April 2, 2010
Convocation speaker Jim Healy reflects on ministry, marriage
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
Jim Healy, with a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and 25 years of experience in marriage ministry, will speak on Catholic marriage at Good Shepherd Church in Evansville, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 10.
Question: What about Catholic marriage inspires you?
Answer: That we are called to follow Jesus in a never ending process of transfiguration, crucifiction and resurrection.
Question: What is the most difficult question you have been asked at a marriage presentation?
Answer: When they say, “Can you talk to my wife? I’m sure she would hear it from you.” Or “Boy, I wish my husband could hear this!” That kind of misses the mark. As somebody once said, “It’s important to marry the right person, but it’s even more important to be the right person.”
Question: What do lay people know that clergy ignore?
Answer: Most people need two different experiences of church. They need the experience of a larger church, which for most of us is the parish. However, they also need the experience of a do-mestic church, which is that place in your life where intimacy and stability meet. For many of us, that’s our spouse and/or children.
The parish church is what families look like when they’re in church for Mass. The domestic church is what they look like 10 minutes before!
Laity often lead with their experience of the domestic church and clergy often lead with their experience of the parish church.
To pun on the term “Holy Orders,” the parents are the pastors of the domestic church and their call is to offer leadership in establishing a “holy order” there. The role of the clergy is to offer leadership in establishing a “holy order” in the parish church. We need each other.
Question: Is there anything good about today’s culture?
Answer: More freedom to divvy up roles in a marriage. The “down side” is that this puts a premium on communication — more things have to be negotiated.
Learn more at www.ourcatholicmarriage.org.