The Role of the Parish as a Witnessing Community
By Monsignor Vincent J. Grimalia, V.G. 

Ten years after the second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI issued two Apostolic Exhortations: one on Christian Joy, Gaudete in Domino, and one on Evangelization, Evangelii Nuntiandi. A reading of both exhortations is enlightening for a parish developing or revising a mission statement because they help us to understand the meaning and goal, as well as the means of evangelization.

The goal of evangelization is to join in prayer with Jesus “that all may be one” in communion with the Blessed Trinity and to work for unity and community with others. Every person needs to examine how they are peace makers, and every community needs to examine how it is a sign and instrument of communion with God and with other members of the Body of Christ.

The Gospel is proclaimed by preaching, teaching, instruction and ongoing formation. People need to hear and understand the message and learn how to live it and share it with others. People need to know the stories of faith expressed in the Scripture, they need a vocabulary to express the common understanding of faith expressed in the Creed and Tradition, and they need training to interpret their lives in the light of faith to discover meaning and vocation for their lives.

The Gospel is also proclaimed by Christian witness, through daily living. The witness of Christians may be the most effective means of evaluation for some people.

In the Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelization, Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI offered a reflection on the section of the Acts of the Apostles that inspired our own Diocesan mission statement: “The Church remains in the world when the Lord of glory returns to the Father... She prolongs and continues Him. And it is above all His mission and His condition of being an evangelizer that she is called upon to continue. For the Christian community is never closed in upon itself. The intimate life of this community – the life of listening to the Word and the apostles’ teaching, charity lived in a fraternal way; the sharing of bread – this intimate life only acquires its full meaning when it becomes a witness, when it evokes admiration and conversion, and when it becomes the preaching and proclamation of the Good News.

“Thus it is the whole Church that receives the mission to evangelize, and the work of each individual member is important for the whole. The Church is an evangelizer, but she begins by being evangelized herself. She is the community of believers, the community of hope lived and communicated, the community of brotherly love, and she needs to listen unceasingly to what she must believe, to her reasons for hoping, to the new commandment of love.”

How can members of the parish witness to the Gospel? How can parish pastoral planning help a parish more effectively witness and proclaim the Gospel?

Pope Paul VI further emphasized that evangelization is concerned with persons and cultures. He stressed the importance of Christian witness as well as proclamation and instruction to help Christians to live their lives guided by faith. He observed: “The split between the Gospel and culture is without a doubt the drama of our time, just as it was of other times. Therefore every effort must be made to ensure a full evangelization of culture.”

When we speak of the evangelization of culture, we must focus attention first on the internal culture of the parish – how it is living the Gospel – and the external culture surrounding the parish. This will be an important part of the Parish self-study and pastoral planning.

Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have continued to repeat and emphasize the importance of the evangelization of both persons and culture. When we think of culture, we need to think of not only the external culture of the surrounding community, but also the internal culture of every Catholic parish, organization and group.

Pope Paul noted: “Above all, the Gospel must be proclaimed by witness. Take a Christian or a handful of Christians who, in the midst of their own community, show their capacity for understanding and acceptance, their sharing of life and destiny with other people, their solidarity with the efforts of all for whatever is noble and good. Let us suppose that, in addition, they radiate in an altogether simple and unaffected way their faith in values that go beyond current values, and their hope in something that is not seen and that one would not dare to imagine. Through this wordless witness these Christians stir up irresistible questions in the hearts of those who see how they live: Why are they like this? Why do they live in this way? What or who is it that inspires them? Why are they in our midst?

“Such a witness is already a silent proclamation of the Good News and a very powerful and effective one. Here we have an initial act of evangelization. The above questions will ask, whether they are people to whom Christ has never been proclaimed, or baptized people who do not practice, or people who live as nominal Christians but according to principles that are in no way Christian, or people who are seeking, and not without suffering, something or someone whom they sense but cannot name. Other questions will arise – deeper and more demanding ones – questions evoked by this witness which involves presence, sharing, solidarity, and which is an essential element, and generally the first one, in evangelization.”

Reflecting on these words, further questions emerge: How is the parish seen within the community and outside the community? How do its organizations witness to Catholic faith? What is the reputation of parish organizations in the parish and in the community? How do Lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Community witness to the faith in their daily lives? How do the parish staff and volunteers witness to the Catholic faith? How does the parish understand itself in the light of the mission of the Diocese and the universal Church? Does the parish have a diocesan spirit? Does it cooperate with neighboring parishes? Does it think in terms of mission and communion or merely maintenance of buildings and structures?

Pope Paul VI observes that: “In fact the proclamation only reaches full development when it is listened to, accepted and assimilated, and when it arouses a genuine adherence in the one who has thus received it… Finally, the person who has been evangelized goes on to evangelize others. Here lies the test of truth, the touchstone of evangelization: it is unthinkable that a person should accept the Word and give himself to the kingdom without becoming a person who bears witness to it and proclaims it in his turn.” 

The Parish as a Center of Optimism and Joy

In the Apostolic Exhortation on Christian Joy, Pope Paul VI reflects: “…is it not normal that joy should dwell in us, when our hearts contemplate or rediscover, in faith, the fundamental and simple reasons for joy? God has so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; …Yes, it would be very strange if this Good News, which evokes the alleluia of the Church, did not give us the look of those who are saved. The joy of being Christian…”

Pope Paul VI offers a challenge for each Christian individually and as members of groups and communities. He gives an important insight to reflect upon when evaluating the internal culture within the parish, its organization, its staff, and volunteers, all of its members: “Let the agitated members of various groups therefore reject the excesses of systematic and destructive criticism! Without departing from a realistic viewpoint, let Christian communities become centers of optimism where all the members resolutely endeavor to perceive the positive aspect of people and events. ‘Love does not rejoice in what is wrong but rejoices with the truth. There is no limit to love's forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure.’”

Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte, also stated: “A spirituality of communion implies also the ability to see what is positive in others, to welcome it and prize it as a gift from God: not only as a gift for the brother or sister who has received it directly, but also as a ‘gift for me.’ A spirituality of communion means, finally, to know how to ‘make room’ for our brothers and sisters, bearing ‘each other’s burdens’ (Gal 6:2) and resisting the selfish temptations which constantly beset us and provoke competition, careerism, distrust and jealousy.”

A parish with an awareness of communion and a developing spirituality of communion is known for its hospitality, and for welcoming Catholics from various races, ethnic groups, languages and cultures from throughout the world into its midst.

Joy and a positive outlook on life is a gift from God that needs our cooperation, a gift that is also a responsibility, as Pope Paul observes: “The attainment of such an outlook is not just a matter of psychology. It is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit.”

Bishop Martino has ordered that every meeting of the Parish Pastoral Council begin with twenty minutes of prayer and twenty minutes of study or reflection, so that the ongoing formation of its members will be influenced by the teaching of the Council and the teaching of the popes who have directed the unfolding of the council.

Pope Paul VI’s concern about agitated members of various groups will only be overcome through prayer and efforts to overcome negativity. Pope John Paul II developed this thinking by promoting a spirituality of communion. In developing the parish mission statement and parish pastoral planning, the attitude of joy can help in the transformation of the parish, as well as its groups and organizations, to become “centers of optimism.”

The parish and its groups and organizations, its staff, volunteers and all members, are called to witness to the Gospel. They must join together to pray the prayer of Jesus, “That all may be one,” and live and work to promote unity in the parish.

It is important that our profession of faith and our prayers become alive and life-giving in our daily life, not merely words on our lips. Pope Paul clearly reminded every one that “It is often said nowadays that the present century thirsts for authenticity…. Either tacitly or aloud – but always forcefully – we are being asked: Do you really believe what you are proclaiming? Do you live what you believe? Do you really preach what you live? The witness of life has become more than ever an essential condition for real effectiveness in preaching. Precisely because of this we are, to a certain extent, responsible for the progress of the Gospel that we proclaim.”

How do we witness to our faith at work, at home, in the community, in the life and activity of the parish? How does our faith in the Blessed Trinity, in whose image we are made, influence our self understanding and the way that we live? How does our faith in God as creator give us an awareness of our responsibility to be stewards of creation?

How do we live in a way of respect for all people of every race and language as made in the image and likeness of God? Do we really appreciate that everything is a gift? How does our Faith in Jesus as redeemer influence us to forgive and work for peace and reconciliation? How does our faith in the Holy Spirit open us to prayer and to search for meaning and the understanding of our faith? How do I express the fruit of the spirit in my life?

While it is important and necessary that the Gospel be preached, that religious instruction and ongoing faith formation for adults, youth and children continue for a lifetime as individuals search for meaning with the aid of faith and reason, the importance of personal witness is likewise important because it will demonstrate that faith has been “accepted and assimilated.” If there is no support in the human search for meaning and if there is no instruction, how will people understand and learn to live their faith?

Pope Paul emphasizes: “The first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life, given over to God in a communion that nothing should destroy and at the same time given to one’s neighbor with limitless zeal. As we said recently to a group of lay people, ‘Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.’

St. Peter expressed this well when he held up the example of a reverent and chaste life that wins over even without a word those who refuse to obey the word. It is therefore primarily by her conduct and by her life that the Church will evangelize the world; in other words, by her living witness of fidelity to the Lord Jesus – the witness of poverty and detachment, of freedom in the face of the powers of this world, in short, the witness of sanctity.

How will the pastor, the Parish Pastoral Council and the parishioners, through the parish mission statement and pastoral planning develop an evangelizing program that focuses on both the importance of preaching and ongoing formation on one hand and, on the other hand, the importance of witness and example? Prayer and work of the pastor and Parish Pastoral Council on the parish mission statement and parish self study will be most helpful to answer this important question