October 2, 2024

Fr. John Riccardo

“Brothers and sisters: He ‘for a little while’ was made ‘lower than the angels,’ that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that He, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the leader of their salvation perfect through suffering. He who consecrates and those who are consecrated all have one origin. Therefore, He is not ashamed to call them ‘brothers’”

(Hebrews 2:9-11)

Something extraordinary is being revealed here — something that can and should radically change the way we see each other and talk about each other, especially those who lead in the Church.

Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the one through whom and for whom all things were created (cf. John 1:3; Col 1:16), is not ashamed to call us — us! — His brothers and sisters. This passage from Hebrews affords us an opportunity to look at several other passages in the New Testament, where the Holy Spirit speaks into a reality that is crucially important to reflect on.

Jesus tells us in the Gospels, “Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50). He tells Mary Magdalene on Easter Sunday, “Go to My brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father’” (John 20:17). He teaches the disciples, “You have one teacher, and you are all brothers” (Matthew 23:8). Saint John tells us, “To all who did receive Him [Jesus] who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). In his first Letter, the same apostle says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1). Paul, reinforcing his Master’s teaching, reminds us that Jesus is “the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29); and that the Father “predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:5).

Who are we to God? We are family to God. And if we are family to God, then we are brothers and sisters to one another. Why is this so important to linger with? Because though this language is almost certainly familiar to most of us in the Church, the lived experience of being a family in the Church is probably not.

In ACTS XXIX we are adamant on the need to move away from what some have called “the corporatization of the Church” if we are to be faithful to a biblical worldview. To be sure, the Church needs to be governed wisely and in an orderly fashion. Hierarchy is not a negative word, it simply means “sacred order,” and Jesus instituted the Church as such. That said, neither a diocese nor a parish is a company; it is a family. The family of God.

Yet, we have heard priests share that their bishops have told them not to be friends with their “staff” or with their parishioners. Really? Can any of us honestly imagine Jesus saying this? And as for the word “staff,” why do we use this word in the Church? Did Paul have “a staff”? Scour his writings and note carefully how he describes those with whom he serves (this is a most profitable Bible study, by the way). “Staff” is a word that never shows up. Though the origin of that word probably comes from the military, it now commonly refers to a group of employees. That’s fine for a corporation; the Church is not a corporation.

If the Father is not ashamed to call us His sons and daughters, and if Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters, why do we resist this language within ourselves? Why do we think it is somehow inappropriate? Where is the bigger gap: between God and us or between each other?

There’s been a lot of focus in the past few years on the need for those who work in a diocese or parish to become “healthy teams.” This is very valuable, to be sure, and it includes things like growing in vulnerability based trust, learning the art of engaging in productive conflict, and being accountable to one another. Important as this is, however, we need to move beyond healthy teams, since teams are not biblical concepts. If we are truly to be about the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, we need not only to become healthy teams but a family on mission.

There is much we could profitably reflect on here, but for now we might simply start with one idea. St. Joan of Arc once remarked, “All battles are first won or lost in the mind.” Given that, how do we think about and see each other in the Church? Perhaps especially, how do those of us who lead and serve in parishes and dioceses think about and see each other? How might the Lord want to transform us?

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