Prayer, the Eucharist and Called to Holiness and Mission
By Monsignor Vincent J. Grimalia, V.G.  

Called to Holiness and Mission: Pastoral Planning in the Diocese of Scranton is based on theology, spirituality, the dynamics of human nature and reason. Our pastoral planning process is a balance of faith and reason working together. To ignore either element is to distort the pastoral planning process.

In an address to Canadian bishops, Pope Benedict XVI noted: “In your plan of pastoral renewal, you are faced with the delicate task of the reorganization of parishes and also of dioceses. 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: Guarantee of Openness; Never Self–centered

Bishop Martino has repeatedly stressed the importance of prayer and agrees with both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI on the need for prayer in the pastoral planning process. In his Ash Wednesday homily, Pope Benedict discussed prayer in a way that helps us to understand why it is so important in the pastoral planning process: “…Without the dimension of prayer, the human ‘I’ ends by withdrawing into himself, and the conscience, which should be an echo of God's voice, risks being reduced to a mirror of the self, so that the inner conversation becomes a monologue, giving rise to self-justifications by the thousands. Therefore, prayer is a guarantee of openness to others: whoever frees himself for God and his needs simultaneously opens himself to the other, to the brother or sister who knocks at the door of his heart and asks to be heard, asks for attention, forgiveness, at times correction, but always in fraternal charity.

“True prayer is never self-centered; it is always centered on the other. As such, it opens the person praying to the ‘ecstasy’ of charity, to the capacity to go out of oneself to draw close to the other in humble, neighborly service. True prayer is the driving force of the world since it keeps it open to God. For this reason, without prayer there is no hope but only illusion.”

We can read these words both for our personal lives and for guidance as members of the Diocese of Scranton during this time of parish renewal. True prayer, Pope Benedict states: “… is never self-centered, it is always centered on the other. As such, it opens the person praying … to the capacity to go out of oneself to draw close to the other in humble, neighborly service.”

Prayerful persons and prayerful parishes are never self-centered or closed in on themselves. On the level of the parish, prayer must overcome any attitude or tendency toward congregationalism or parochialism; rather, a parish is a “cell” or the “connective tissue” of the diocese.

What is needed is an attitude of openness to God and a willingness to participate in the diocesan pastoral planning process. True prayer, which Pope Benedict says is never self-centered and gives the capacity to go out of oneself, will help individuals and parishes to look at themselves in the light of the mission of the Church and Diocese. It will encourage a serious self-assessment of how the parish can best contribute to the mission of the Diocese, how a parish can best use its resources. Prayer, as the Holy Father states, helps move individuals and communities beyond self-interest or preservation. Prayer promotes a deeper understanding of catholicity and seeks how catholicity will be expressed in a variety of ways.

The late Pope John Paul II, writing in his encyclical on Saints Cyril and Methodius, taught: “In virtue of this catholicity each individual part of the Church contributes through its special gifts to the good of the other parts and of the whole Church. Thus through the common sharing of gifts and through the common effort to attain fullness in unity, the whole and each of its parts receive increase.”

This teaching encourages dioceses and parishes to share their gifts and resources with each other, to be in communion, to cooperate and to collaborate in the mission of the Church.

In a document from the Congregation for the Clergy, The Priest: Pastor and Leader of the Parish Community, it is stated: “The parish priest is obliged to collaborate with his bishop and with other priests of the diocese so as to ensure that the faithful who participate in the parochial community become aware that they are also members of the diocese and the universal Church.”

One example of how this can be put into practice is found in the Called to Holiness and Mission project, which invites parishes to enter into partnership by sharing resources, staff, programs, in-services and activities.

The aforementioned Vatican document further instructs: “The increasing mobility of contemporary society makes it all the more necessary that the parish does not become introspective. Rather, it should welcome the faithful of other parishes and avoid discouraging its own parishioners from participating in the life of other parishes.”

This can happen on an occasional basis or be a welcoming attitude in a time of restructuring when parishes consolidate, become linked or enter into partnership. It is also a reminder that no parish is an island unto itself. It is a member of a communion of parishes known as a diocese, and that membership should find expression in attitudes, activities and practices that promote the mission of the diocese and neighboring parishes.

Pope John Paul II, in Novo Millennio Ineunte, cautioned that if prayer were neglected, we should not be surprised that pastoral planning will fail: “If in the planning that awaits us we commit ourselves more confidently to a pastoral activity that gives personal and communal prayer its proper place, we shall be observing an essential principle of the Christian view of life: the primacy of grace. There is a temptation which perennially besets every spiritual journey and pastoral work: that of thinking that the results depend on our ability to act and to plan. God of course asks us really to cooperate with his grace, and therefore invites us to invest all our resources of intelligence and energy in serving the cause of the Kingdom. But it is fatal to forget that ‘without Christ we can do nothing’(cf. John 15:5).

“It is prayer which roots us in this truth. It constantly reminds us of the primacy of Christ and, in union with him, the primacy of the interior life and of holiness. When this principle is not respected, is it any wonder that pastoral plans come to nothing and leave us with a disheartening sense of frustration?”

Any time a meeting of the Parish Core Team, Parish Pastoral or Finance Council, Parish Cluster Team or of the general parish is having difficulty, it is a clear signal of the need for prayer before proceeding with the meeting.  

Eucharist: Source and Summit of Evangelizing Mission

In his encyclical on the Eucharist, the late Pope John Paul II stated, “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, we have adoration, obedience and love of the Father. Were we to disregard the Eucharist, how could we overcome our own deficiency?”

The late pontiff further reminded us that our communion with Jesus leads to a communion with others; that we do not close in on ourselves but share in a mission to the world. The church and the parish nourished by the Eucharist grow in communion, holiness and mission. An awareness of being connected with one another leads to solidarity in life and mission. Parishes can become more aware of being “the connective tissue” or “cells” of a diocese and through communion with the bishop, members of the universal Church.

Pope John Paul’s encyclical points out that this understanding has consequences in practices and activities: “…By its union with Christ, the People of the New Covenant, far from closing in upon itself, becomes a ‘sacrament’ for humanity, a sign and instrument of the salvation achieved by Christ, the light of the world and the salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-16), for the redemption of all. The Church's mission stands in continuity with the mission of Christ: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” (Jn 20:21)... The Eucharist thus appears as both the source and the summit of all evangelization, since its goal is the communion of mankind with Christ and in him with the Father and the Holy Spirit.”

An authentic spirituality of communion and mission that is nourished by the Eucharist will help open people to an understanding of the parish as mission. Too often an inadequate understanding of the parish focuses on maintenance of a parish rather than the mission of the parish.

Our diocesan planning process, Called to Holiness and Mission, is based on solid theology and spirituality. As we deepen our understanding and put into practice that theology and spirituality, we will grow spiritually as Catholics. It will also help us to understand why a pastoral planning process must be rooted in faith, Eucharist and prayer. It will help us understand our responsibility to participate in the mission of the parish.

A truly Eucharistic spirituality promotes unity on many levels: with the Most Blessed Trinity, with one another as members of the Church. A Spirituality of Communion promotes unity and works to overcome division within the church, the diocese and in our parishes.

In his encyclical on the Eucharist, Pope John Paul II stated: “Eucharistic communion also confirms the Church in her unity as the body of Christ. Saint Paul refers to this unifying power of participation in the banquet of the Eucharist when he writes to the Corinthians: ‘The bread which we break, is it not a communion in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread’ (1 Cor 10:16-17).

Saint John Chrysostom's commentary on these words is profound and perceptive: “For what is the bread? It is the body of Christ. And what do those who receive it become? The Body of Christ – not many bodies but one body. For as bread is completely one, though made of up many grains of wheat, and these, albeit unseen, remain nonetheless present, in such a way that their difference is not apparent since they have been made a perfect whole, so too are we mutually joined to one another and together united with Christ.”

The argument is compelling: our union with Christ, which is a gift and grace for each of us, makes it possible for us, in him, to share in the unity of his body which is the Church. Again from the encyclical: “The Eucharist reinforces the incorporation into Christ which took place in Baptism though the gift of the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 12:13, 27)…The seeds of disunity, which daily experience shows to be so deeply rooted in humanity as a result of sin, are countered by the unifying power of the body of Christ. The Eucharist, precisely by building up the Church, creates human community.”

Writing in his Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte, the late Pope John Paul II taught that it is in every diocese: “that the specific features of a detailed pastoral plan can be identified – goals and methods, formation and enrichment of the people involved, the search for the necessary resources – which will enable the proclamation of Christ to reach people, mold communities, and have a deep and incisive influence in bringing Gospel values to bear in society and culture, and search for the necessary resources – which will enable the proclamation of Christ to reach people, mold communities, and have a deep and incisive influence in bringing Gospel values to bear in society and culture.”

This thought concisely expresses the reason for our diocesan pastoral planning process.