the unseen presence of the Holy, and the role that each of us is called to play in helping others in their pilgrim journey through life. The help we give to others as we reveal the secrets we have learned of the mystery of life is priestly in nature. Because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, so everything we do that points the way, leads to truth and adds meaning to life is priestly.

All of us, therefore, exercise this fundamental ministry, but not all of us do it well. Living on the edge of the Holy is dangerous and not everyone emerges as a priest of the Holy. Some of us journey through life without really paying attention and our impressions are superficial, muddled, and as confusing to others as they are to ourselves. Others journey out of self interest and seek control, power, personal gain, or confirmation of personal prejudices and their own sense of self-righteousness and wisdom. In doing so, says Countryman, they risk having their humanity warped or destroyed, and almost always harm others in the process.

The journey into a true priest of the Holy requires humility and loving detachment, honesty and generosity of spirit, and a quiet openness and attentiveness to the presence of God in our lives and our world. This is where the ministry of all believers and the ministry of the ordained enter into the equation.

Countryman says that as Christians we live in the same border country and are called to the same "priesthood of humanity". The priesthood of all believers, says Countryman, is the priesthood of all humanity interpreted and formed by the priesthood of Jesus. What made Jesus' priesthood perfect was its authenticity and clarity. Jesus' life was so filled with truth and so open to God that it admitted no falsehood and no clouding of its transparency to God. His life becomes the measure of our authenticity, clarity and transparency to God. But the priesthood of all believers goes far beyond simply having a perfect example; it is transformation in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Through baptism we live "in Christ," a people filled with the power of the Holy Spirit who makes all things new. As we intentionally seek to live out our new life in Christ, so the effectiveness of our "priesthood of humanity" is transformed by the indwelling Spirit and we become sacraments of God's grace. It is in that context that ordained ministry has its place. For Countryman, the Church is the principal repository of the good news of Jesus and the primary vehicle through which it is made available to successive generations of priests. He regards the ordained as a sign and sacrament of the priesthood of all believers and the one who through "word and sacrament" provide the sacred vehicles of the faith in ways in which all may enter into a transforming, life-giving encounter with God.

In trying to reflect what Countryman says, I am afraid that I have made a simple concept seem complex. In essence what he is saying is that all of us are on a spiritual journey into God and that each of us shares in the spiritual ministry of helping others grown. We who live "in Christ" have a critical and key role to play in helping humanity in its fundamental calling and its pilgrimage.

Much of what I have been trying to say about the ministry of all believers and the role of the ordained in the world is expressed more poetically in some beautiful words in the Introduction to the book On Being a Priest Today by Rosalind Brown and Christopher Cocksworth. They write:-

"The people of God are called to make music for the world. It is a music that sounds freedom in all the corners of the earth. It is the music of Jesus Christ - God's gift of life for the world. The pastors of God's people are called to help the Church enthral the world with the sound of Christ. Sometimes they are like the person who sweeps the floor making the place ready for the performance. Other times they are like the restorer who skilfully repairs the instruments when they have been damaged. All of the time they are like the conductor whose overriding passion is to draw the best sound from each person and to bring the sounds of each uniquely gifted person into an ordered whole, so that together, in time and in tune, the people of God can play the score of God's mercy, truth and goodness, to a world battered by its own noise but starved of the sound of God.

"This will be the sort of music making where everybody plays, where there is scope for individuality and spontaneity within the rhythm of the whole. It will be an infectious and generative activity that will put a new song into the hearts of all who hear and place and instrument in their hands, inviting them to join in the music of the mystery and magnificence of God's love for the world."

May we be a people of beautiful music in 2005.

With much love

+Brian

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