Lay people at the heart of the Church

FRANCISCO PALAU

Lay people at the heart of the Church

The laity are indispensable in the Church. Today and yesterday. They make up the vast majority. Their base and support: the holy faithful people of God. Thanks to the laity, both ordained ministers and all kinds of vocations to the consecrated life exist. And it is at their service that the minority of both are to be found. Common origin: the sacraments of initiation.

Palau did not share many projects managed by clericalism. He did value people for what they were. He trusted them. As a result, he was surrounded by lay people. Those who wanted to have him as their guide. To stay in his company. To incorporate his style of living the gospel.

Those lay people - men and women - perceived the life of God that animated Fr Palau's existence. Both men and women knew that this man would lead them to the best port: the port of the Gospel. On the path of Teresa's Carmel. Both men and women wished that, among them, they would give priority to welcoming and listening. An unmistakable climate of freedom and service. An intense way of living communion: with God and with others. To know oneself as a transient collective. To the point of reaching the frontier. To serve the most vulnerable from there.

And Palau welcomed them, listened to them and helped them to discern. He guided and accompanied them. From such a disposition, he called them to walk in communion. He counted on them when it came to living, giving their opinions and making decisions.

Together with Fr. Palau, the lay people travelled a splendid interior itinerary. They lived their communion with the Lord Jesus with generosity and depth. They cultivated dreams of fraternity. They accepted the peculiarities and differences of others. As a possibility for the enrichment of all. They stumbled, fell and got up again. Yes, they loved, helped and forgave each other. The style was that of concrete, though not showy, love. The one that is proposed, but not imposed. Like that of the Master. And deep joy was born of it all. For they reproduced God's way of acting.

They soon connected with their surroundings. They widened their gaze. They lived alert to what the context asked of them. They improved the hardships. They were a collective of closeness, humanism and tenderness. Learned in friendship with Jesus: prayer. They emphasised human dignity when it was trampled on. And the denunciation was not polemic against anyone. Yes, prophecy for all. They thus became a sign of hope.

From this way of life, Palau valued them. As they assimilated the Gospel, he lifted them up to the heart of the Church. He recognised them as being included in this heart. A reference point for the Church of today and for us.