Unleash the Gospel



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Below is a compilation of all the columns written about Archbishop Vigneron’s pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel. The date of the bulletin is given at the start of each section.

June 25, 2017

You will be seeing and hearing this phrase a lot over the next few years. It was the catchphrase for all the energy put into last year’s Synod on the New Evangelization and now the motto for planning and visioning in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Archbishop Vigneron used it as the title for his pastoral letter on such visioning which he released a couple of weeks ago. A lot of effort and time went into both the Synod and the final pastoral letter which lays out the fruits of that synod. Here at St. Regis we were represented throughout the Synod and post-Synod process by a parish member, Karen Brown, and two of our staff, Mary Von Koss and Sarah Hogan. They should be proud of the final result and their work in helping to shape it.

I would encourage everyone to read the Archbishop’s pastoral letter. It can be found at aod.org as well as at a link on our parish website under “What’s Happening.” As we were planning the parish calendar for the next twelve months the parish staff tried to keep the insights of that document in mind. I have also encouraged the Parish Pastoral Council to integrate their ongoing pastoral vision for the parish with the insights from the pastoral letter. At last week’s Pastoral Council meeting, the Pastoral Council decided to host an evening in late September (Wednesday, September 27) open to the whole parish and especially inviting all the leadership groups of the parish. The meeting will bring out the core insights and ideas that the Pastoral Council has gleaned from the recent parish survey, look at the Archbishop’s pastoral letter, and try to connect survey insights and pastoral letter insights in ways which can give guidance for parish planning and visioning for the next five to ten years. The meeting is still in the early planning stages, but we hope those who were personally involved in the Synod will give us some background and personal insights; the Pastoral Council will share some of its key findings from the survey, and we can spend time in discussion to connect the ideas which emerge to a vision for St. Regis in the years ahead.

I want to highlight some aspects of the Archbishop’s pastoral letter here and in future bulletin articles, but first here is the Archdiocese’s new coat of arms. Archbishop Vigneron believes the Synod and its aftermath signal a new chapter for the Church of the Archdiocese of Detroit—the counties of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Lapeer and St. Clair. He commissioned a new coat of arms that could blend the old and the new, capturing a sense of our history, the new realities of St. Anne as patroness of the diocese and Blessed Solanus Casey as example for the diocese, and the idea of the new evangelization which is at the heart of his letter. Here is how it is explained on the archdiocesan website.



 

The Crest and Miter: The shield denotes the crest of Jesuit missionary priest and martyr St. Isaac Jogues. Our Archdiocese was founded by missionaries in 1701, and God continues to call us to become missionaries of Christ – to Unleash the Gospel, the theme of the 2016 Archdiocesan Synod. The crest is adorned with a miter, the headdress of a bishop and representing the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Detroit as a diocese established by the Pope and given to the care of our Archbishop.

The Cross and Stars: The three stars in the shield represent the three persons of the one God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 234). The miter atop the shield is marked with a cross representing Christ’s redemptive sacrifice.

Saint Anne: Saint Anne embraces her daughter, the young Blessed Virgin Mary who is being taught the Jewish faith and anticipation of the Messiah. This symbol affirms the importance of Sacred Scripture as well as the primary role parents play as their children’s faith educators. St. Anne is the patroness of the Archdiocese of Detroit and the patron saint of grandparents, homemakers, unmarried women, infertility, sterility, expectant mothers, women in labor, cabinet-makers, miners, equestrians, against poverty and for the poor, among others. She is integral to the history of the Catholic Church, in Detroit. Two days after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and his companions landed on the west side of the narrows of what is now the Detroit River, Holy Mass was celebrated in a makeshift chapel – it was the feast of Saint Anne, July 26, 1701. Saint Anne Parish - beginning with the first settlement and continuing to the present day – is the second-oldest continuously operating Catholic parish in the United States.

The Door: The symbol of an open door has several meanings. “I have left an open door before you, which no one can close” (Rev 3:8). “The Church which ‘goes forth’ is a Church whose doors are open” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 46). As we Unleash the Gospel in response to our 2016 Archdiocesan Synod and embark on this new journey as a band of joyful missionary disciples, an open door represents our mandate to go out to share and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Affectionately known as “God’s Doorkeeper,” Venerable and soon-to-be-Blessed Father Solanus Casey (1870-1957), is Detroit’s most recognizable model of hospitality, welcoming those in need, which he did for many years as a porter at St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit. A simple Capuchin Franciscan priest, Father Solanus welcomed an estimated 650,000 people during his time as porter, each person encountering the presence of Christ through his hospitality, understanding, wise counsel and prayers. The door in the crest is adorned with a cross. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mt 16:24) Our missionary journey is made by Way of the Cross.

Water: The Archdiocese of Detroit spans six counties in Michigan, nestled among the Great Lakes. The lakes contain 20 percent of the world’s fresh water supply. Like the movement of the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, the Gospel is powerful and ever-flowing, conquering obstructions in its path. Importantly, our entrance into the Christian faith is through the cleansing water of baptism and the grace of the Holy Spirit. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission” (1213).

The Archdiocese also produced a prayer for “unleashing the gospel”. With very slight modifications we will put the prayer in our hymnals and periodically pray this prayer over the next few years. It will be a reminder to continually re-center ourselves on what is essential—being joyful missionary disciples who live the gospel:



God our Father, you have called us to be witnesses to

Jesus and have commissioned us to lead all people to encounter him.

 

Send your Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds so that your will may be clear to us and that we may accept it.

 

Dwell within our souls and make our hearts your own.

 

Transform us into a band of joyful missionary disciples



embracing the fruits of Synod 16 so as to share the good news of Jesus Christ in Southeastern Michigan through

joyful evangelization and service.

 

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful,



and kindle in them the fire of your love. Amen.

 

St. Anne, pray for us.



July 9, 2017

The title of Archbishop Vigneron’s pastoral letter — “Unleash the Gospel” — captures the underlying desire and hope that led to the Synod in the fall of 2016 and the energy that will move us forward now. In the pastoral letter the Archbishop gives a brief review of all that led up to the Synod last year and then goes on to state what he calls the “foundational conviction.” “The Synod’s foundational conviction is that the church in the Archdiocese of Detroit is resolved to obey the Holy Spirit and be made by him a band of joyful missionary disciples.” The phrase “joyful missionary disciples” comes from Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel. The Pope is convinced that at this juncture of history the Church, in order to be the instrument of God’s saving love, must renew, even re-invent itself in a radical way. That means at the very roots of how we do things.

Here is how Archbishop Vigneron puts it in his pastoral letter: “This means that the Archdiocese, following the call of Pope Francis, is resolved to undergo a ‘missionary conversion,’ a change in our culture, such that every person at every level of the Church, through personal encounter with Jesus Christ, embraces his or her identity as a son or daughter of God and, in the power of the Holy Spirit, is formed and sent forth as a joyful missionary disciple. For families this means that every family embraces its role as the domestic church and, in connection with other families and single persons, actively seeks the spiritual and social renewal of its neighborhood, schools and places of work. For parishes and archdiocesan services it means the renewal of structures to make them Spirit-led and radically mission-oriented. For everyone in the Archdiocese it entails making one’s relationship with Jesus and alignment with his will the central guiding principle of every aspect of life. This missionary conversion entails a strikingly countercultural way of living grounded in prayer, Scripture, and the sacraments; unusually gracious hospitality; a capacity to include those on the margins of society; and joyful confidence in the providence of God even in difficult and stressful times.”

That is a remarkable paragraph. And, yes, it is easy to put something in words and much, much more difficult to put it into concrete practice, but the Archbishop is calling and even committing the Catholic Church of Southeastern Michigan to precisely the radical (“to the core or roots”) renewal Pope Francis has highlighted. The Catholic Church needs to undergo a “change of culture,” not just fix or repair a few things that are not working well. A change of culture includes for parishes, he says, making structures “Spirit-led and radically mission-oriented”. What would that mean for a typical parish, for St. Regis? I don’t know, but that will be a question I will be asking parish leadership at all levels to consider, especially the Pastoral Council, as we create a pastoral vision for the parish’s future.

At the end of the paragraph the Archbishop gives, in essence, a way to judge whether we have undergone that “missionary conversion” as a parish. Are we living lives that are clearly “grounded in prayer, Scripture, and the sacraments”? Do we as a parish show “unusually gracious hospitality”? Do we exhibit an openness to and “include those on the margin of society”? Do we witness to a “joyful confidence in the providence of God” even when life is going badly and we are facing unexpected challenges and difficulties? In many ways those questions, in themselves, could be the start of a pastoral vision for the parish.

Archbishop Vigneron goes on to offer background as to why this new initiative is so necessary in today’s world. He suggests that it is rooted in the growing, ever-more-common experience of people living as if God does not exist. He signals out three secular belief systems which encourage such “practical atheism” (even if all who live that way might not reject belief in God, their lifestyles suggest there is nothing different because of a belief in God). The first is “scientific fundamentalism,” a belief that if something cannot be proven true or false by empirical scientific methods, it is of no importance to the universe. Of course, no one, not even the most ardent scientist, ever lives his/her life consistently in that way. There are always some things we simply fundamentally believe or accept through experience which are not within the scope of science. Trust in the results of the scientific method itself, although reasonable, cannot be tested. It is a fundamental trust or belief that lies outside of science. To be human is so much more than to know and understand the fundamental laws of physics, chemistry and biology. On the other hand, when certain ideas get popularized and are given a scientific theory as a basis (for example, that belief in God is a projection of the human need to make sense of the unknown), it can cause some people to turn away from a joyful trust in a God who personally loves them and cares for them. The other two secular belief systems the Archbishop mentions are “moralistic therapeutic deism” (God is not really involved in our lives but, if there is a God, God simply wants us all to be kind, generous, etc.) and “secular messianism” (a belief that human structures and proper political policies alone can lead to the perfect human life). The first of these two, it seems to me, easily gets tied to a religious relativism — all religious belief systems are really similar, so why make a big deal about anything distinctive about Christianity. And the second can get expressed both in national socialist-type and Marxist-type agendas.

However, I don’t think these three belief systems are the key reasons why so many people no longer turn to God and so many Christians drift away from their Christian faith, and so many Catholics disconnect from active involvement in the Church. Instead I would suggest two very practical reasons — hypocrisy and material wealth. To the extent that we, as active church-going, involved Catholics, witness to the same prejudices and racism, the same dishonesty and lack of integrity, the same manipulation and coercion as many others, our hypocrisy is a huge reason why many look so askance at the Church. Secondly, the material prosperity of especially the northern and western hemispheres — but spreading to other nations as they become more prosperous — leads to a false belief that everything is fine as long as I am materially satisfied. We have to be honest here. We know that money or wealth doesn’t bring ultimate happiness. But it does bring many substitutes for that ultimate happiness, and we become addicted to those substitutes, be it recognition, clothes and looking good, media, drugs and alcohol, power, and so on. It is a rare American, European, or any person of wealth (and I include myself here first and foremost), where material comfort doesn’t play too much of a role in our lives. The Archbishop addresses the hypocrisy issue in his own way by calling for authentic, joyful missionary disciples. But the second one, our excessive dependence on material goods, while hinted at, isn’t really addressed with a lot of vigor in his pastoral letter. I would suggest any true “missionary conversion,” as he calls for, needs to place that issue front and center.

Next time: the good and bad habits (virtues and vices) the Archbishop highlights as we try to “unleash the gospel” in the Archdiocese.



July 23 2017

In the July 9th bulletin I started to analyze Archbishop Vigneron’s pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel, which brings together all the insights from the Archdiocesan-wide synod in the fall of last year. Here, again, is the “foundational conviction” that inspired everything that happened at the synod and everything he hopes will happen as we move forward: “The Synod’s foundational conviction is that the Church in the Archdiocese of Detroit is resolved to obey the Holy Spirit and be made by him a band of joyful missionary disciples.” In order for that foundational conviction to bear fruit, the archbishop recognizes we have to undergo conversion, what he calls a “missionary conversion.” As the pastoral letter continues, Archbishop Vigneron lays out several vices (“bad habits”) to be countered and several virtues (“good habits”) to be embraced, which were identified by the Synod and which will help us along the path of conversion.

The bad habits include spiritual lethargy, a status quo mentality, fear and a complaining attitude. All these keep us from being bold and hold us back from letting the creativity and freedom of the Holy Spirit inspire and energize us. In particular, the archbishop highlights one other “bad habit,” the one he names first — “a worldly notion of the Church” which he defines in this way: “In this outlook the Church’s value is based primarily on its contributions to society, whether in education, health care, advocacy, or service to the poor.” When that happens, he says, the Church becomes captive to human plans and forgets that it is Christ who directs the mission of the Church and that mission is primarily witnessing to the Gospel.

This issue hits at the heart of how one understands the Church’s mission. In the earliest Church era the Church’s mission was thought of as freeing people from the power of Satan (sin and death) and bringing them through an encounter with the risen Jesus into the community of salvation, the Church. The focus was on repentance and conversion of one’s entire life, leading to baptism but continuing in an ongoing way. Christians were to be different than the rest of the world. This world was not their permanent home and so money, power, status or even children and family were not the key to immortal fame.

When the Church went from being persecuted to tolerated to accepted to being the “power behind the throne,” it became more common to think of the Church’s mission as the “salvation of souls,” with baptism, especially of infants, as the key element in that salvation, whether one’s life after baptism conformed to a fully converted life or not. Though there were countless exceptions to this pattern, as long as one was baptized and then received “last rites” before death, unless someone entered the monastery, one’s behavior in the world as a Christian was not expected to be all that different from anyone else.

In the modern world missionary activity was usually linked with bringing European style education and health care to those who were being evangelized. It wasn’t just the gospel that was an agent of transformation but European culture in general. To be Christian was learning one’s catechism, become baptized and then shaped by a western understanding of life. With some exceptions, the Church did not grow organically from the indigenous practices of the people but was a transference of an already established church pattern onto another culture. The dedication of missionaries was remarkable, as was their willingness to live their lives in far reaches of the world, even a willingness to be martyred for the faith. But there could also be a type of condescension, as though the really important element was to “civilize” (i.e. westernize) the local people.

After the Second Vatican Council, in the mid-1960s, all missionary orders began to re-evaluate their approach to mission. The Council challenged Catholics to recognize that the Holy Spirit was already at work in so many ways in various cultures. God, in God’s own way, was able to offer all humans a way to salvation, even if they didn’t explicitly connect to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The understanding of missionary work began to shift. Rather than imposing a European-style Church on the people, missionaries sought to create an indigenous Church, united to Rome, but with its own distinct characteristics. Western missionaries no longer came “with all the answers” to what needed to change in society and culture but saw themselves as agents of change, cooperating wherever possible with existing programs and movements which were already committed to and doing great work in creating a more just society. The danger, of course, is that one could get so caught up in responding to injustice, that one loses the urgency to sharing the basic “good news” of Jesus Christ with any and all.

With Pope Paul VI and then especially Pope John Paul II there was a renewed call for more direct evangelization, leading to what is being called the “new evangelization.” This “new evangelization” includes not only a re-commitment to sharing the basic good news with any who are not Christian but also a re-evangelization of all who are Christian but who, for whatever reasons, have stopped living an active faith. As well, the new evangelization focuses not first of all on a special cadre of trained missionaries to spread the good news (it can include them) but on every baptized person. We are all responsible for sharing and living the good news of Jesus Christ in such a way that others take notice. Or, in Pope Francis’ words, to be “joyful missionary disciples” of Jesus Christ.

What the archbishop is suggesting seems to be a combination of the new evangelization with a return to the earliest understanding of mission. If true conversion of life is not happening, all our other efforts fall short of sharing the gospel mission. What we distinctly bring to the world as Christians is the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen; the gospel of “good news” that leads to the fullness of life (salvation). With that I wholeheartedly concur. But one caveat (and NB, the archbishop is not doing this, but some might act on his words in this way): it makes no theological sense or pastoral sense (in light of Vatican II) to go back to a mindset that separates out the world between “Christians who are saved” and “the rest/pagans who are not.” The mystery of grace (as well as the mystery of sin and evil) is much more complex than that. God’s grace needs to be affirmed wherever we find it and not just within the Church. And sin and evil need to be acknowledged as present in each and every one of us, including the structures of the Church.

What we distinctively bring to the table as Christians, however, is a joyful commitment to all that Jesus Christ has opened up for us. In a sense, our job is not to ensure that people become Christian (that is the work of the Holy Spirit) but that the good news is embodied in each and every concrete historical-cultural situation. In the words of Vatican II, the Church is to be a “leaven,” living within the world and helping all people live their human lives with the greatest dignity. In turn, by being present within each and every historical and cultural situation, the Church is able to witness to a way of life that allows all humanity to be invited into the community of faith and to the table of the Lord, if they choose. They are not lost if they don’t so choose—God’s grace works in so many different ways—but the world loses something if the Church is not present as that leaven. In that sense, the Church is always necessary for salvation of the world in terms of its whole history, even if it is not explicitly necessary for each individual person’s salvation.

I know this raises all sorts of questions. Here’s two I would like us to reflect on. Are we living our Christian faith because we fear that, if we don’t, we will be sent to hell when we die? Or are we living our Christian faith because it brings us so much peace and joy that we know it is the fullest way to live out our humanity, and we want everyone else to experience that fullness as well? More next time.

July 30 2017

* “Unleash the Gospel” (continued)

I ended last week’s reflections on the Archbishop’s pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel, with two questions. Are we living our Christian faith because we fear that, if we don’t, we will be sent to hell when we die? Or are we living our Christian faith because it brings us so much peace and joy that we know it is the fullest way to live out our humanity, and we want everyone else to experience that fullness as well? Two other questions would be: “Do we believe others should be denied heaven, if they don’t become Christians?” And then, “If it is not necessary to be explicitly Christian to be saved, why take on the commitments of a fully Christian life?”

I raise these questions because it is important to understand what it means to be, in Pope Francis’ words, a “joyful missionary disciple” in today’s world. The Church absolutely believes the good news of Jesus Christ must be shared faithfully and untiringly by all of us. And that sharing and living of the Gospel is necessary for the salvation of the world. But, as a Church, at least in our official understanding from the Second Vatican Council, we no longer divide the world into “saved” and “unsaved,” Church/pagan, as was done often in the past. We know that the fullness of the historical grace of God’s salvation is present in and through the Church, even when we often fail to live it as completely as we should. But we also know that there are many people, both non-Catholic and non-Christian, who have opened themselves to God’s grace as fully and at times more fully than many of us who profess the name Christian, even if they personally would not name that grace as a gift from God or an experience of Jesus Christ. What that means, at least in the ideal, is that we don’t live our Christian lives so that we somehow are guaranteed heaven and others aren’t. No, we live our Christian lives with joy and desire to share that good news with anyone and everyone, because we can’t do otherwise. The Christian life and community open us to the fullest way to be alive, to face life’s challenges, to be a gift of God’s grace to others.

That is why, as Archbishop Vigneron reminds us in his pastoral letter, that it is not enough to avoid various bad habits or vices. We also must cultivate various good habits or virtues. As he says so well: “Our good habits are those dispositions of mind and heart that we must take on in order to become a radically mission-oriented Church. They are in fact a participation in the mind and heart of Jesus.” The more we take on Jesus’ mind and heart, the more all of our words and actions, even when we are not intentionally trying to make them so, serve the mission of Jesus. In fact, that is the point of building good habits. It takes consistent, intentional choices which become more and more part of our character, which in turn, even without us consciously realizing it, influence in a good way all that we do. The Archbishop talks about “apostolic boldness” (unafraid to proclaim Jesus Christ), a “spirit of innovation,” a “spirit of cooperation,” and a “confidence in God” as some of those good habits. But he begins and ends with what, I think, are the two most important ones, “docility to the Spirit” and an “attitude of gratitude.”

Remember, these habits have to be cultivated. They are not simply gifts from on high that automatically influence us. To cultivate gratitude is perhaps the most important virtue we can develop in becoming joyful missionary disciples. It is so easy, and I am guilty of this more than most, to look at what is wrong, what isn’t working, why someone has made a mistake, and so on. Without papering over issues that have to be addressed, to begin by giving thanks for each and every situation, each and every person, no matter how challenging, changes everything. There is something about thanksgiving and gratitude which opens a space within the human spirit so that we can see more objectively and dispassionately, appreciate even wayward efforts, be less judgmental of people’s flaws. To allow that “attitude of gratitude” to become virtue means consciously catching ourselves and stopping when we become too negative in our speech. It means bringing to prayer those people and situations we have the most difficulty with and thanking God, as honestly as we can, for the opportunity to allow God’s grace to shine through those difficult situations. It means starting and ending every day with some type of simple “thank you” to God. It will make all the difference in the world, to us and others, if we practice and build up this habit of gratitude.

Then we are ready for the first virtue that the Archbishop mentions, “docility to the Spirit.” For the new evangelization to take place in a way that involves all of us and not just certain specially trained missionaries, we have to learn to open ourselves to and trust in the working of God’s Holy Spirit within us and in all that we do for God. Each of us is capable of experiencing the various nudges which the Holy Spirit of God (God’s own love entering into the concrete historical situation) gives us, when we are attentive to God. That is why gratitude is so important. It makes us more attentive. In turn, we are then more capable of experiencing the creativity of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Archbishop asks that every initiative we undertake begins with a prayer asking for the creative guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us call each other to such prayer. In the years ahead, let us be unafraid to suggest how that Spirit is challenging this parish.

Over the next two weeks I will finish my reflections on Unleash the Gospel by reviewing the ten “Guideposts” which Archbishop gives us for shaping and evaluating all we do in light of the call for the new evangelization. I also want to remind people to put the evening of Wednesday, September 27 on their calendars. The Parish Pastoral Council is in the process of creating a discussion/planning meeting for the parish to help it shape its work on preparing a pastoral vision for St. Regis. The Pastoral Council is looking at the results of the parish survey and honing them into possible initiatives/themes. At the September meeting they will present those themes to all present, ask others to give an overview of the Synod of 2016 and the pastoral letter, and then give people a chance to creatively suggest ways St. Regis can respond to those themes in light of the guideposts suggested by the pastoral letter. The input received at that September gathering will go a long way in helping the Pastoral Council shape their pastoral vision.

August 6 2017

*Unleash the Gospel (continued)

In many ways the heart of Archbishop Vigneron’s pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel, are the ten “Guideposts” he names in the middle sections of the letter. They act both as markers of what any parish, school or diocesan pastoral plan needs to think about, as well as a tool of evaluation for existing structures, programs and processes. In what ways and how well do we at St. Regis already give witness to these guideposts? How do these guideposts challenge us to change, adapt, grow and move forward?



Guidepost 1: The New Pentecost

For the Church in Detroit, reliving the Gospel mysteries means that we continually return to the Upper Room, asking for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us and on the whole region. We seek to bring every member of the Church, insofar as possible, into a personal and life-transforming experience of the Holy Spirit. Recognizing that we cannot give what we do not have, we continually seek to be refreshed in God’s presence and filled again and again with his love, so that it is his own love we are giving away.” (p.11)

For that new Pentecost to happen within our Catholic communities, the Archbishop believes we must once again embrace the basic proclamation of Jesus: “Repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15) He describes it so well: Repentance “is the key that unlocks the mercy of God!” And, “The call to repentance is always addressed to ourselves first, since all of us are continually in need of deeper conversion.” (p.11) However, he goes on to focus on sin as mostly actions which violate the moral order. Yes, those actions are sin. But the basic sin is the refusal to entrust ourselves into God’s hands. For too long we as Catholics have come to confession with a list of violations of the moral order, often focused on sexual matters, as though that gets at the heart of what we need to repent of, without looking at the quality of our relationships with people. Or, we do an examination of conscience by going through a list of sins and think “I don’t do those in any significant way; I must be basically ok,” and fail to take any responsibility for working to alleviate the tremendous injustices that are structured into our world. Or, we do not have any significant sin to confess and think the sacrament of Reconciliation is not really all that helpful, yet we have a spiritual lethargy that is keeping us from being joyful disciples. Conversion is first and foremost a matter of turning our heart toward God and a desire to live a life of faith, hope, and love. In the process of embracing conversion, yes we have to deal with sins. But even there, specific actions point out areas we might need to deal with. Yet, almost always, these are symptoms of the real sin, some type of not trusting in God, turning from God, not turning toward God, and so forth.

Thankfully, in the very next paragraph, describing what it means to believe, the Archbishop says: “The invitation to believe in the Gospel is always personal: it is not a moral program but the offer of communion with a person, Jesus.” (p.12) That gets to the heart of the matter. For a new Pentecost to erupt in our lives, our families, our community, our parish, our diocese, the key is an openness to communion with the person, Jesus. All else flows from that communion: the need for personal prayer and communal Eucharist; the openness to the Spirit; the demands of the Gospel in the concrete situation which go beyond a list of commandments or avoidance of a list of sins; and the humility to recognize how we often fall short, even if not specifically committing a sin.

With the new Pentecost comes an understanding, says Archbishop Vigneron, that we are living chapter 29 of the Acts of the Apostles. Since that book ends at chapter 28, it means that we need to see ourselves as a living extension of how the Christian community spreads the good news of Jesus Christ and live it in new situation after new situation. Just as with what happened in the earliest Church, we should expect “signs and wonders” to happen as we live the gospel and open ourselves anew to the Spirit.

Guidepost 2: With Eyes Fixed on Jesus

In the second guidepost the Archbishop doubles down on the most important reality—our relationship with the risen Jesus: “The new evangelization is not a membership drive, nor is it an effort to shore up a code of conduct. Rather, it is a love affair. All are invited to encounter Jesus and let their hearts be captured by him.” (p. 14) Excellent, inspiring words! That encounter with Jesus can happen anytime, any place. We need to think through what our basic story of faith is and be willing to share it. Such witness or testimony does not have to be formal or preachy. Just humble and sincere. Church leaders need to see baptisms, weddings, funerals, Christmas, Easter and other times many Catholics re-gather in a Church they rarely visit, not as times to chastise or condemn, but opportunities to present the joy of the Gospel. These are opportunities to help people encounter the living, risen Jesus.



Guidepost 3: The Word Made Flesh

It is important for us as Catholics to see that the more we embrace the sacramental life of the Church, the more we encounter the risen Christ “in the flesh.” The Church is not just another club or free association of like-minded individuals. The Church, though made up of sinners and at times in need of reform from its sinful ways, is nevertheless the usual way that Jesus uses to reveal his living presence in our historical reality. Especially through the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation, but also in all the sacraments, as well as the gift of God’s Word through Scripture, the Church is the community through which Jesus most often mediates the gift of salvation. The more we embrace that deeply sacramental and Scripture-based life, the more deeply we become connected to Jesus Christ’s living reality.



Guidepost 4: Equipping for the Service of the Gospel

Archbishop Vigneron talks about this guidepost in the following way: “Implementing this Guidepost entails a paradigm shift such that every parish becomes a ‘school of evangelization’ in which all members are being equipped to be witnesses of Christ.” (p.14) In other words, not only does faith formation not stop at 8th grade or the reception of Confirmation or at high school, but it is life-long. The type of formation needed for the new evangelization is more than simply doctrinal catechesis. The Lord gives each baptized Christian various charisms or gifts of the Spirit to be used for the work of evangelization. A parish community and its leadership need to learn how to discern these gifts, develop them, help people develop both theological and practical expertise in using such gifts, and allow those gifts to flourish. Not everyone has the same gifts and no one needs to have all the gifts necessary, but some of the gifts to look at within oneself or others include: the ability to see and affirm how God is already at work in a person; the ability to explain and share the kerygma (the basic gospel story and message of our faith) clearly, accurately and concisely; the ability to offer personal testimony of how faith has affected one’s life; the ability to defend the core teachings of the faith (apologetics) in a way that those who are not Catholic can understand; and growth in virtue so that one is evangelizing simply by living one’s life humbly and honestly.



Guidepost 5: No Bystanders

For the new evangelization to flourish, for it to be “new” rather than old, all are called to be part of the mission of sharing the good news. Not just priests and deacons or religious and consecrated life, but all men and women. In particular, says the Archbishop, in today’s world the laity are being called to be the new evangelizers. And, within the laity youth and young adults have a special call to embrace, energize, and share the faith. A good question to think about: if someone asked us what is our faith about and we had to give a personal testimony in one or two paragraphs, what would we say? What is your story of faith? I am sure that there are people who would be helped by hearing it.

Conclusion to these reflections on Unleash the Gospel next time.

August 13, 2017

* “Unleash the Gospel” (conclusion)

Please see previous bulletin articles for earlier comments on Archbishop Vigneron’s pastoral letter Unleash the Gospel. I have been highlighting key aspects to encourage myself and the parish to do some thinking about what it means to be a Catholic parish in the 21st century. The Archbishop is asking us to see how we are at a pivotal moment in the history of the Archdiocese of Detroit, and to move past “business as usual.” He suggests ten guideposts to help parishes and all Archdiocesan-related entities evaluate their mission. Last week I touched on the first five - to live out our Catholic faith with the vigor of new Pentecost; with eyes fixed on Jesus; connected to His Word made flesh, the community of the Church; serving the good news, the gospel; and no bystanders. Here are the remaining five.



Guidepost 6: Person-to-Person Engagement

The Archbishop is emphasizing that it is not enough to wait for people to come to the Church. Welcoming is still vital and there are many occasions when welcoming can make all the difference in the world to someone coming into our communities. But we are in a world where many will not cross the threshold of the Church or have stopped coming for various reasons. The new evangelization is an invitation to reach out to people in a personal encounter, to accompany them on whatever journey of faith they have been on, to be an instrument of healing rather than division wherever possible, and to use all the tools available, even those of the social media. In my own experience the younger generations do this so much more naturally than some of the older generations. Every personal encounter, reminder that we are praying for someone, invitation to come to a faith-related event, being good neighbors, and so on - all can be part of the new evangelization.



Guidepost 7: Families

Archbishop Vigneron wants the Church of Detroit to especially pay attention to families, helping families embrace and grow in the faith, supporting marriages both through good pre-marriage events and post-marriage mentoring, offering quality Catholic education and formation through Catholic schools and faith formation programs. In today’s world many families are struggling and are wounded. How are we as a parish, as a wider Church as well, offering such families support and welcome? At the same time, do we appreciate the tremendous witness given by marriages and families who do stay together, pray together, and get involved in the parish?



Guidepost 8: Attraction

Here the Archbishop repeats something he said near the beginning of the letter: “Effective witness to Jesus has these attractive qualities: joy, hospitality and generous service to the poor and the marginalized.” (p. 26) The sharing of the gospel cannot be grounded on condemnation and exclusion. If we do not witness to a joy in being followers and friends of Jesus Christ, why should anyone else be interested? In the coming year, I want St. Regis Parish to explore how we welcome and how we might become better at being a welcoming parish, one that does not just register new parish members in a friendly way, but follows through on staying in contact with them. See the ideas below on Welcoming and Hospitality ministry; if you are interested in thinking this through with me please contact me. The one tweak I would give to the Archbishop’s comments has to do with service to the poor and marginalized. He calls us to an “evangelical charity” and, yes, that is at the heart of being a disciple of Jesus. But he again cautions that our service to the poor and vulnerable not lose touch with the basic Gospel message. I agree. But the Second Vatican Council also encouraged Catholics to get involved in the public, social, economic, cultural, and political life, not just as Catholics but as fellow human beings. We do not hang up our Catholic and Christian identity at the door, but we also recognize that part of the gospel call to care for the poor can be done in tandem with many who are not Catholic. Our goal in such situations is be authentically our Catholic, Christian selves and to enhance the dignity of all involved and alleviate suffering, not necessarily to convert others to the Christian faith. If someone is inclined to ask questions or be interested, that is the work of the Spirit. But it is also the work of the Spirit simply to take care of authentic human needs.



Guidepost 9: Encounter, Grow, and Witness

This guidepost probably captures best the never-ending but ever-deepening cycle that a Christian disciple needs to embrace. Again and again we must encounter Jesus Christ anew, fall in love with him and befriend him. In turn, we continue to grow in our understanding of our faith and what the faith means, especially as we deal with the hardships of life and embrace the cross. That maturing in faith then gives us the ability to witness to the gospel and to the person of Jesus in an authentic way, sometimes by words but mostly by our daily actions. The parish staff, myself included, think that this guidepost might be a good one to focus everything else we envision over the next few years. How does every activity and event of the parish either help us encounter Jesus more directly, grow in our friendship and relationship with Jesus, or witness to others about our love for and faith in Jesus Christ?



Guidepost 10: Calling Upon the Advocate

The final guidepost reminds us that this is not primarily our work or our effort. It belongs to God and so we need to call upon the guidance, support and creativity of the Holy Spirit at all times. The recognition that this is God’s work can also lead us to appreciate all the ways that the communion of saints can intercede for us, especially our Blessed Mother. With the beatification of Blessed Solanus Casey this Fall we will have a home-grown witness to what it means to witness to the Gospel with joy, hospitality and generous service to the poor.

The remainder of the document outlines the various propositions which the Synod of 2016 sent to the Archbishop for his approval and the action steps that the Archbishop is committing the Archdiocese to in light of those propositions. The propositions and actions steps had three separate focal areas: Families, Parishes, and Central Services/Administration of the Archdiocese. If you read the document, you will see that they are a little top heavy toward institutional issues, but do provide some significant challenges for all parishes to consider. It would be my hope that the Parish Pastoral Council would come up with a St. Regis-specific set of propositions and initiatives to guide our parish ministry over the next several years. They might well include some or many of the same ones the Archbishop highlights, but I am giving the Council the freedom to explore their own way of doing this.

*Parish Pastoral Council Planning Evening, September 27

One way the Pastoral Council has been moving toward a St. Regis Parish-specific vision is through the parish-wide survey they conducted. They are sifting through those results and will be organizing them into a set of themes/initiatives that capture the core of the responses. In turn, they are opening up an evening to the whole parish, with a special invitation to all parish members involved with any commission and committee, to get further parish feedback, using both what they have learned from the survey and the insights from the Archbishop’s pastoral letter. Please mark your calendars for the evening of Wednesday, September 27 and plan on being here to help the Pastoral Council shape the parish’s initiatives and vision for the next seven to ten years.



Fr. Buersmeyer
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