Outside The Comfort Zone

It takes courage to step outside of one’s comfort zone.  Jesus did it, and he clearly expects his disciples to do the same. The lives of the saints are biographies of people who dared to risk  being at ease and feeling comfortable in order to be and do something that threatens their security and tranquility.

Jesus left his carpenter shop and went out on the road, with no place to lay his head, in order to preach the values of the Kingdom of God. He risked being rejected by the very people he had come to serve.  He challenged the status quo in his own religion, and compared his mission to carrying a cross.  The ultimate price for stepping out of his comfort zone was death by crucifixion

The list of those willing to follow his example and eschew their comfort zone is long, but for the sake of example and encouragement reflect on the sacrifices undertaken by three of his followers:  Francis of Assisi, Blessed Mother Frances Schervier, and Pope Francis.

St. Francis of Assisi obviously went out of his comfort zone when he told his father, “I am not living according to your custom, your rule, your way of life anymore,” and, according to the story, stripped himself of his clothes. That would be going out of your comfort zone.

Bl. Frances Schervier of Aachen, Germany, (1819-76), in imitation of Francis of Assisi, left her comfortable home, went out to care for the sick, and with three other like-minded women established the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor.  Even as a youngster she shared her school lunch with those that she saw poor and miserable along the way.

And now there’s Pope Francis, calling on Christians  to go out to the periphery, urging ministers to take on the smell of the sheep, and challenging  clergy, religious and laity “to abandon the complacent attitude that says: ‘We have always done it this way.’” In his Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (Gospel Joy) he invites “everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities” (#33).

Prior to the conclave that elected him as the successor of Pope Benedict,  Cardinal Jorge Bergolio of Argentina  addressed his fellow cardinals and said that what we need is a leader who will take us out to the periphery, a leader who will help the church be what the church is supposed to be.

His words had a powerful impact  on that select audience, and they elected Cardinal Bergolio, to be the successor of Pope Benedict XVI.  Coming out on the balcony at St. Peter’s in Rome, Pope Francis, before blessing the crowds in St. Peter’s Square, asked them, “Bless me. You bless me.”

Since that time, he has said again and again, “We are all in this together.” He holds fast to one of the truths reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, namely that  the Holy Spirit was given to all the people of God.

Prior to Vatican II, many in the hierarchy and among theologians  had given in to pyramid model of Church -- that somehow the pope, the bishops and the priests got the message from heaven and they would give it down to the people who were often called called the simple faithful.

But when the document on the church, Lumen Gentium, was put together, there was aggiornamento, a return to the understanding  that the Holy Spirit is given at baptism and in confirmation the baptized are sent out.  The two-fold rite is the sacrament of initiation --baptism and confirmation-- because baptism makes you a Christian; confirmation authorizes you to go forth and bear witness to what you have become.

The baptized have been sent to be apostles to the world and have been given the gift of the Spirit.  The baptized have share in the priesthood, in the prophetic mission of Christ, in the ministry of servant-leaders.

From the very beginning of the Christian gospel and the development of the church, this is a foundational reality. Pope Francis is intent on bringing that awareness of that reality back into the mainstream of the church of this day.

It was a rather exciting and I am sure somewhat startling presentation that he gave to the curia just before Christmas in 2013 when he suggested to them that there are certain maladies and illnesses, and temptations that need to be resisted. He explained that a Church that focuses upon itself is a sick institution, not living up to the purpose for which it was created.

He urged the Curia staff to be careful. They must not allow themselves to succumb, for example, to what he called “spiritual Alzheimer’s” where you forget your beginnings, your struggle with the gospel and living it. You can get yourself into an institutional setting and forget about your spiritual struggle of growing in faith and personal discipline. Others have spiritual mountains to climb;  not all are the same, not all can climb at the same pace. You have to be wary of taking on judgmental/condemnatory attitudes about others who are still climbing the mountain.

His warning is reflected in a bumper sticker that said: “Before you offer a criticism, tell me if you’ve ever volunteered.” Have you been there? Have you been in it? Pope Francis is asking us to get into that world, particularly into the periphery of it and learn from those who are broken.

                                                                                                                                                                     (to be continued)