Ministries
Faith and service in the church
The word ministry comes from the Latin "ministerium," meaning "service," and "minister," meaning "servant." Therefore, ministry in the Church is fundamentally centered on service. A minister serves in the mission and charism that the Lord, through the Church, has entrusted to him.
Common Traits for Good Ministries: There are common and obvious clues for good ministry performance. What are they?: a) The noblest thing that lay people do in the liturgical celebration is not the ministries themselves, but their participation. (cf. GIRM 62) b) Every ministry in the community is understood as service and not as a privilege of power. (cf. GIRM 60) These ministries must be conceived from a global pastoral vision: - Within the liturgical animation team with its various ministries (coordination is the key word: a good minister knows how to work as part of a team). - That the lay people who participate in the celebration by contributing their ministries do not limit their work to this area of the liturgy. That is why it is good for them to have another apostolate (for example, the reader who participates in catechesis, prepares other readers, intervenes in the organization of biblical courses).(d) The ministries, if possible, should be distributed among several and not accumulated in a single person.e) Every minister must have a technical knowledge of his intervention, and therefore requires preparation.
Ecclesial ministry according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION TWO: THE PROFESSION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
CHAPTER THREE: I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
ARTICLE 9: "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH"
874 Christ himself is the source of ministry in the Church. He instituted it, gave it authority, mission, direction, and purpose:
“Christ the Lord, in order to guide the People of God and make them ever progress, instituted in his Church various ministries ordered to the good of the whole Body. Indeed, ministers who possess sacred authority are at the service of their brothers, so that all the members of the People of God [...] may be saved” (LG 18).
875 “How then can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?” (Rom 10:14-15). No one, neither individual nor community, can proclaim the Gospel to himself. “Faith comes from hearing” (Rom 10:17). No one can give himself the mandate or the mission to proclaim the Gospel. The one sent by the Lord speaks and acts not on his own authority, but by virtue of the authority of Christ; not as a member of the community, but speaking to it in the name of Christ. No one can confer grace upon himself; it must be given and offered. This presupposes ministers of grace, authorized and empowered by Christ. From him, bishops and priests receive the mission and the faculty (the “sacred power”) to act in persona Christi Capitis; Deacons are empowered to serve the People of God in the "diaconate" of liturgy, word, and charity, in communion with the bishop and his presbyterate. This ministry, in which those sent by Christ do and give, as a gift from God, what they cannot do or give on their own, is called "sacrament" by Church tradition. The ministry of the Church is conferred through a specific sacrament.
876. The service-oriented character of the Church's ministry is intrinsically linked to its sacramental nature. In fact, being wholly dependent on Christ, who bestows upon them mission and authority, ministers are truly "servants of Christ" (Rom 1:1), in the image of Christ who freely took "the form of a servant" for our sake (Phil 2:7). Since the word and grace of which they are ministers are not their own, but Christ's, who entrusted them to others, they will willingly become slaves of all (cf. 1 Cor 9:19).