Coming Up: The Fascinating History of the Lay Apostolate
Yes, we're here. But in the last throes of getting ready for the gathering tomorrow and Thursday and preparation for two back to back major events in June.
Blogging may be sparse over the next 48 hours but will resume afterwards.
Since I"m (amazingly) going to be home between how and September (with the exception of the two Making Disciples seminars in Wisconsin and Washington), I thought it would be fun to do some special blogging on the history of the development of the lay apostolate - before, during, and after the Council - starting in the middle ages. I've accumulated a ton of stuff over the years on the topic but it just sits in my files waiting to be used.
Why not share some of this great stuff via the blog?
Especially since the history is so rich, nuanced, and complicated and far more interesting than the simplistic "everything was great/terrible before the Council and everything has been the pits/fabulous since" scenario that we can't seem to get beyond.
One fascinating thing - before the Second Vatican Council, the champions of the lay apostolate were usually on the "liberal" end of the continuum as it existed in their day - indeed sometimes on the extreme left hand side of the spectrum in political and economic terms - while since the Council, the champions of the lay apostolate are perceived as usually, but not always, being on the "conservative" end. Of course, such categories flatten out the complexity of the reality and don't begin to tell the tale.
But its a tale worth telling - and a fruitful summer's blogging, I think.
So watch for the first installment - hopefully later this week.
posted by Sherry W @ 10:46 AM
7 Comments
7 Comments:
If you're going to do this, would you please cite your sources. That would be very helpful.
Dave:
I will try to do just that - to the extent that it is possible.
But I'm not trying to hold myself to a scholarly standard in doing this - its just a blog and I do have work to do.
Jean Vanier has noted that when he started he was regarded as a liberal, but now folks see him as conservative....
Frederick:
Jean Vanier wasn't the only one. Catherine Doherty, the founder of Madonna House and "Dorothy Day" of Canada was considered on the far left for decades. But as she put it:
"In the 60's, we stayed put and the whole Church revolved around us. Overnight we found ourselves regarded as "conservative".
Dorothy Day also went through a period of being regarded as a old fashioned "relic" by Catholic workers who stopped going to Mass, stopped praying, used drugs, were having affairs, etc.
The union between faithfulness to the gospel and social justice was broken for many and a 60's lifestyle now married a concern for social justice.
So those like Dorothy Day and Catherine Doherty who had lived a union of orthodox Catholicism and social justice, made no sense anymore.
Sherry your comments to Frederick really hit me. I am working on a presentation for the dioceses on adult formation and was just reflecting on the fact that many times we divorce catholic social teaching from evangelization.
Bobby
I'm not sure what you mean "to the extent that it is possible." I know blogs aren't scholarly venues, but you must have some sources - this stuff doesn't just drop from the sky. And if you want to be taken seriously, you do have to cite your sources, just as if you were publishing in a refereed journal or presenting at a scholarly symposium. Otherwise, why should we take your remarks seriously? We can go elsewhere. After all, there are other studies of the laity from the Middle Ages onward. And since you've chosen such a broad theme, I would assume that you have some basic reference works as well as articles, etc.
Dave:
Feel free to go elsewhere! If you don't take me seriously, I can live with that.
I'm not about to attempt a comprehensive account of the lay apostolate on a *blog*. Which is good because I haven't had time or the training to do even a tiny fraction of the research necessary - which would take many scholars many lifetimes.
One of the problems is that we don't understand the significance of the role of the laity theologically because we don't really grasp how God has used them in the Church historically. And that's because, until recently, historians primarily focused on clergy, bishops, kings, religious orders, etc. - the obvious players about whom considerable historical information was available.
Much of the global research into the lives and impact of ordinary lay Christians simply hasn't been done.
My fantasy is to have the money to organize Catholic scholars all over the world to put together a multi-volume encyclopedia of lay Catholicism in the 20th century. We are close enough to still have access to many of the documents and many living witnesses - and with improved travel and the new communications, we could actually do a decent history. I think what would emerge from such a effort would revise our understanding of the lay office altogether.
Intentional Disciples is just a *blog* for heaven's sake. Blogs aren't scholarly journals - they are supposed to be entertaining, inspiring, thought or laugh-provoking, and it's good to track breaking event or observe media responses, and gather observations from other people, etc.
I try to be careful to provide links whenever I blog for my readers and I will recommend some books.
But this is just going to be a series of historical vignettes strung together with some observations from stuff I've collected in the hopes that some day I would have the time to do something more substantive with is.
If you want something more, don't waste time reading this blog. Hie thee off to a specialized graduate school library immediately - and we'll talk in 10 years when you've got your PhD and are ready publish your book.
I hope to do something like that myself this fall. A close friend and brilliant historian has offered to oversee a week of directed reading at his university in an area of personal passion: the 17th century Catholic revival in France. Cause he got tired of listening to me complain about the fact that I don't have time to do serious research.
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