Spiritual Renewal of Parish Requires Grace, Prayer, Study
By Monsignor Vincent J. Grimalia, V.G.
 

Our Diocesan mission statement and the Diocesan prayer for spiritual renewal were inspired by the Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47. Pope Benedict XVI made an explicit connection between this passage of scripture and the parish in the September 2006 address to a plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; he said: “In the Acts of the Apostles, the Evangelist Luke points out essential criteria for a correct understanding of the nature of the Christian community and hence, also of every parish, where he describes the first community of Jerusalem whose members were devoted to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the ‘breaking of bread and the prayers’: a welcoming, supportive community ready to share.

“Parishes can relive this experience and grow in understanding and in fraternal attachment if they pray ceaselessly and continue to listen to the Word of God, and especially if they participate with faith in the celebration of the Eucharist at which the priest presides…Thus, the hoped-for renewal of parishes cannot only result from pastoral initiatives, albeit useful and timely, nor even less from programs worked out theoretically. Inspired by the apostolic model as shown in the Acts of the Apostles, parishes ‘rediscover’ themselves in the encounter with Christ, especially in the Eucharist.”

These words challenge each parish, each Parish Pastoral Council, and each Parish Finance Council to pray, to reflect and to apply the meaning of this passage from the Acts of the Apostles so that it can be alive and life-giving in each parish.

In Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, the late Pope John Paul II wrote about his experience with his diocesan Curia when he was an Archbishop in Poland . He noted that he began each meeting with the heads of the various departments with two questions: “I used to put two questions to my coworkers: ‘Which truth of faith sheds light on this problem?’ And then: ‘Whom should we approach for assistance?’ ”

These two questions provided a focus for their discussion. Can any Parish Pastoral Council or Parish Finance Council not benefit from raising and answering these questions?

In another book, the late pontiff addresses implementation of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, and how it can lead to an enrichment of faith, a deeper understanding, a renewed awareness and personal commitment. He also taught that the new awareness and commitment should foster an attitude that would lead to action. He warned about the danger of moving too quickly into action without prayer, study and reflection on the situation under consideration.

October Workshops for Parish Pastoral Councils

The recent workshops for our Parish Pastoral Councils were meant to motivate and to assist members of these groups to develop an annual plan for prayer and study, by indicating resources and identifying the foundational themes of theology and spirituality that are pertinent to their work. Bishop Martino has mandated that each meeting of these councils begin with 20 minutes of prayer and 20 minutes of study and reflection on pertinent Church documents.

In this respect, our Bishop stands with Pope John Paul II, who in his personal practice and the direction that he gave to others, called for prayer and study. Pope Benedict has affirmed on a number of occasions the importance of what Pope John Paul has identified as necessary for the successful work of Pastoral Councils and Pastoral Planning.

In his July 2004 Pastoral Letter, Bishop Martino noted: “If we plan without praying, we will be rightly condemned to failure.” If a parish does not understand the theology of the Church and the mission of the parish and its relationship to the diocese and the universal Church, how will it make correct decisions that make the teaching of the Church alive and life-giving in the parish?

Prayer Is Essential

In an address to Canadian Bishops, Pope Benedict XVI, speaking of parish renewal, stated: “This can never be carried out in an appropriate way by simple social models of restructuring. Without Christ, we can do nothing (cf. John 15:5). Prayer roots us in truth, reminds us incessantly of the primacy of Christ and, in union with him, the primacy of the interior life and of holiness.

“The parishes are, therefore, rightly considered above all as houses and schools of communion. Consequently, the reorganization of parishes is essentially an exercise of spiritual renewal. This calls for a pastoral promotion of holiness, so that the faithful remain attentive to the will of God, from whom we share true life, becoming participants of the divine nature (cf. Dei Verbum, no. 2).

Such holiness, or such profound communion through Christ and in the Spirit, is affirmed among other things by an authentic pedagogy of prayer, by an introduction to the lives of the saints and to simple forms of spirituality that embellish and stimulate the life of the Church, by regular participation in the sacrament of reconciliation, and by a convincing catechesis on Sundays, “the day of faith,” “the day one cannot do without,” “the day of Christian hope.”

Pope Benedict affirmed and applied the thinking of his predecessor, who said: “First of all, I have no hesitation in saying that all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness… It is necessary therefore to rediscover the full practical significance of Chapter 5 of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, dedicated to the ‘universal call to holiness.’ The Council Fathers laid such stress on this point… to make the call to holiness an intrinsic and essential aspect of their teaching on the Church. The rediscovery of the Church as ‘mystery,’ or as a people ‘gathered together by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,’ was bound to bring with it a rediscovery of the Church’s ‘holiness,’ understood in the basic sense of belonging to him who is in essence the Holy One…

This, as it were, objective gift of holiness is offered to all the baptized. But the gift in turn becomes a task, which must shape the whole of Christian life: "This is the will of God, your sanctification" (1 Th 4:3). It is a duty which concerns not only certain Christians:

“All the Christian faithful, of whatever state or rank, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity. At first glance, it might seem almost impractical to recall this elementary truth as the foundation of the pastoral planning in which we are involved at the start of the new millennium. Can holiness ever be ‘planned?’ What might the word ‘holiness’ mean in the context of a pastoral plan?

“In fact, to place pastoral planning under the heading of holiness is a choice filled with consequences. It implies the conviction that, since Baptism is a true entry into the holiness of God through incorporation into Christ and the indwelling of his Spirit, it would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity” (Novo Millennio Ineunte, Pope John Paul II).

In his Apostolic Letter on the New Millennium, cited above, the late Pope John Paul II stressed the primacy of grace, the need for prayer and the importance of developing a spirituality of communion. He stated: “Let us have no illusions: unless we follow this spiritual path, external structures of communion will serve very little purpose. They would become mechanisms without a soul, ‘masks’ of communion rather than its means of expression and growth.”

How can a Parish Pastoral Council and a Parish Finance Council express communion? This is a challenge that requires prayer and study. The fall Pastoral Council Workshop was meant to provide both a context and an overview of the spirituality and theology that will help a council to have an enriched understanding that will lead to attitudes and activities that will promote spiritual renewal.

Study and Reflection

The foundational themes presented at the workshop focused on the Eucharist as the source and summit of the life of the Church and parish and its evangelizing mission. When focused on the Eucharist and Evangelization, the parish can look at its various aspects in an integrated and comprehensive way.

Pastoral Care, Vocation Awareness, Stewardship, Communion and Mission must be seen as different aspects of the parish. A Parish Pastoral Council, through prayer, study and reflection on these components, will understand what these terms mean, what they involve and what activities express the mission of the parish. It will help parishioners to come to a deeper understanding of the mission of the parish rooted and nourished by the Eucharist.

Resources already available on the Diocesan website and others to be developed will lead not only to an enriched awareness of theology and spirituality, but also to authentic attitudes of faith that will lead to commitment, witness and activity.

Value Formation and Study of the Teaching of the Church

Bernard Baruch once stated: “Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.” Without study of the Scripture and Church documents, conversation merely expresses people’s personal opinions or understanding, not necessarily the fact of revelation or Church teaching.

Value formation grounded in faith and the teaching of the Church leads to holiness and effective pastoral planning. Value clarification without formation in theology and spirituality gives expression to uninformed opinion and is unable to make church teaching alive and life-giving. Techniques for the clarification of personal values and merely sharing personal opinions or understandings, that might need to be corrected, are not suitable means for parish renewal. They will lead to frustration and failure.

The Work Ahead

For example, a parish looking at the Eucharist and the Spirituality of Communion can study the resources identified at the workshop, and then after prayer and reflection, see how it is – or can be – expressed in the parish.

In his Apostolic Letter on the New Millennium, Pope John Paul stated: “Before making practical plans, we need to promote a spirituality of communion, making it the guiding principle of education wherever individuals and Christians are formed, wherever ministers of the altar, consecrated persons, and pastoral workers are trained, wherever families and communities are being built up. A spirituality of communion indicates above all the heart’s contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity… A spirituality of communion also means an ability to think of our brothers and sisters in faith within the profound unity of the Mystical Body…This makes us able to share their joys and sufferings, to sense their desires and attend to their needs, to offer them deep and genuine friendship.

“A spirituality of communion implies also the ability to see what is positive in others… 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.”