Very Rev. Fr. Raymond Osei-Tutu, Chancellor of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra has urged parishioners of Our Lady of Assumption (OLA) Parish at New Achimota to rise up as people of God to serve the Church in different capacities for the spiritual growth of the Parish.
“Nobody’s contribution is smallest or biggest. Nobody is better than the other when it comes to the affairs of the Church, all hands must be on deck to forestall any spiritual starvation in your Parish,” he said in a homily on Mission Sunday, October 23, 2022.
Visiting OLA Parish for this year’s exchange of pulpit, Fr. Osei-Tutu, who is the Priest-in-Charge of St. Anthony Catholic Church at Fishpond, told the parishioners of OLA that “in the house of God, we are all called to serve,” advising them never to to be jealous of other people’s service to the Church.
According to him, it was important, therefore, that the laity be united to make their own specific contribution to the Church’s mission.
He pointed out that when people do not avail themselves to the service of the Church, it brings about “spiritual starvation”, and also cautioned against “individualism” in the house of God, where one person wants to do everything which he described as a “spiritual suicide.”
“In the Church, we are all equal but we all have to work to serve the Church,” he added and made reference to Pope Benedict XVI’s call on the lay faithful to be co-responsible for the Church.
Pope Benedict XVI introduced the term co-responsibility, stating that the laity can “make its own specific contribution to the ecclesial mission with respect for the ministries and tasks that each one has in the life of the Church and always in cordial communion with the bishops.”
Co-responsibility there requires a change in mentality, particularly with regard to the role of the laity in the Church, who should be considered not as “collaborators” with the clergy, but as persons truly “co-responsible” for the being and activity of the Church.
Co-responsibility, then, goes beyond simple teamwork and instead invites a collaboration which is mindful of each person’s baptismal priesthood. Co-responsibility does not threaten the distinct role of ordained priests, but reminds the laity of the roles of prophet, priest, and king which often lack centrality in understanding lay life.
Through co-responsibility, the laity are invited to greater participation in Church governance. This involvement works to eliminate clericalism by fostering a greater understanding of life in the Church. Even though the pastor celebrates Mass and manages the parish, he cannot be seen as individually responsible for the spiritual wellbeing of the Church in his area. Rather, all Catholics – lay and ordained – must share responsibility, each serving the Church through a variety of ways.
According to Fr. Osei-Tutu since all Catholics must share responsibilities in the house of God, they need to be part of the Church to help the Parish Priest who had been entrusted to them to teach, sanctify and govern.
He educated the parishioners that the Parish Priest is the proper pastor (parochus) of the parish representing the Diocesan Bishop, noting, every Parish has one Parish Priest and do not have Assistant Parish Priest but an Assistant Priest or a Parochial Vicar.
Saying that every baptised Catholic has a right and responsibility, he encouraged the OLA parishioners to join in the administration of the Church by becoming ushers, altar servers, choristers, lectors and commentators.
Fr. Osei-Tutu counselled the parishioners that they could also serve as Pastoral Counsellors who are advisers to the Parish Priest on solely pastoral matters like liturgy, home visitation, faith formation and Catechesis, evangelisation and reaching out to lapsed Catholics.
He noted that they could become members of the Parish Finance Committee (Council) in charge of the temporal goods of the Church, various Church Committees, parish staff, associations (Societies) and devotional groups.
Touching the role of Ministries – ushering, altar serving, singing, lectoring – he reminded the parishioners that it was a service rendered to the Church without financial remuneration and cautioned ministries especially choirs not to make money the main focus of their services to the Church.
By Damian Avevor
