Faith In Action

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LIVING IN A MISSION COUNTRY: THE UNITED STATES

Ever since I was a child, I have been interested in the missions. I can remember, in the 1950's, Fr. Wilson coming from the Diocesan Missions Office to show movies of priests, sisters, and brothers working in foreign lands. And how much pride I took in scraping together the five dollars needed to “ransom a pagan baby.” We joke about that term now, but the zeal that we had in those days was very real. There are still mission lands in the world. Recently, upon a visit to Puerta Plata in the Dominican Republic, I had lunch with the local bishop. He expressed that he had only eighteen priests serving in his Diocese. Then he quickly added that he was excited about the growing number of young men in his seminary. Another priest present commented with a smile that the tables are being turned and Dominican priests are starting to think of the United States as a mission country.

With abortion, violence of all kinds, rampant materialism, and all-consuming consumerism that control people’s lives, it may be accurate to label this a pagan land.

The priest was not joking. My Florida friends tell me that Dominicans are now serving in some their parishes. In much the same way, there are priests of other non-industrialized nations now working to the United States. But are we really a mission country? If so, what makes that the case, and what does it mean to us? No doubt about it, the church in the United States is facing a shortage of priests. The priest in Puerta Plata, however, admitted they have a priest shortage as well. It’s not just the shrinking number of priests that defines the Catholic Church in America. If we have become a mission land, then other characteristics of mission countries must be reviewed as well.

First of all, a mission land is usually pictured as a country that is basically pagan, or at least, lacking in Christianity. In the United States, great numbers of people claim they have faith in God and even a membership in a Christian church. Sadly, however, our society’s standards are rather void of Christian values. With abortion, violence of all kinds, rampant materialism, and all-consuming consumerism that control people’s lives, it may be accurate to label this a pagan land. For too many people, life is empty and void of any meaning.

Clearly, the Catholic Church in this country is an established institution.

Secondly, mission countries are usually considered poor or under-developed. By most standards, the United States is probably the richest country in the history of the world. We have been blessed with all kinds of natural resources, and we have learned to invent and manufacture virtually anything we want. Nonetheless, there is tremendous poverty of spirit. I recently noticed the size of the “religion” section at a local bookstore. Even though some of the books are of the self-styled religion variety, they are selling because people are starving to be fed spiritually. It seems that people in this land of plenty are truly impoverished in what really matters.

Finally, mission countries are usually places where the church is a new voice, a voice not yet fully planted in the culture. Mission churches, as new communities, often have a great commitment and enthusiasm even when their members are few in number. Our Diocesan Mission among the Tonga people in Zimbabwe clearly depicts that aspect of a mission church. Their members are new Christians, and their influence is not that of the well-established societal structures. Instead, they speak as outsiders, who are full of fervor. I’ll never forget the Mass I celebrated a couple of years ago with a fledgling community at one of the mission outposts in Zimbabwe. From the beat of the African drums to the dancing and singing, that Mass was a sign of their commitment to their new-found faith. Clearly, the Catholic Church in this country is an established institution. Having started as a church of immigrants, we are now well-entrenched. Some may say we are too entrenched, and our values have eroded into the amalgam of American life.

At the same time, in most healthy parishes there is a nuclear group that is like those Tonga Christians in Zimbabwe. They are on fire for their faith, feeding it with prayer and study. They are willing to speak out for their beliefs and not simply go along with the crowd. I am sure that those who stood with me in the winter cold last month to pray against the Death Penalty could only do so by first admitting that we are not necessarily in conformity with society’s standards! In short, the United States is more of a mission country than most of us have ever considered. For me that means a new way -- an exciting way -- of looking at ministry. If we start to view the church as a missionary would, we would not become complacent or self-satisfied. Instead, we would re-discover that our role is to be a leaven in the dough, trying to effect changes throughout American society. Perhaps, at the same time, as we realize our call to preach Good News to ears that are often deaf, our church will also attract more vocations to the priesthood. After all, what this church has to offer its young is a message of hope that cannot be found in society. H.W.