Father Michael's Column

In view of the Archbishop’s announcement this weekend about a restructuring of the diocese, I thought it would be helpful for me to give some reflections about what the Holy Spirit might be doing within the diocese, within each parish, and within each of us, whether priest or parishioner. You can be sure that if we are listening to the Holy Spirit, whatever we do is going to blessed, peaceful (even when difficult), and probably exciting! He is going to help us do the MISSION that Jesus gave us—and nothing else matters. Our mission is to proclaim the e Good News and make new disciples. As a Church, our task is not to simply maintain whatever we had before, but rather—in this time and space, in these circumstances—to determine how we are going to fulfill our mission. We need to use whatever resources we have as effectively as we can now—in this time and place—and not regret that it was different in a different time and space.

We could get all caught up in [ultimately] meaningless debates about which parishes should continue as they are or which need to change. The only meaningful discussion is “how best to fulfill our mission.” With those same concerns in mind, the Archbishop is rightly concerned about how best to enable the limited (and diminishing) number of priests that serve the Archdiocese to use the charisms they have been given by the Holy Spirit, and to energize the people of God to become a “joyful band of 
missionary disciples”. 

Most, if not all priests I know, can recall how enthused they were at their ordination. They were on fire for the Lord. But then the burdens of office and the structures they were expected to maintain often started wearing them down. They could become discouraged, and sometimes the fire got dampened. Fortunately, there is a way to get it stoked up again, because the fire of the Holy Spirit comes from a deep relationship with the Lord—and that relationship is always there if we but desire it and take the time to nurture it. Then the fire comes, and like the prophet Jeremiah says, we cannot keep it in. (Jer 20:7) It makes us want to share Christ.

This is true not just for priests, but for ALL Christians who would dare be disciples! I know that pastors can get really pumped about helping others come to Christ and watching them develop that relationship! It is what we are all about. It is what the Church is all about, both priests and laity. As we ourselves develop an ever-deepening love relationship with the Lord, all we need be concerned about is the best strategy for effectively sharing Him with others.

The situation of the Church has changed in recent decades. The Catholic population has diminished and also shifted from the core city outwards. More importantly, the secular culture has impacted those who might still identify as Catholics. We need to respond, but always with a view to how any changes we make will allow us to further our mission. How best to evangelize in our current situation is what the Archbishop’s decision to “re-structure” the diocese is really all about.

Evangelization, in simple terms, means proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Often, we think in terms of that proclamation as it applies to unbaptized persons. But that is not the only application, especially now. This is where the need for a new emphasis, or what has been termed a “NEW Evangelization” comes in.

In our increasingly secular society, this focused evangelization is especially geared toward persons who are nominally Christian but have never really experienced the Christ. These persons may or may not be going to Church. (Yes, even some church-going people might lack this encounter.) You, personally, probably know of persons who “used to be Catholic” but are no longer practicing. There is still another group who are regular church-goers, but as I suggest above, they lack enthusiasm—or perhaps have little carry-over of what happens on Sunday into their everyday lives. In short, there are a lot of people who do not know how good the Good News is! And it shows.

It is true that there are many people who have never really heard the Gospel and need to be evangelized. Others have heard, at least at some level, but have lost the fire; these need to be re-evangelized. But even for the most enthusiastic, there is a continual need to re-encounter the Lord to keep the blaze going. In short, we ALL need to be continually re-evangelized! Focusing on the people in the pews, as well as on the people who are no longer attending Church, and also on the people who are nominally Catholic but really aren’t “on fire” for the Lord, is what “The NEW Evangelization” is all about. 

I have to immediately clarify something. The real key to evangelization is to personally encounter Christ. That bears repeating: the key to being evangelized is to PERSONALLY ENCOUNTER CHRIST! It is NOT simply to learn about doctrines, Church practices, and moral teachings, however important and helpful those things might be. At its core, it is to fall in love with the Lord Jesus, to become aware of, and grateful for, all that he has done, and then to make a decision to accept him as “Lord.” 

I believe that many, many people today have learned “about” Jesus, but have never really known him, have never really encountered him. Years ago, and in the parishes as they were structured in the past, it could well be assumed by a pastor that his people would automatically come to know the Lord, since being Catholic often tended to be an all-encompassing experience. Everyone in the neighborhood was Catholic, and even the social life revolved around the parish. Certainly almost everyone came to Church every Sunday, where they presumably prayed—which is the main way to encounter Christ. Those structures of the past are exactly that: in the past.

Children prayed, too, not only at Mass, but in school, and at home with their parents. Since they presumably already knew Jesus in prayer, all that was left was to teach children about Jesus and his Church (history, liturgy, moral teachings, etc.). Today, things have changed and we can no longer assume that people have encountered the Lord. Lacking that, our kids will not become disciples—even if they are not bored to tears by learning only about history and liturgy and morals.

There is a new imperative, which has to happen in homes and in classes: Encounter Christ. Our school mission statement, for example, has this as the first and foremost element: “To provide a school environment in which Christ is encountered….”

Encountering Jesus sometimes has small, almost innocuous, beginnings. It can be as simple as experiencing an act of hospitality. If we, as disciples, are “welcoming toward the stranger,” we may be starting that person on a journey that leads to eternal life. Keep that in mind when you come to Mass here on the weekend. You can smile, and maybe even speak a kind word. Such a small gesture might begin a journey for that person, especially when you remember him or her in prayer during that Mass.

 Without a heart of evangelism, any structure—or “re-structuring”—is ultimately meaningless, doomed to failure. With it, however, we cannot fail. The Holy Spirit is guiding us, and we will fulfill our mission. What is that mission? Our parish “mission statement”

In Jesus,
Fr. Michael