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Review
What is a person, recognising a special gift from God, to do when the structure of one’s church prevents the exercise of that gift? Attending the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon in pursuit of a degree in pastoral counselling, Marie Louise, a devout Roman Catholic, discovered a gift for preaching or “breaking open the Word of God”, as she calls it. Her gift is affirmed by her professors as well as by the Seminary community. The Roman Catholic Church, however, does not ordain women to the ministry of Word and Sacrament.
Finding the Treasure Within describes the author’s spiritual journey from growing up in RC family in the Netherlands, her life on a farm in Saskatchewan, to her theological studies and subsequent preaching. Each chapter ends with a sermon written and preached by Marie-Louise.
While her fellow seminarians could place the legitimacy of their call and gift of preaching within their own faith community, Marie-Louise had to find another affirmation. Her keen discovery is grounding the legitimacy of her call to ministry in her baptism and confirmation. She writes:
Christ himself issues the basic call to ministry not the Church. The Church only affirms and celebrates what has already taken place in the intimate relationship between Christ Jesus and the one called; (p. 252)
This insight is confirmed by the Vatican document Lumen Gentium:
Every Christian has the right and the obligation to fulfill these tria munera (threefold baptismal anointing with Christ into priest, prophet and king) primarily within the community called church and secondarily within the socio-political society in which he or she lives…. (p. 252)
Marie-Louise has given us a fascinating story of how she came to accept her gift of preaching and how she is using it not only within the RC Church which faces a severe shortage of priests especially in rural Saskatchewan, but also in the wider ecumenical faith community.
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