For those hoping for and/or working toward renewal in the parish, it is easy to fall into the trap of: "Ten Steps for This Marvelous Thing," and "This Program is the Greatest..." “This speaker/apostolate is THE silver bullet for renewal…” But, drawing from experience, and despite any hype, I can say with certainty, there is no perfect set of action steps for every parish; there are no silver bullet programs, or catch all fixes. Do we need a plan? Yes! Do we need action steps to renew the parish? YES!
God had a plan for the salvation of the world. There were clearly action steps! Hello, salvation history!
However, action steps without prayer, without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; action steps that are not rooted in helping others to encounter Christ in Scripture, in prayer, in the Sacraments, and in one another… Well, that’s not renewal. Renewal is rooted in the Person of the Holy Spirit. It is also rooted in the heart of each person moved by grace.
By virtue of our Baptism and all the more by the grace of Confirmation, we are all apostles. We each have an apostolate. Whether or not we bear fruit in this work is dependent upon the life of prayer. The person that knows best how to bring about the renewal of our parishes and our dioceses, even our homes… He is already there! He has been there waiting the whole time. His name is the Holy Spirit.
In ministry efforts, we can become so busy doing the works of God, that we neglect the God of works. The demands of administrative tasks, maintaining programs and the like can make it seem difficult to put first things first. This is true even in our daily lives. For example, the kids’ activities and schedules take priority even over the things that matter most. However, sometimes what we need can only be discovered through the battle of prayer and fasting; in sacrifice. It is often not easy. Many demands tug on us. At times prayer can seem as though it wars against our usual pragmatic and utilitarian tendencies; certainly our desire to be entertained. Many crosses we must bear and struggles we must offer up. However, that is the key. Embracing the cross, like Christ, for the joy that is set before us. What is that joy? The salvation of souls. Making disciples. Living to accomplish the very thing for which we were created.
In all sincerity, I believe one of the biggest obstacles to the renewal of the Church is one that I seldom hear anyone talking about: an unwillingness to sacrifice or suffer. Be it wounds to our pride, concern for what others think of us, unwillingness to change, fear of stepping out into the unknown, or whatever it may be; to approach things differently is for us, at least in some ways, suffering. This is hard to accept. I am guilty of this; more than anyone I know. The remedy for this is, and only ever will be, prayer.
We also have to recognize that sometimes the most fruitful ministry cannot be measured quantitatively. It can’t be reduced to check boxes, stewardship campaigns, curriculum standards or data entry. It is time spent, for example, in the coffee shop. More than a big-name speaker, a new program, video series, or book by this publisher or that one, the world needs more coffee shop missionaries open to the work of grace, open to life’s interruptions, willing to pray with and pray for others in the moment, willing to see as primary the salvation of souls; and more specifically, the making of disciples.
The call to make disciples is one we all share. This is much more than simply saying, "Jesus loves you." It is much more than saying, “I will pray for you.” Making disciples is saying by our lives, "Jesus loves you. And I am so compelled by his great love for you, and for me, that I will be here by your side on our shared journey toward eternity with him." For every individual believer, every program, if a lifetime of effort only leads to one person enjoying eternal intimacy with God in heaven, it is worth it. What price can we put on a soul? How much value is salvation and eternal union with Christ? St. Augustine declared, “God loves each one of us as if we were the only one to love.” Indeed, were you, dear reader, the only one who would have come to salvation through Christ’s Passion and Death, he would have done it anyway!
Still, there is more good news! We have the promise of bearing fruit… if we abide in Him! It does not mean we will necessarily see the fruit always, but it is a promise nonetheless! Not seeing the fruit no doubt is for the sake of keeping us humble! We just have to abide. “To be an apostle is to give Jesus to souls and souls to Jesus by making Him known in order to make Him loved, by filling yourself with Him in order to give Him… ‘An apostle is a chalice full of Jesus which overflows onto souls.”’[1] What are we being filled with? What is it that is overflowing out of us into (or onto) those around us?
It can be helpful to reflect further on the words of Christ in John 15:5, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you the branches. He that abides in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.” Fr Jean d’Elbee writes in the beautiful book, I Believe in Love:
“It is beautiful to pray in this way: instead of saying to Jesus, ‘Give me souls,’ say to Him, ‘I thank You for the souls which You give me simply because I am sure that You give them to me, relying on His own words: ‘All things, whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you have already received them, and they shall come unto you…’ Know how to unite yourself with the miracles He works in you continually, even when you do not realize and are not aware of it. ‘Jesus, I unite myself to the wonders You work in me. I know for certain that I love You today more than yesterday and that tomorrow I shall love You more than today, because I have opened my heart to Your grace, which is a torrent which ceaselessly engulfs me and continually transforms me into Yourself and spread out to others.’”[2]
This is the kind of paradigm shift that is needed in every diocese, in every parish, in the heart of every believer. We must never doubt that we are apostles; gifted and strengthened by the Holy Spirit to do this work. We were created for such a time as this. With the right gifts, in the right places, to meet the needs of the time. In our quest to renew the Church, we must not forget the God of works is present, stirring in our hearts, pouring out his gifts so that we might truly do the works of God. Renewal begins within our hearts as we are filled up with Jesus, so that we can pour Him out into the hearts of others. A well that never runs dry.
[1] Fr Jean C. J. d’Elbee, I Believe in Love (Manchester: Sophia Institute Press, 2001), 165
[2] IBIL, 175