Christ's faithful, according to Church law, have the right and obligation to be assisted by their pastors – especially by the word of God and the sacraments (Canons 386-387).
This right includes preaching and catechetical formation (Canons 756-780); by ensuring that theology is taught in Catholic colleges (Canon 811); by ensuring proper preparation for the sacraments (Canon 843); by care of the sick (Canon 911); and by hearing confessions (Canon 986).
This canon flows from Vatican II's teaching that Christ is present in the Word of God as well as in the sacraments: "To accomplish so great a work, Christ is always present in His Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of His minister, 'the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered Himself on the cross,' but especially under the Eucharistic species. By His power He is present in the sacraments, so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ Himself who baptizes. He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. He is present, lastly, when the Church prays and sings, for He promised: 'Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them' (Matt 18:20)." (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, "Sacrosanctum Concilium," 7)
Given both the responsibility of pastors to provide for the spiritual needs of the faithful as well as the current shortage of clergy, pastors may utilize a number of options. Parishes may be entrusted to a deacon or a layperson or group of persons under the supervision of a priest (Canon 517). Deacons or a lay person may be designated to administer Holy Communion to the sick and dying; be designated to preach; to lead services for the deceased; or to exercise a catechetical role (Canon 776). Lay people may be delegated to act as official witnesses at marriages (Canon 112), and married couples may be relied upon to prepare others for the sacrament of marriage (Canon 1063).
This right may be breached if this might unduly delay the reception of the sacraments, or to force recipients to receive them in forms not determined by law. Pastoral practices which make compulsory those that are not binding in Church law (such as requiring people to receive Holy Communion in the hand as opposed to receiving on the tongue) or prevent an exercise of a right which is in conformity with Church law (such as delaying baptism longer than the time prescribed in Canon 867) constitute an abuse of the right to spiritual assistance.
Editor's note: This series about the rights and obligations of the Christian faithful, as set forth in canon (Church) law, has been written especially for the Catholic News Herald by Mercy Sister Jeanne-Margaret McNally. Sister Jeanne-Margaret is a distinguished authority on canon law, author of the reference guide "Canon Law for the Laity," and frequent lecturer at universities and dioceses. A graduate of The Catholic University of America with multiple degrees including a doctorate in psychology and a licentiate of canon law (JCL), she is a psychologist for the Tribunal of the Diocese of Charlotte and a judge in the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Miami.
Every night, as part of compline in the Byzantine rite, we pray for those who hate us and those who love us.
I find that it's easy to pray for those who love me, although because the list is so short it's extremely humbling. Extending the list by praying for friends, family members, and those who have been kind to me at least gives me more than a few for whom to pray.
Praying for those who hate me, however, is another matter.
You may think that no one actually hates you, but if you examine your life carefully you will find, as I have, that there are plenty of persons out there with reason to feel animosity and hostility toward you, who may detest you, or who at the very least dislike you, perhaps intensely.
I divide the camp of those who hate me into two. One consists of those who have reason to hate me because I truly have caused them harm in some way. The other consists of those who hate me wrongly and who, as a result, actually have harmed me in some way.
As with those who love me, it's relatively easy – although often painful – to pray for those who have reason to hate me. This list of persons is very long. The length is disheartening, and the reasons for the hatred of these persons painful.
Without even giving much thought to it, I could list at least 50 persons I believe I've harmed in my life, with most on this list from my 20s to 40s, and this would merely be a start. Angry outbursts, arguments, selfishness on my part, unkind words are the least of my sins against these persons.
I pray for God's forgiveness and pray that they have forgiven my sin or offense, even if they do not specifically remember me or it.
Praying for those who hate me wrongly, however, is far more difficult and truly a struggle. When I was an English professor, my very existence caused some to be hostile toward me. This was especially true of students.
I began teaching in the 1980s and taught my last class about five years ago. Something changed in the 1990s. During that decade I began to encounter a greater number of students who believed that they deserved an "A" just because they came to class and turned in work, regardless of the quality of their work and whether or not they had actually done the work. If you challenged them, some became angry, some hostile, and others vindictive. Over the years this became more prevalent.
Students weren't the only problem. Some professors were so eager to be liked by students that they did all the could to denigrate and disparage colleagues.
Some days I have to pray intensely to quell the anger I feel toward these students and professors. I do this by recalling my own sins against others, seeking to remove the plank in my eye rather than complaining of the splinter in theirs. I remind myself that while I might be wrongly hated by some, plenty of others in the world have cause to hate me.
The Lord instructs: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Mt 5:44). The apostles clearly had enemies who sought to persecute them, and this may be true for some of us as Christians. Each of us, however, does have someone who dislikes us, or hates us. They are, in that sense, our enemies.
Silouan the Athonite, the great Russian-born monk and Orthodox saint, wrote: "The soul cannot know peace unless she prays for her enemies. The soul that has learned of God's grace to pray, feels love and compassion for every living thing, and in particular for mankind, for whom the Lord suffered on the Cross, and His soul was heavy for every one of us."
I believe that this extends to those who hate or dislike us. And so, with the help of God's grace, we must pray for them. Better, though, if our prayer leads to our loving them. As St. Silouan wrote: "If you pray for your enemies, peace will come to you, but when you can love your enemies – know that a great measure of the grace of God dwells in you, though I do not say perfect grace as yet, but sufficient for salvation."
Father Deacon Kevin Bezner serves at St. Basil the Great Ukrainian Catholic Mission in Charlotte. This commentary was originally published on the blog www.thechristianreview.com.