27 July 2006

The Life of God in the Life of the Parish

That's the title of an outstanding essay by Piepkorn in the volume *The Church: Selected Writings of A.C. Piepkorn.* Pr. Alms wrote a fine piece on his blog that reminded me of these words from Piepkorn's essay:

"The life of God in the parish implies an end of commericialism in the financial affairs of the parish. If we cook, it will be for the hungry; if we sew, it will be for the needy; if we collect clothes, it will be for the ill-clad; if we eat, it will be for the joy of being together as children of God and not to raise funds for Him who is the Creator and Owner of the world's wealth. The kingdom of God is not buying one another's pies, but in being faithful stewards of the gifts with which God has bountifully endowed even the poorest. The problem of parish finance is not getting into people's purses, but getting God into people's hearts." - A.C. Piepkorn, *The Life of God in the Life of the Parish* - in THE CHURCH p. 117, 118

The whole essay is very worth the read. He posits at the start: "In short, the parish derives its significance from the fact that it is the arena in which God establishes contact with man. It is a symbol of the divine primacy and the divine initiative in our transformation from sinners to saints." (p. 109)

And he offers his definition of church: "The Christian people in the parish, those who are gathered by and around the Sacred Ministry of the Word of God and of His Holy Sacraments together with those who exercise the Sacred Ministry of the Word of God and the Holy Sacraments according to their vocation are the church. This statement is true without qualification, even though it exhibits a certain ambivalence. While such a community in any given place is of necessity only a part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, quantitatively considered, in that place such a community IS the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, qualitatively considered, and everything that can be said qualitatively about the one, holy catholic and apostolic church can be said about such a community." (p. 109)

Can you tell Korby studied with this man?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to see Dr. Piepkorn's writing is appreciated, unfortunately much of his legacy was overshadowed after his death by all the trouble in the early seventies. I have not met anyone who knew him or who was taught by him who does not have an abiding appreciation for the man and his work.

William Weedon said...

There are many pastors who appreciate so much the work -the unbelievable research- that Dr. Piepkorn did for the Church. He is a source for the "hard data" for so many things. I only wish I could actually have heard him teach. Fr. Hank writes on my blog sometimes and I absolutely envy the man: Korby, Kretzmann, Piepkorn - all were in his experience. What a blessed treasure-trove of memories. As for me, I am *impatiently* awaiting the further volumes of Piepkorn's writings from ALPB.

Anonymous said...

Piepkorn writes: "The life of God in the parish implies an end of commericialism in the financial affairs of the parish."

Perhaps this thought could be extended to say that the life of God in the parish implies an end of commercialism in every affair of the parish---including the loveless view of some who look to the recruitment of the neighbor as a way of keeping the Church alive. Seems a bit bass-ackwards to me. Not that I don't fall into that trap myself, at times. :)

Tom Fast