PARISH PASTORAL COUNCILS

IN THE

DIOCESE OF SCRANTON

RESOURCE MANUAL

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PART III

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A.               Meeting Two: Mission

B.              Meeting Three: Parish

C.     Meeting Four: Vocation

D.     Meeting Five - Communion

RESOURCE MATERIAL

Readings on the Church as Mystery, Vocation, Communion, Mission
and Parish.

There are a variety of images and metaphors in Scripture that describe the Church or aspects of the Church. The Second Vatican Council likewise used a number of images to describe the Church. In the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, the Mystery of the Church is described by various images, such as body of Christ, bride, etc.  In Chapter two, the Church is described as the People of God, who share in the threefold mission and ministry of Jesus Christ in a variety of ways appropriate to their state in life. The Second Vatican Council teaches that all who are baptized share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, in a way that differs from the sharing in the ministerial priesthood of bishops and priests that is received through Holy Orders.

The understanding of the nature of the two essentially different ways of sharing in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, establishes a firm foundation for the active participation of all the Christian faithful, lay, religious and ordained, in the liturgy and in the apostolate of the Church. It also provides a foundation for consultation and the sharing of differing gifts and talents in the Church and parish.

Since the Council,  the Church, the diocese and parish are increasingly seen as both Communion and Mission .  Since the council, Pope John Paul II has frequently described the Church as a mystery of Vocation and as a Community of Disciples.

The Diocese of Scranton at this time is forming or further defining parish pastoral councils.  In addition, each parish is reviewing or will be developing its parish mission statement. Parishes will begin in the near future a parish self study for the sake of the new evangelization of persons and cultures. The following excerpts read in this context in this moment of diocesan mission and history, will help parishioners in general, especially members of parish finance councils and parish pastoral councils in particular, to a renewed understanding of the Church and its mission throughout the world, in the diocese and in each parish and Catholic school or institution.

MEETING ONE: No readings

MEETING TWO: MISSION

Reflecting on the Vine and the branches, Pope John Paul II stresses the importance of the call to holiness and communion with the Blessed Trinity.

Within the call to holiness, there is found the personal and particular vocations that are given to people. Awareness of communion with God is followed by the awareness of the reality of communion with others, a communion to be cultivated. Love of God and love of neighbor, the Eucharist and Evangelization must be acknowledged, experienced and practiced. The Church and its local expression in the parish is a vocation and a communion to mission. The second Vatican Council and subsequent teaching continues to emphasize the importance of the apostolate of the laity. The parish is a member or a part of the diocese and must express the four marks of the Church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic. When considering a particular parish, it must be seen in the context of the diocesan mission and the mission of the universal Church.

The parish is both communion and mission, a community of the faithful with the Eucharist as the source and summit of its life and with a mission to accomplish. The parish is not merely to be maintained because it was once established to fill a need at a certain time. What is its mission today? In a consumer society, there is a tendency to look at the parish as a convenient provider of spiritual gifts and services. The truth is, a parish is much more. The parish has a mission in the pastoral care of its members and a mission to evangelize within and outside itself to the local culture and community.  Pope John Paul II said that the main purpose of parish reorganization is to allow the parish to effectively fulfill its mission.

Church as Mission

Christifideles Laici - CHAPTER III

I HAVE APPOINTED YOU TO GO FORTH AND BEAR FRUIT
The  Co-responsibility of the Lay Faithful in the Church as Mission

Mission to Communion

“32. We return to the biblical image of the vine and the branches, which immediately and quite appropriately lends itself to a consideration of fruitfulness and life. Engrafted to the vine and brought to life, the branches are expected to bear fruit: "He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit" (Jn 15:5). Bearing fruit is an essential demand of life in Christ and life in the Church. The person who does not bear fruit does not remain in communion: "Each branch of mine that bears no fruit, he (my Father) takes away" (Jn 15: 2).

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" (Jn 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.

At this point communion begets communion: essentially it is likened to a mission on behalf of communion. In fact, Jesus says to his disciples: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide" (Jn 15:16 ).

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. It is always the one and the same Spirit who calls together and unifies the Church and sends her to preach the Gospel "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). On her part, the Church knows that the communion received by her as a gift is destined for all people. Thus the Church feels she owes to each individual and to humanity as a whole the gift received from the Holy Spirit that pours the charity of Jesus Christ into the hearts of believers, as a mystical force for internal cohesion and external growth. The mission of the Church flows from her own nature. Christ has willed it to be so: that of "sign and instrument... of unity of all the human race"(120). Such a mission has the purpose of making everyone know and live the "new" communion that the Son of God made man introduced into the history of the world. In this regard, then, the testimony of John the Evangelist defines in an undeniable way the blessed end towards which the entire mission of the Church is directed: "That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 Jn 1:3).

In the context of Church mission, then, the Lord entrusts a great part of the responsibility to the lay faithful, in communion with all other members of the People of God. This fact, fully understood by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, recurred with renewed clarity and increased vigor in all the works of the Synod: "Indeed, Pastors know how much the lay faithful contribute to the welfare of the entire Church. They also know that they themselves were not established by Christ to undertake alone the entire saving mission of the Church towards the world, but they understand that it is their exalted office to be shepherds of the lay faithful and also to recognize the latter's services and charisms that all according to their proper roles may cooperate in this common undertaking with one heart"(121).”

Proclaiming the Gospel

“33. The lay faithful, precisely because they are members of the Church, have the vocation and mission of proclaiming the Gospel: they are prepared for this work by the sacraments of Christian initiation and by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In a very clear and significant passage from the Second Vatican Council we read: "As sharers in the mission of Christ, priest, prophet and king, the lay faithful have an active part to play in the life and activity of the Church... Strengthened by their active participation in the liturgical life of their community, they are eager to do their share in apostolic works of that community. They lead to the Church people who are perhaps far removed from it; they earnestly cooperate in presenting the Word of God, especially by means of catechetical instruction; and offer their special skills to make the care of souls and the administration of the temporal goods of the Church more efficient"(122).

The entire mission of the Church, then, is concentrated and manifested in evangelization. Through the winding passages of history the Church has made her way under the grace and the command of Jesus Christ: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15 ) "... and lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age" (Mt 28:20). "To evangelize", writes Paul VI, "is the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her most profound identity"(123).

Through evangelization the Church is built up into a community of faith: more precisely, into a community that confesses the faith in full adherence to the Word of God which is celebrated in the Sacraments, and lived in charity, the principle of Christian moral existence. In fact, the "good news" is directed to stirring a person to a conversion of heart and life and a clinging to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour; to disposing a person to receive Baptism and the Eucharist and to strengthen a person in the prospect and realization of new life according to the Spirit.

Certainly the command of Jesus: "Go and preach the Gospel" always maintains its vital value and its ever-pressing obligation. Nevertheless, the present situation, not only of the world but also of many parts of the Church, absolutely demands that the word of Christ receive a more ready and generous obedience. Every disciple is personally called by name; no disciple can withhold making a response: "Woe to me, if I do not preach the gospel" (1 Cor 9:16 ).”

The Hour Has Come for a Re-Evangelization

“34. Whole countries and nations where religion and the Christian life were formerly flourishing and capable of fostering a viable and working community of faith, are now put to a hard test, and in some cases, are even undergoing a radical transformation, as a result of a constant spreading of an indifference to religion, of secularism and atheism. This particularly concerns countries and nations of the so-called First World , in which economic well-being and consumerism, even if coexistent with a tragic situation of poverty and misery, inspires and sustains a life lived "as if God did not exist". This indifference to religion and the practice of religion devoid of true meaning in the face of life's very serious problems, are not less worrying and upsetting when compared with declared atheism. Sometimes the Christian faith as well, while maintaining some of the externals of its tradition and rituals, tends to be separated from those moments of human existence which have the most significance, such as, birth, suffering and death. In such cases, the questions and formidable enigmas posed by these situations, if remaining without responses, expose contemporary people to an inconsolable delusion or to the temptation of eliminating the truly humanizing dimension of life implicit in these problems.

On the other hand, in other regions or nations many vital traditions of piety and popular forms of Christian religion are still conserved; but today this moral and spiritual patrimony runs the risk of being dispersed under the impact of a multiplicity of processes, including secularization and the spread of sects. Only a re-evangelization can assure the growth of a clear and deep faith, and serve to make these traditions a force for authentic freedom.

Without doubt a mending of the Christian fabric of society is urgently needed in all parts of the world. But for this to come about what is needed is to first remake the Christian fabric of the ecclesial community itself present in these countries and nations.

At this moment the lay faithful, in virtue of their participation in the prophetic mission of Christ, are fully part of this work of the Church. Their responsibility, in particular, is to testify how the Christian faith constitutes the only fully valid response-consciously perceived and stated by all in varying degrees-to the problems and hopes that life poses to every person and society. This will be possible if the lay faithful will know how to overcome in themselves the separation of the Gospel from life, to again take up in their daily activities in family, work and society, an integrated approach to life that is fully brought about by the inspiration and strength of the Gospel…

Open to his saving power the confines of states, and systems political and economic, as well as the vast fields of culture, civilization, and development. Do not be afraid! Christ knows 'what is inside a person'. Only he knows! Today too often people do not know what they carry inside, in the deepest recesses of their soul, in their heart. Too often people are uncertain about a sense of life on earth. Invaded by doubts they are led into despair. Therefore-with humility and trust I beg and implore you-allow Christ to speak to the person in you. Only he has the words of life, yes, eternal life"(124)…

This re-evangelization is directed not only to individual persons but also to entire portions of populations in the variety of their situations, surroundings and cultures. Its purpose is the formation of mature ecclesial communities, in which the faith might radiate and fulfill the basic meaning of adherence to the person of Christ and his Gospel, of an encounter and sacramental communion with him, and of an existence lived in charity and in service…

Go Into the Whole World

“35. While pointing out and experiencing the present urgency for a re-evangelization, the Church cannot withdraw from her ongoing mission of bringing the gospel to the multitudes -the millions and millions of men and women-who as yet do not know Christ the Redeemer of humanity. In a specific way this is the missionary work that Jesus entrusted and again entrusts each day to his Church.

The activity of the lay faithful, who are always present in these surroundings, is revealed in these days as increasingly necessary and valuable. As it stands, the command of the Lord "Go into the whole world" is continuing to find a generous response from laypersons who are ready to leave familiar surroundings, their work, their region or country, at least for a determined time, to go into mission territory. Even Christian married couples, in imitation of Aquila and Priscilla (cf. Acts 18; Rom 16:3 ff), are offering a comforting testimony of impassioned love for Christ and the Church through their valuable presence in mission lands. A true missionary presence is exercised even by those who for various reasons live in countries or surroundings where the Church is not yet established and bear witness to the faith.”

MEETING THREE: PARISH

The parish should be ready to cooperate with other parishes and participate in the diocesan mission because the parish is a part of the diocese. In the local parish the” very mystery of the church is present and at work”. The parish has a structure but “is not primarily a structure…rather it is the family of God.”  On the level of the parish the three fundamental functions of the Church must be effective: proclamation of the Word, celebration of the sacraments, the witness and service of charity. If the universal and diocesan Church is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church of Jesus Christ , how does the parish express these gifts and responsibilities? The Eucharist is the source and summit of the life and evangelizing mission of the parish. The lay faithful are called to work not only in the parish but in the community, in the local culture. They are to witness to the Gospel in secular society and to help the parish community to evangelize, to proclaim the Gospel through its members.  Blessed John XXIII called the parish “the village fountain”. If we look at the parish as vocation, communion, mission, how does that change attitudes, activities, structure? 

1. Apostolicam actuositatem (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity), section 10:

“As sharers in the role of Christ as priest, prophet, and king, the laity have their work cut out for them in the life and activity of the Church. Their activity is so necessary within the Church communities that without it the apostolate of the pastors is often unable to achieve its full effectiveness. In the manner of the men and women who helped Paul in spreading the Gospel (cf. Acts 18:18, 26; Rom. 16:3), the laity with the right apostolic attitude supply what is lacking to their brethren and refresh the spirit of pastors and of the rest of the faithful (cf. 1 Cor. 16:17-18). Strengthened by active participation in the liturgical life of their community, they are eager to do their share of the apostolic works of that community. They bring to the Church people who perhaps are far removed from it, who earnestly cooperate in presenting the word of God especially by means of catechetical instruction, and offer their special skills to make the care of souls and the administration of the temporalities of the Church more efficient and effective.

“The parish offers an obvious example of the apostolate on the community level inasmuch as it brings together the many human differences within its boundaries and merges them into the universality of the Church.  The laity should accustom themselves to working in the parish in union with their priests, bringing to the Church community their own and the world's problems, as well as questions concerning human salvation, all of which they should examine and resolve by deliberating in common. As far as possible, the laity ought to provide helpful collaboration for every apostolic and missionary undertaking sponsored by their local parish.

“They should develop an ever-increasing appreciation of their own diocese, of which the parish is a kind of cell, ever ready at their pastor's invitation to participate in diocesan projects. Indeed, to fulfill the needs of cities and rural areas, they should not limit their cooperation to the parochial or diocesan boundaries but strive to extend it to interparochial, interdiocesan, national, and international fields. This is constantly becoming all the more necessary because the daily increase in mobility of populations, reciprocal relationships, and means of communication no longer allow any sector of society to remain closed in upon itself. Thus they should be concerned about the needs of the people of God dispersed throughout the world. They should especially make missionary activity their own by giving material or even personal assistance. It is a duty and honor for Christians to return to God a part of the good things that they receive from Him. “

2.                   Ad Limina Apostolorum to the Bishops’ Conference of France, Pope John Paul II, January 25, 1997 , sections 3-5:

 “… it is essentially the parish which gives the Church concrete life, so that she may be open to all. Whatever its size, it is not merely an association. It must be a home where the members of the Body of Christ gather together, open to meeting God the Father, full of love and Saviour in his Son, incorporated into the Church by the Holy Spirit at the time of their Baptism, and ready to accept their brothers and sisters with fraternal love, whatever their condition or origins.

“The parish institution is meant to provide the Church’s great services: prayer in common and the reading of God’s Word, celebrations, especially that of the Eucharist, catechesis for children and the adult catechumenate, the ongoing formation of the faithful, communication designed to make the Christian message known, services of charity and solidarity and the local work of movements. In brief, in the image of the sanctuary which is its visible sign, it is a building to be erected together, a body to bring to life and develop together, a community where God’s gifts are received and where the baptized generously make their response of faith, hope and love to the call of the Gospel. At this time when pastoral structures are being renewed, it will be appropriate to resume the in-depth study of the ecclesiological teaching of the Second Vatican Council, in the Constitution on the Church, “Lumen Gentium”, and in the various documents providing directives, especially those concerning priests and the laity.

“It seems to me that the main concern in this necessary reorganization is to allow the parish effectively to fulfill its functions which I have just recalled. It should therefore not be too small and, as far as possible, it should continue to be close to the practising faithful and all their brothers and sisters. Even when a new consolidation joins Church members from several localities, it is essential to make the greatest efforts to safeguard their historical, material and human patrimony, doing all you can to provide Christians with the spiritual help they need, and seeing that shrines remain places of habitual prayer and that popular devotional practices are not forgotten.

“An essential question is obviously that of leaders. To guide and enliven pastoral units, the collaboration of priests and lay persons is increasingly necessary. Around the pastor, the pastoral councils, leadership teams and the pastoral rotas play an indispensable role. In particular, they allow the best structuring of the various levels of ecclesial life: the local community, sometimes small, but a living and active team, the parish itself, then the district or the larger pastoral region, and lastly, the whole Diocese. It is important to see that exchanges are fostered in both directions: that leaders hear the requests from the grassroots and that the instructions given by the leaders themselves, beginning with those of the Bishop, unite everyone.

“All this presupposes that priests and lay people clearly co-ordinate, without confusion, the concerns of the ministerial priesthood and of the universal priesthood according to the Council’s teaching in the Constitution on the Church, as I stressed in Reims (cf. Address to pastoral workers in the cathedral, n. 4, 22 September 1996; L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 2 October 1996, p. 8). The lay faithful who carry out ecclesial duties know they do not replace the priest, but co-operate in a common task, which belongs to the whole Church.

“One of the main concerns of pastors and of the faithful who have responsibilities is to promote harmonious unity in the community. This is an essential condition if the local Church is to be a transparent sign of Christ’s presence in the eyes of the baptized who do not take part in her daily life and in society as a whole. Among Christians, there is an enormous diversity of social backgrounds, cultures, interests as well as charisms. The parishes’ vocation is precisely to

The Parish

“26. The ecclesial community, while always having a universal dimension, finds its most immediate and visible expression in the parish. It is there that the Church is seen locally. In a certain sense it is the Church living in the midst of the homes of her sons and daughters. (90)

It is necessary that in light of the faith all rediscover the true meaning of the parish, that is, the place where the very "mystery" of the Church is present and at work, even if at times it is lacking persons and means, even if at other times it might be scattered over vast territories or almost not to be found in crowded and chaotic modern sections of cities. The parish is not principally a structure, a territory, or a building, but rather, "the family of God, a fellowship afire with a unifying spirit"(91), "a familial and welcoming home"(92), the "community of the faithful"(93). Plainly and simply, the parish is founded on a theological reality, because it is a Eucharistic community (94). This means that the parish is a community properly suited for celebrating the Eucharist, the living source for its upbuilding and the sacramental bond of its being in full communion with the whole Church. Such suitableness is rooted in the fact that the parish is a community of faith and an organic community, that is, constituted by the ordained ministers and other Christians, in which the pastor-who represents the diocesan bishop (95)-is the hierarchical bond with the entire particular Church.

Since the Church's task in our day is so great its accomplishment cannot be left to the parish alone. For this reason the Code of Canon Law provides for forms of collaboration among parishes in a given territory (96) and recommends to the bishop's care the various groups of the Christian Faithful, even the unbaptized who are not under his ordinary pastoral care (97). There are many other places and forms of association through which the Church can be present and at work. All are necessary to carry out the word and grace of the Gospel and to correspond to the various circumstances of life in which people find themselves today. In a similar way there exist in the areas of culture, society, education, professions, etc. many other ways for spreading the faith and other settings for the apostolate which cannot have the parish as their center and origin. Nevertheless, in our day the parish still enjoys a new and promising season. At the beginning of his pontificate, Paul VI addressed the Roman clergy in these words: "We believe simply that this old and venerable structure of the parish has an indispensable mission of great contemporary importance: to create the basic community of the Christian people; to initiate and gather the people in the accustomed expression of liturgical life; to conserve and renew the faith in the people of today; to serve as the school for teaching the salvific message of Christ; to put solidarity in practice and work the humble charity of good and brotherly works"(98)…

The Apostolic Commitment in the Parish

“27. It is now necessary to look more closely at the communion and participation of the lay faithful in parish life. In this regard all lay men and women are called to give greater attention to a particularly meaningful, stirring and incisive passage from the Council: "Their activity within Church communities is so necessary that without it the apostolate of the Pastors is generally unable to achieve its full effectiveness"(100).

This is indeed a particularly important affirmation, which evidently must be interpreted in light of the "ecclesiology of communion". Ministries and charisms, being diverse and complementary, are all necessary for the Church to grow, each in its own way.

The lay faithful ought to be ever more convinced of the special meaning that their commitment to the apostolate takes on in their parish. Once again the Council authoritatively places it in relief: "The parish offers an outstanding example of the apostolate on the community level, inasmuch as it brings together the many human differences found within its boundaries and draws them into the universality of the Church. The lay faithful should accustom themselves to working in the parish in close union with their priests, bringing to the Church community their own and the world's problems as well as questions concerning human salvation, all of which need to be examined together and solved through general discussion. As far as possible the lay faithful ought to collaborate in every apostolic and missionary undertaking sponsored by their own ecclesial family"(101).

The Council's mention of examining and solving pastoral problems "by general discussion" ought to find its adequate and structured development through a more convinced, extensive and decided appreciation for "Parish Pastoral Councils", on which the Synod Fathers have rightly insisted(102).

In the present circumstances the lay faithful have the ability to do very much and, therefore, ought to do very much towards the growth of an authentic ecclesial communion in their parishes in order to reawaken missionary zeal towards nonbelievers and believers themselves who have abandoned the faith or grown lax in the Christian life.

If indeed, the parish is the Church placed in the neighborhoods of humanity, it lives and is at work through being deeply inserted in human society and intimately bound up with its aspirations and its dramatic events. Oftentimes the social context, especially in certain countries and environments, is violently shaken by elements of disintegration and de-humanization. The individual is lost and disoriented, but there always remains in the human heart the desire to experience and cultivate caring and personal relationships. The response to such a desire can come from the parish, when, with the lay faithful's participation, it adheres to its fundamental vocation and mission, that is, to be a "place" in the world for the community of believers to gather together as a "sign" and "instrument" of the vocation of all to communion, in a word, to be a house of welcome to all and a place of service to all, or, as Pope John XXIII was fond of saying, to be the "village fountain" to which all would have recourse in their thirst.”

MEETING FOUR: VOCATION

Church as Mystery of Vocation

Pope John Paul has encouraged an enriched understanding of Vocation by recalling that the Church is a mystery of vocation and that every person has a vocation. He has reminded us that everyone not only has a vocation but also the responsibility to cultivate a culture of vocation and promote the pastoral care of vocations. Our diocesan mission statement begins “We the Catholic faithful…are called”:  This statement speaks of vocation; it says we are all called. Through parish self-study and pastoral planning for the mission of evangelization, we answer the call; we respond to our vocation. Evangelization then becomes our work of calling others to their call from God or, in other words, to their vocation.  When we begin to look at the Church as a Mystery of Vocation, how does that change the way we look at the Church and the parish mission?  How do we as a parish support the apostolate of the family? How do we encourage a family to encourage and support vocations to priestly life and ministry? How does our parish community promote vocations? What will our parish need to do to develop a culture for vocations? How is the new evangelization also a call to teach the new understanding of the Church as vocation? How can we help people to understand that promotion of vocations is an essential element of pastoral care and the new evangelization?  What changes in attitude, structure or practice will follow when we look at the parish from the vocational dimension?

1.  Message of Pope John Paul to 1997 Vocation Congress

“Life has an essentially vocational structure. In fact, the plan for it stems from the heart of the mystery of God: ‘He chose us in him [in Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him’ (Eph 1:4).

“All human existence is therefore an answer to God, who makes his love felt especially on some occasions: the call to life; the entrance into his Church's communion of grace; the invitation to bear witness in the Christian community to Christ according to a completely personal and irreplaceable plan; the definitive call to communion with him at the hour of death.

“There is no doubt therefore that the ecclesial community's commitment to the pastoral care of vocations is most serious and urgent. In fact, every baptized person must be helped to discover the call that in God's plan is addressed to him and to make himself available to it. It will thus be easier for those who receive a special vocation of service to the kingdom to recognize its value and generously accept it. In fact, it is not a question of educating people to do something, but of giving a radical direction to one’s existence and of making decisive choices that guide one’s future for ever.

“It should therefore be stressed that the pastoral care of vocations cannot be limited to occasional and extraordinary activities that take place within the everyday life of the Ecclesial Community. It must rather be one of the constant concerns in the pastoral ministry of the local Church. In this regard, the liturgical year itself is a continuous school of faith, which invites every baptized person to enter into the mystery of God, to let himself be formed in his image and likeness.

“5. Everyone knows how urgent today is pastoral attention to the role of education. Indeed, a particular Church can look confidently to her future only if she is able to give concrete expression to this pedagogical attention, constantly providing for the care of her educators and, above all, her priests.’’

2. In Verbo tuo<