Am I a Maintenance Catholic or a Missionary Catholic?

Painting: Saint Francis Xavier preaching in Goa, André Reinoso (1610)

I signed up as a delegate for next month's Archdiocesan assembly and I was torn between track's 4 "accompaniment" and track 5 "differentiated co-responsibility". Ultimately I chose track 4.

But track 5 has prompted me to think deeply about the divisions in our local Church.

Image: Schema, Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan, 5 Proposed Pastoral Priorities

I offer the following thoughts for communal discernment.

I believe the greatest division in our Church today is not between clergy and laity.

It is also not between laity who work for the Church and laity who don't.

It is not even between so called "progressives" and conservatives. Hence, while I signed a petition against female altar servers, I am not exactly "fired up" over it.

𝐼 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐶ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐶𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 "𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒" 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑒𝑡. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 f𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 "𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦" 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑒𝑡.

What do I mean by these two mindsets?

𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝

Pope Francis, in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, does not use the term "maintenance" mindset.

Rather, he contrasts a missionary mentality (which he discusses extensively) with a "business mentality" (his term) which approximates what i mean by a "maintenance" mindset

Such a mentality, the Pope teaches, is "caught up with management, statistics, plans and evaluations whose principal beneficiary is not God’s people but the Church as an institution" (EG no 95)

𝟐. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠?

Nothing dramatic at first. But therein lies the problem. The Pope calls it "tomb psychology".

A "tomb psychology" where "all appears to proceed normally, while in reality faith is wearing down and degenerating into small-mindedness." (EG no 83)

𝟑. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭?

The Pope identifies some symptoms

The mark of Christ, incarnate, crucified and risen, is not present; closed and elite groups are formed, and no effort is made to go forth and seek out those who are distant or the immense multitudes who thirst for Christ. Evangelical fervour is replaced by the empty pleasure of complacency and self-indulgence. (EG no 95)

In a nutshell, the top three most important questions for someone with a predominantly maintenance mindset when faced with a new pastoral initiative is:

1. "Why is this needed?

2. "We have always done it that way."

3. "Is it against the rules or not?"

Someone with a missionary mindset, or a missionary spiritualty (the Pope's term) is different.

𝟒. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝

If the maintenance mindset acts as if "God did not exist, making decisions as if the poor did not exist, setting goals as if others did not exist, working as if people who have not received the Gospel did not exist." (EG no 80)

The missionary mindset is its polar opposite.

The one with the missionary mindset, does not simply say he "believes in God". He recognises that "the devils also believe, and they tremble."(James 2:19)

Rather, he "acts as if God is real"

And from this, asks the question of who the poor is within his context, all the while experiencing a burning desire to reach and transform people and cultures with the Gospel.

𝟓. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠?

The Pope says that he dreams of a “missionary option”, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channelled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation. (EG no 27)

𝟔. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭?

The Pope makes offers a very identifiable phrase that every Singaporean student who have written an English composition would know

Are these people, when they are doing work, "tired but happy?" (EG no 82)

Do they find what they do "pleasurable" or not? (EG no 82)?

In a nutshell, the top three most important questions for someone with a predominantly missionary mindset is:

1. "Does this proposed solution solve this problem?

2. "Where are the like minded people engaged in solving this problem? I would like to meet and network with them."

3. "Opposition? It just makes me more, not less determined to solve the problem."

In subsequent posts, I will share more thoughts on the implications of these two mindsets in the life of our Archdiocese. I will also share how someone with a missionary mindset can manage the deadly feeling of despondency and discouragement. Finally, I would also share how even in the midst of this tension, both sides can actually listen and build bridges to each other.