Together on the Journey: A Weekly Word from Archbishop Hebda
I am still on a high from being with a group of high school students from our archdiocese (and about 16,000 of their peers) at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis. It’s always an exhilarating experience, but it was particularly enriching this year due to the virtual participation of Pope Leo, who devoted an hour of his time to answering questions posed by five teens from across the United States who were with us in the Lucas Oil Stadium. The Holy Father seemed right at home amongst so many teens, and his answers to their questions were warm, insightful and challenging. I was delighted to hear him remind our young people that they are not only the future of our Church but also its present. I loved how he told them, “If you want to help the Church prepare for the future, start by being involved today.”
It was clear to me from the members of our group and the other youth that I encountered that God is indeed blessing our Church with eager young people open to God’s grace. The lines for confession were astounding, and so many of our teens were able to speak of the ways in which they are already serving the Church as leaders.
The gathering was in many ways a microcosm of our Church. Joining our young laity were dozens of bishops, hundreds of priests and deacons, lots of young religious and many married couples, all reminding me of the Holy Spirit’s wisdom in calling us to a variety of vocations.
The multicultural dimension of our Church was beautifully apparent as well, with a sizeable portion of young people, musicians and presenters switching seamlessly from English to Spanish. I was delighted that one of the participants from our archdiocese was privileged to offer one of the universal prayers at Mass in Vietnamese!
Today, by the way, is a big day for our Vietnamese communities—the feast of St. Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions, who were martyred in Vietnam. In our archdiocese, there are four parishes with Vietnamese Catholic communities, and Vietnamese Americans are energetically present as well in many of our other parishes throughout the Twin Cities.
St. Andrew Dung-Lac was born in northern Vietnam and became a priest in 1823, a time when it was dangerous to be a Christian in Vietnam. Christians were ordered by the emperor to stomp on their crucifixes to renounce faith in Christ. Andrew and many other Christians refused to deface these artifacts. The faithful of Vietnam helped hide priests from the emperor and did all they could to help priests avoid persecution, often sacrificing themselves because they helped priests hide or escape. Andrew and many other Vietnamese Christians were nonetheless killed for spreading the Gospel.
Andrew’s veneration today is coupled with that of his companions who, like Father Andrew, were martyred. I love feast days that call us to recall the complementarity of holy clergy with equally holy laity. It reminds me that regardless of our vocation, we are one body in Christ and work together to spread the faith.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the documents of Vatican II as we approach the 60th anniversary of the closing of that council. Much was written at that time about the needed collaboration in mission amongst clergy and the laity. One of the most important of those documents, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, explains, “Though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ” (10). The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem, would similarly go on to refer to the laity’s “proper and indispensable role in the mission of the Church” (1).
We are blessed to see this essential collaboration modeled not only in our Vietnamese parishes but throughout our archdiocese, with engaged and faith-filled parishioners partnering with their pastors. Sure, I was praying in Indianapolis that the Lord would call some of the young people in our NCYC delegation to consecrated life or the priesthood, but I was also asking that he would raise up among them zealous moms and dads, striving for holiness in married life. May our young people (and those of all ages) respond fearlessly to God’s call. St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions, pray for us!
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