Tuesday, April 24, 2018

The Quest Begins


Last week, our two local parishes held a dinner meeting to kickoff implementation of the goals set by our First Diocesan Synod.  Over the next three years, the priest, lay staff, and our parishioners will focus efforts on three pastoral priorities.  The number one priority will be evangelization, welcoming Catholics home.  Our evangelization committee will establish outreach programs to meet with non-practicing Catholics in our parishes to provide opportunities for church participation discussions.

This will not be an easy task.  Last month, I wrote about previous efforts that have fallen short.  At the very least, we have learned what approaches are least effective. This new effort will take a more direct approach with an emphasis on person-to-person contact.  We will be also using modern media to get people thinking about their faith journey.

One concern brought to our committee involves how any reverts will be impacted by our parish environment.   As in any church setting, personalities affect the spiritual temperament.  It is no secret that our current pastor’s affinity for lengthy, somewhat condescending homilies has turned some people away.  Parishioners perceive his tough love approach as angry and berating, rather than loving and nourishing.  As a result, we have lost many parishioners to other area parishes. 

In this particular evangelization effort, we are more concerned with people who are no longer practicing at all, but our efforts could backfire if those coming back to Mass for the first time in a long while are turned off by the experience.  Those of us attune to the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Holy Sacrifice can overlook lousy homilies, but others who have been away will need time to redevelop the appreciation. 

The challenge is to convey the joy we experience in this wondrous gift during a brief encounter with someone who may indifferent or even antagonistic.   It is often said that all we can do is plant the seeds and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.  But, as our facilitator pointed out at the meeting, we are also the fertilizer.

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