Announcement weekend has finally arrived! At long last, at nearly every parish in the Archdiocese, priest assignments will be announced, and we will know who is going where starting on July 01. This, of course, includes announcing the four priests who will be assigned to the Whatcom County family. This has been a very long pre-process – from announcing Partners in the Gospel in January 2023 to finding out our official family groups a year later to learning priest assignments now – but this is the last puzzle piece necessary for us to start this three-year adventure towards more robust parish life and evangelization.
In one sense, this announcement is deeply meaningful. Most Catholics experience their faith primarily through the Sunday Mass, so the way a priest organizes the Mass, celebrates the Mass, and preaches makes a huge impact on the week-to-week connection with the Lord. Priests are also present at very vulnerable and impactful times, like baptisms, weddings, personal crises, and deaths, so knowing a parish priest is someone you can trust is tantamount to knowing that the Lord is going to be there to support you in your times of need.
On the other hand, I wish this announcement were a lot less meaningful. For years now, and especially in light of Partners in the Gospel, I have been reflecting on the canonical definition of a parish:
“Canon 515. §1 A parish is a certain community of Christ’s faithful stably established within a particular Church, whose pastoral care, under the authority of the diocesan Bishop, is entrusted to a parish priest as its proper pastor.”
A parish is a certain community entrusted to a parish priest. Meaning that the community exists before and after the pastor and is defined by the characteristics of that community, not by the characteristics of the pastor. This is not to say that the parish is a democracy or that the pastor should abdicate his duties of stewarding the sacraments, preaching the Gospel, and shepherding the people. But it is to say that when a parish defines itself by its pastor, it is not a particularly strong parish. Instead, in my mind, a strong parish is defined by strong relationships among the people themselves, especially relationships of care rooted in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. And when these relationships are strong, in families and in prayer groups and in service and interest organizations, then people begin to live and experience their faith in multitude different ways, many of which are independent of the pastor. And a change in pastor, then, becomes a lot less impactful.
To that end, in order to strengthen us even more as we ramp up to July 01, we will be hosting a parish retreat on the evenings of May 14 (English) and May 15 (Spanish), called: “Upper Room”, which will focus on how our relationships with small groups and the Eucharist can keep us rooted in times of change. There will be opportunities to join 6-week small groups on the Eucharist following the presentation. Please mark your calendars now.
Fr. Moore 