Pastor’s Corner — January 8th, 2023
Pathway of Discipleship
This weekend as we celebrate the Epiphany we are rolling out to the parish our “Discipleship Pathway”, which is essentially a comprehensive strategy of making Spirit-filled missionary disciples. We presented this to a large group of parish leaders back in August and we’ve been refining it ever since. The reason why we’re doing all of this at St Pat’s is to respond to the divine call on our parish as expressed in the teaching of Scriptures, Church teaching and our bishop’s Vision for a Healthy Parish.
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably never get there.” This basic axiom of leadership applies to leadership in the Church’s mission of making disciples of Jesus. Since the parish plays an irreplaceable role in this mission, it’s critically important to for us to know where we are going at St. Pat’s. In this weekend’s homily, I restate our parish purpose and cast vision as to where we are going and how we’re planning to get there. Already we are seeing the fruit of renewed focus as a parish in the newer strategy of the last couple of years. In fact, there is a buzz about what God is doing in this parish and I’m humbled to be a part of it.
We believe the Lord has led us into developing this discipleship pathway, which explains how we’re going to make Spirit-filled missionary disciples. There are many advantages of having a developed strategy for a parish. Committing to a clear strategic framework helps a parish focus on the kinds of ministries that really move the needle in terms of its mission. One of the biggest mistakes that parishes make is that they try to do too many things at once without any clear overall strategy on what is needed to be successful. The resulting confusion spreads precious resources thin and prevents the parish from growing in maturity and fruitfulness, which is the perfect recipe for a lackluster parish that is rather ineffective in inspiring faith, engaging families and reaching out and bringing back the lost.
Few people really desire to be a part of such a parish. I believe our new pathway, which if you’ve noticed we’ve already been executing in part the past few years, will help our parish to become even more attractive, vibrant, and effective in witnessing to Christ and drawing people to him in our communities.
In the Church world, there are a lot of different ways of saying the same thing. Over the past several decades, we’ve seen a renewed shift in the Church in the language used when discussing fundamental realities of the Christian life, especially as it concerns the mission of the Church. While emphasizing terms like ‘evangelization,’ ‘apostolic,’ ‘conversion,’ ‘disciple,’ and ‘missionary’ might be newer for some of the older members of our parish, they are hardly new to Church history, even if they have been used more recently by recent popes, church documents, and theologians, including Bishop Boyea (See his Pastoral Letter, “Go and Announce the Gospel of the Lord.” (2012). For the most part, this shift represents a return to biblical language that helps us articulate and understand key elements in our relationship with God.
As you read through our bulletin and listen to my homily, allow yourself to imagine the kind of parish we can become when we focus on the things that will help people come alive in God. Imagine if all of us at St. Pat’s were so transformed by God that we lived in the joy and love of God in our families and in our communities. Imagine a parish in which people are so connected to each other that everyone is known, loved, and supported in such a way that following Jesus in this life was not just possible but deeply satisfying. My hope is that you take some time to read the new website, watch our explainer video, and open your heart to what God might want to do in you and through you in making Jesus known and loved in our local area.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias