It is important
to clarify what vocation means in this context,
and why the term is validly applied to the work
of the theologian.(n1) Common parlance, according
to the Oxford English Dictionary, understands
"vocation" to be concerned with divine
action.(n2) A vocation is God's call to a particular
work that has a spiritual or religious dimension.
Such a call often becomes manifest by a combination
of attraction toward, and fitness for, the work.
In fact, the dictionary locates vocation in the
realm of faith. In practice, the truth of such
a call is confirmed by the faith community. So
the vocation to the religious life is confirmed
in the ritual of profession; the vocation to the
priesthood is confirmed in the ritual of ordination.
What of the vocation to be a theologian? If theology
is indeed, as Anselm of Canterbury taught, "faith
seeking understanding," then the vocation
of the theologian clearly has a religious dimension
and needs appropriate confirmation.(n3) Such confirmation
has been given in various ways over time. But
not every Catholic theologian today is trained
in a Catholic institution, nor do many Catholic
institutions carry out a ritual such as the one
described here. Furthermore, as ever larger numbers
of Catholic theologians are lay women and men,
the separation of the vocation from that to the
priesthood or to religious life becomes more distinct.
Today in practice, confirmation of the theologian's
vocation, insofar as it is connected with the
granting of the doctorate, is ordinarily restricted
to academic qualification for the work.
It is this current situation which seems in part
to be driving the implementation of the revised
Code of Canon Law with respect to theologians.
The work of the theologian is understood by the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to
be a vocation in service to the Word within the
Church. The Congregation stated that the role
of the theologian is "to pursue in a particular
way an ever deeper understanding of the word of
God found in the inspired Scriptures and handed
on by the living tradition of the Church. [The
theologian] does this in communion with the magisterium,
which has been charged with the responsibility
of preserving the deposit of faith."(n4)
The fact that theologians are increasingly lay,
that their preparation for their work is predominantly
academic, and that theological work is increasingly
done outside institutions which are juridically
controlled by the Church: all this has apparently
been seen as a potential threat to the faith.
Concern for the teaching of the Church quite appropriately
governs the approach in the Code. As canonist
Sharon Euart notes in commenting on canon 812:
"The canon and the notion of the mandate
are innovations in the law of the church on catholic
colleges and universities. The intent of the canon
is to preserve the orthodoxy of catholic doctrine.
The requirement of the mandate represents a juridical
response to a potential danger to the faith and
an effort to protect the rights of the faithful
and the good of the church."(n5) However,
my article is not a study in the interpretation
and implementation of canon 812. Rather, my intent
is to examine the theological vocation as vocation.
As a historical theologian myself, I think that
perspective on the history of the vocation, and
the impact on it of recent developments in theology,
may shed light on the joy and hope (as well as
on the grief and anguish!) to be found in following
such a call. Today theologians are as often lay
as clerics.
Vatican II significantly reshaped
their common theological vocation. I begin there.
Further light comes from review of earlier periods
in which the vocation underwent significant change,
so I turn next to the earlier tradition. Finally,
since later changes in theology itself have affected
the vocation, I look to them before concluding.
We began from the understanding of the work of
a theologian as a true vocation, a call from God
to a particular work in the Church. In practice,
unlike the vocations to the religious life or
to the priesthood, confirmation of the vocation
of the theologian is restricted to academic qualification
for the work. Examination of sections of Lumen
gentium and Gaudium et spes led to recognition
that this vocation is a charism located within
the prophetic office of the people of God. The
specific work of the theologian is reflected in
the council's charge, which reads: "With
the help of the holy Spirit, it is the task of
the whole people of God, particularly of its pastors
and theologians, to listen to and distinguish
the many voices of our times and to interpret
them in the light of God's word, in order that
the revealed truth may be more deeply penetrated,
better understood, and more suitably presented".
Further, the council expressed the explicit hope
that more of the laity would become theologians.
Such a desire, once met, would effect far-reaching
changes. My summary review of the history showed
that until Vatican II, theologians were usually
clerics, although the gift was never exclusively
reserved to office-holders. In the two centuries
leading up to the council there were changes in
theology that would affect the theological vocation.
These included a shift in the understanding of
the magisterium, and changes in methodology, as
historically critical approaches were incorporated.
Additionally, renewed attention to Pneumatology
brought deeper understanding of the place of charisms
in the Church.
Today the community called Church is blessed
with a large group of theologians who are not
clerics. These women and men have welcomed the
gift of their vocation. As a cadre they are a
first generation. The academy has tested such
of their qualifications as fall within its purview.
But the institutional Church has yet to devise
a means to test and to confirm the vocational
call of its theologians specifically as vocation,
and as vocation not of necessity linked to either
the clerical or the religious state. The implementation
of Ex corde ecclesiae seems to be a first stumbling
step in that direction.
Meanwhile, the gift remains. And how does one
endure in the in-between? Macrina, and all her
colleagues, whose life work is to be about the
task of faith seeking understanding, continue
to exercise the vocation as the gift that it is.
For these professional theologians, lay women
and men, clerics, and religious, all of them,
Paul's advice holds: "Live by the Spirit".
The signs of such living are simple: love, the
love that allows another to be different, even
when one does not understand the other. And joy,
the joy that flows from exercising one's own gift
to the best of one's ability. The list of signs
is familiar:
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is
no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the
Spirit". We know in whom we have believed.
Our hope is secure, and, as the spiritual has
it, "Joy comes with the morning.
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