Year of Saint Paul and the Call to Holiness and Mission
By Monsignor Vincent J. Grimalia, V.G.
 

As the Church prepares to celebrate the Year of Saint Paul, the Diocese of Scranton is participating in Called to Holiness and Mission: Pastoral Planning in the Diocese of Scranton.

Acts 2:42 provides the structure for the four parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the inspiration for our Diocesan Mission Statement, and focus and direction for Called to Holiness and Mission.

Pope John Paul II, in Redemptoris Missio, succinctly expresses the unity of our goals for “profound parish renewal” and pastoral planning: “The call to mission derives, of its nature, from the call to holiness… The universal call to holiness is closely linked to the universal call to mission. Every member of the faithful is called to holiness and to mission.”

Our Diocesan Mission statement, the Catholic Catechism and the assumptions and criteria of our diocesan pastoral planning process are important resources that can be used so that our two goals can be achieved: profound parish renewal and pastoral planning. These resources can also support the ongoing development of our Parish Finance and Pastoral Councils and be a major resource for adult faith formation for all members of the parish.

The enrichment in understanding and practice of the faith initiated by the Second Vatican Council will be an ongoing process of renewal in our Diocese. Parishes during the pastoral planning process have been examining themselves, seeking to answer some very basic questions: What is a parish? What is its purpose or mission? How does it fulfill its mission? What are its activities? What structures and resources are needed? To answer these questions adequately, an understanding of the theology and spirituality of the Second Vatican Council and post-conciliar development is necessary.

A foundational assumption of Called to Holiness and Mission states: “The Paschal Mystery is both central to our faith and to this planning process. Changes in parish and school structures are potential examples of the life-death and resurrection mystery.” The paschal mystery is a central theme in the writings of Saint Paul. He writes of dying and rising with Christ, losing and finding, as well as discovering strength in times of weakness.

A pattern of endings and new beginnings is found in the Book of Genesis when Abraham was called to leave where he lived, to journey to a new place and begin his life again. In faith Abraham had to trust God, and because he did Abraham is called the father of faith.

In the Book of Exodus, Moses led the people out of Egypt, they wandered in the desert, and after 40 years the people entered the Promised Land. Likewise, after the death of Jesus and before His resurrection, the disciples lived in fear and sadness because of their weakness and loss. With the resurrection, zeal and courage replaced fear and joy overwhelmed their sadness. They found new strength and new understanding.

At any time of loss or new beginning, there is a period of transition, a time of awkwardness, before the new goal is achieved or we arrive at the new destination. Through faith we can see that this pattern of endings and new beginnings, weakness and strength, loss and gain, is a part of our lives and a part of our communities. We all had the experience of leaving home the first time and going to school, perhaps many schools, a time of ending and new beginning. People today move frequently from neighborhood to neighborhood, from city to city, even from coast to coast. People today frequently change jobs and careers.

Change and movement are a part of life – when we leave home to begin our life’s work or to start a new family; when the children grow up and move out on their own – times of endings and new beginnings, it is indeed the pattern of our lives.

When our ancestors arrived in this country they left behind their families, their homes, their churches, their communities, and their country. It was a time of loss, a time of reaching out and new beginnings in a new country, culture and language. What a challenge! They were able to make this journey to a new country because of hope of a new and better life.

The present is also a time of hope and new beginning in our Diocese, as we plan for effective structures for evangelization and pastoral care in the 21st century. The example of the apostles and of our ancestors can motivate us to face the challenges of our time.

Another assumption of Called to Holiness and Mission states: “A commitment to Eucharist and the spirituality of communion and mission is a necessary component of the diocesan planning process.” The late Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical on the Eucharist, noted: “Every commitment to holiness, every activity aimed at carrying out the Church's mission, every work of pastoral planning, must draw the strength it needs from the Eucharistic mystery and in turn be directed to that mystery as its culmination. In the Eucharist we have Jesus, we have his redemptive sacrifice, we have his resurrection, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit, and we have adoration, obedience and love of the Father. Were we to disregard the Eucharist, how could we overcome our own deficiency?” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia)

Spiritual renewal and pastoral planning must be connected and based on devotion to the Eucharist. An important commentary on the Eucharist and the effects of Eucharistic grace in our lives is found in Dominicae Cenae, written by Pope John Paul II: “… Christian life is expressed in the fulfilling of the greatest commandment, that is to say, in the love of God and neighbor, and this love finds its source in the Blessed Sacrament, which is commonly called the sacrament of love…The authentic sense of the Eucharist becomes of itself the school of active love for neighbor. We know that this is the true and full order of love that the Lord has taught us: ‘By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.’

“The Eucharist educates us to this love in a deeper way; it shows us, in fact, what value each person, our brother or sister, has in God's eyes, if Christ offers Himself equally to each one, under the species of bread and wine. If our Eucharistic worship is authentic, it must make us grow in awareness of the dignity of each person. The awareness of that dignity becomes the deepest motive of our relationship with our neighbor. We must also become particularly sensitive to all human suffering and misery, to all injustice and wrong, and seek the way to redress them effectively. Let us learn to discover with respect the truth about the inner self that becomes the dwelling place of God present in the Eucharist. Christ comes into the hearts of our brothers and sisters and visits their consciences. How the image of each and every one changes, when we become aware of this reality, when we make it the subject of our reflections! The sense of the Eucharistic Mystery leads us to a love for our neighbor, to a love for every human being.”

Parishes that have an authentic Eucharistic faith and devotion have strong communion and unity within themselves and with neighboring parishes, the Diocese and Catholic churches throughout the world. A parish founded on the Eucharist is not closed in on itself and is concerned with the Church on other sites other than its own. Saint Paul, the great evangelizer, has much to say in his letters to various church communities that can be of great benefit for our personal lives and for the parish community during this time of pastoral planning and profound parish renewal.

Another assumption of the Called to Holiness and Mission process echoes the spirituality of Saint Paul when it states: “Parishes exist for the mission of the Church and as a presence of Christ and his Church to the local area.” Reading Saint Paul and reflecting on this assumption directs our attention to the parish as mission and away from a consumer model of parish as merely a provider of spiritual goods and services or a maintenance mentality where all energy and resources are directed to maintaining a building without attention to its need or effectiveness for the mission of the Church.

Our Diocesan prayer echoes this missionary dimension when we pray: “Bless us with missionary zeal so that through the proclamation of the Good News, we may be salt, light and leaven…”

Our pastoral planning process will be enriched by the Pauline Year if we allow the call to conversion – to a renewed understanding and living of the faith, to holiness and mission – to provide direction and focus for our lives and parishes.

Because Called to Holiness and Mission is for the sake of profound parish renewal, the Year of Saint Paul can be the occasion of many blessings. Reading the letters of Saint Paul and books on his spirituality can add a further spiritual dimension to our pastoral planning and promote ongoing conversion in the life of the parish. A deeper understanding of vocation, mission, stewardship, catholicity and the call to holiness will enrich our lives. Profound parish renewal and pastoral planning are two interconnected goals that should not be separated.

The 20 criteria of Called to Holiness and Mission served as the basis of parish evaluation and should convince everyone of the importance of the two-fold goal of our pastoral planning process. It is helpful to recall these criteria: 

Eucharist, Prayer and Communion

1. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the life and mission of the parish.

2. Sacramental celebrations and devotional practices reflect the cultural heritage of the people assembled.

3. Disciples are formed by the Eucharist who support and are in communion with parish members, the Diocese and the Church universal.

4. A spirit of communion encourages co-responsibility and a collaborative style of leadership where all are valued and respected. 

Evangelization, Formation and Education

5. Evangelization is recognized as an essential aspect of the life and mission of the parish.

6. The parish provides excellent catechetical/formational experiences for all ages.

7. The parish actively encourages and supports diocesan Catholic Schools in their operation and mission. 

Vocation

8. Parishioners are encouraged to cultivate a culture of vocation in the parish and are educated to “live their lives as a vocation” (Pope Benedict XVI) to holiness and mission.

9. Formation and education in vocational awareness is an integral part of the parish catechetical programs and the religious formation program in the Catholic school. 

Stewardship and Justice

10. Parishioners are educated and formed in stewardship where all disciples share their time, talent and treasure.

11. Social justice, advocacy and outreach programs are well integrated into parish life through the spirituality of good stewardship.

12. A comprehensive view of being good stewards of God’s gifts: of creation and of the Church is embodied in all aspects of parish life. 

Stewardship and Administration

13. The pastor, staff, parish councils and finance councils exert effective leadership that embodies stewardship and points to the future.

14. The parish is financially stable and exercises good stewardship of its resources.

15. Working with neighboring parishes and sharing resources is operational in the parish.

16. The parish exercises good stewardship of human resources as it works positively and creatively with the diminishing number of priests.

17. The parish is taking into account its geographic proximity to other parishes and its Mass attendance when it plans for the future.

18. The parish has adequate staff to carry out its mission.

19. The parish has adequate and well-maintained facilities to carry out its mission.

20. The parish supports the programs and ministries of the Diocese and the Church universal. 

Parishes with a strong understanding of mission understand that communion and mission are interconnected. In the words of Pope John Paul II in Christifideles Laici: “Communion with Jesus, which gives rise to the communion of Christians among themselves, is an indispensable condition for bearing fruit: ‘Apart from me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5). And communion with others is the most magnificent fruit that the branches can give: in fact, it is the gift of Christ and His Spirit…Communion and mission are profoundly connected with each other, they interpenetrate and mutually imply each other, to the point that communion represents both the source and the fruit of mission: communion gives rise to mission and mission is accomplished in communion.”