Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, The Bishop of Sunyani Diocese of The Catholic Church has advised Priests to be Enablers of the Laity. The Bishop gave this  advise in the Homily titled "Priests as Enablers of the Laity" at the CHRISM MASS at The Christ the King Cathedral, Sunyani.

My pastoral visits to the parishes and institutions as well as my interactions with the respective pastoral councils and societies and their leaders happily show that a positive pattern of collaboration is developing between priests and the Lay Faithful. This pastoral collaboration, however, needs further improvement and nurturing. The necessity of this relationship and the urgent need for it to develop faster and now has occasioned me to have the theme for this year’s Chrism mass: The priest as the enabler of the Laity.

We, the ordained ministers, are priests, prophets, kings—these are in the ministry of Christ. But we are not alone. One of the important ways of shepherding these days is, of course, how to involve our laity and to draw on their gifts in a very conscious way, encouraging them to play the role which is not only their right but their duty. After baptizing a catechumen the priest says to him or her:

“God, Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, has freed you from sin, given you a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and welcomed you into his holy people” (Rite of baptism).

That is good summary. He then adds “He anoints you with the Chrism of salvation. As Christ was anointed priest, prophet and king, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life” (Rite of baptism).

The baptized is therefore anointed priest, prophet, and king and is clothed with white garment to show the dignity of baptism. We anoint the catechumen as Christ was anointed. In baptism the catechumen is made Christ. We also give the baptized a candle, for s/he has to be the light of Christ. For this reason the Council said:

“Lay people play their part in the mission of the church, entrusted to the whole people of God, and play it inside the church and out in the world, and play it as priests, prophets and kings, because they too have been made sharers in the priestly, prophetic and royal work of Christ.”

Each baptized person, each mature Christian is therefore anointed by the Lord and is to be respected and indeed reverenced for his or her consecration. The power and beauty of God expressed in so many lives is an immense ongoing manifestation of God Himself. The priest would be blind and foolish to ignore this and not seek to unleash the divine energy frequently untapped in each individual.

The priest would do well to work very closely with and listen carefully to the suggestions from their respective Pastoral Councils, Finance Councils, Diocesan, Parish and Local Laity Councils as well as the leaders of the various societies and indeed all individual members of the church. Welcome, encourage and support the youth to grow in the Lord and to contribute according to their talents to the growth of the Church. Seek out individuals with special talents and gifts and involve them in the affairs of the church. We have no right to ignore them and they have every right by their baptism to play the roles proper to them. We have no option in this matter but to reciprocate the respect they accord us since they are also priests, prophets and kings by their baptism. If we fail to do this, not only will we be infringing on the rights of the laity to play their proper role in the church, but our ministry will not be as successful as it should be for we cannot grow the church alone. It is the right and duty of the Laity to be involved, to know what goes on in the church not only in material things but also in the spiritual growth of the church. There is overwhelming evidence that there is rapid spiritual and material growth in any parish where the priest is transparent and involves the Lay faithful in all decision making and implementation of programs. The reverse is the case where the priest makes himself the jack of all trades and behaves like he knows all things and does all things better than everybody else. Obviously, the priest can do only so much and is not the expert in all things relevant to the growth of the Parish or community.

In our Country and Diocese where spiritual values are increasingly important, and the Church’s social teachings even more relevant, the need for priests to work with the Laity for the Kingdom of God becomes daily more apparent. We must bravely and prophetically empower the Laity for their special and irreplaceable mission. I have heard it said that when Catholics, for instance, attempt to witness in concrete ways to the gospel in their working lives and in politics, they find themselves marginalized both in the church and in their unions and political parties. The priest must never ignore his clear responsibility to sustain those who live out the social gospel of the church.

Indeed, encourage the Lay Faithful to compete for public office and leadership positions in the society so they are able to bring the social teachings of the Church to bear on decisions at all levels of society. Encourage those who are already in public office and leadership positions, invite them and pray for them and remind them of their role as Politicians and Public and Civil Servants who are also Catholics. Invite, encourage, pray and support them as a priest should do. Irrespective of their political or social persuasion, they are part of your flock who need your support and through whom the church can evangelize the society.

My dear Lay Faithful, it is now time for you to live up to expectations. Many of you are too slow and are reluctant and afraid to serve the Lord according to the talents and gifts God has given you. Stand up and play your proper role in the church. No priest should and can take away from you your responsibilities and your rights in the church. Often, sadly, you leave the priests alone to do all things, even things that are properly your responsibilities. Then you give the excuses that “Father says or Father did not tell us or Father will not allow us.” You should search and know what your rights and responsibilities are and live accordingly your baptismal commitments which make you also priests, prophets and kings.

As priests, prophets and kings, you are expected to support and respect your priests as Alter Christus. Pray for them, work very closely with them, and support the church materially. In turn, you are supposed to respect one another as Lay Faithful. Lay leaders of the respective Societies should respect the members as baptized people. We should promote the material and spiritual welfare of the members of our societies, that is, a greater part of our meetings should be devoted to prayer, study of the word of God and teachings of the Church. As leaders, make sure that the finances and property of the society are well protected and proper accounts rendered to the people.

We know the key concept which was used to describe the inner life of the Church is koinonia or the Latin word Communio, which is so difficult to translate into English. We commonly use the rather weak word ‘fellowship’, but it is much more than that. It is to do with that oneness in Christ through baptism, resulting therefore in oneness among ourselves, priests and Lay faithful; oneness in mission, as well as a sharing in the ministry of Christ as priest, prophet and king. It is a kingship, a living relationship that transcends friendship and shared interest. For me the best description of koinonia comes in the Acts (2:42) and again in chapter 4 where it says: “Those who believed were of one heart and soul and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread’ –to ‘communio’, to prayer (Acts 2:42).” That is what is expected of us priests and laity working together in the Church.

Immediately after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles the result was Baptism of the Spirit and they formed themselves into a community in which the key things were faith, the Eucharist and prayer. They then went out and preached the Gospel “had all things in common.” We ought to meditate deeply on that. And not only on our own and but also tell the people how to do it. Meditate with your parish and realize you are not creating an organization, but creating a community. It needs to be done with prayer and with humility: let us, the priests and lay faithful, be together, reflect together and pray together, then we act together and become that unique community which is the living Church.

We priests have to be men of authority, of course, we have to be leaders and show certain firmness, but always with a deep respect for every single person, however despicable they may seem in our eyes. For by their baptism, they are also priests, prophets and kings. In our relationships with them we must always be respectful and gentle. Gentleness is not softness, but something which touches them deeply. It is good to study how our Lord achieved this. We see this in the story of the Samaritan woman by the well, and pre-eminently, in his words to the good thief as he was dying. I think one of the most important strengths a priest must have, and a bishop too, is gentleness towards people. I suspect that more people have been converted by kindness than through their intellectual conviction.

I think one of the most important qualities is to be able to say, even on bad days, the sort of “Hello” which invites further dialogue, rather than that “Hello”, which is: I want to go past quickly.

My dear lay people, support your priests by getting involved and actually loving the church and sacrificing your talents and gifts for the Church as your priests guide you and support you to carry Christ to the world, your families and all you meet.

My brother priests, thank you for your wonderful co-operation and support. May the Easter festivities make all of us—Priests, Religious, Lay Faithful and Bishop-- be of one heart and soul and devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread –to communio--to prayer (Acts 2:42).