My conference last week in San Antonio was excellent. I would describe it as “nearly all the parish best practices organizations together in one hotel”. It was run by the Evangelical Catholic and the Catholic Leadership Institute, but was also attended by other organizations I massively respect like Fr. John Riccardo, Amazing Parish, Rebuilt, Eden Invitation, and Source and Summit. I was even, delightfully, exposed to some new-to-me organizations like Walking with Purpose Women’s Ministry, Damascus Youth Camps, Communio Marriage Ministries, and Light of the World Evangelization Ministries, all of which I would like to explore more. The problem with attending a conference like this as a Pastor is that everything looks like a growth partner for your parish, but parish growth in only sustainable if it focuses on and solidifies one aspect at a time. How do I choose?!
I should also say that the best part of conferences like this, for me, is the networking with priests from all over the country. I learn a ton from listening to the experiences of priests from other dioceses in other parish situations. The greatest joy for me at this conference was catching up with one of my Mundelein classmates who ministers in the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
So, with all of this, what was my takeaway? The Lord always surprises me, because it is never what I expected it to be. At this conference, my takeaway was to explicitly name that the mission of our parishes is to save every soul in Whatcom County. I need to own this. I need to wake up every morning remembering this. I need to reiterate it to our staff and to our parishioners regularly. And, concretely, I need to judge every program and decision against it.
Why do we celebrate weekend and daily Masses? To save souls. Why do we offer catechetical programs? To save souls. Why do we engage in service and outreach activities? To save souls. Every single thing we do as Whatcom Catholic needs to be one, or no more than two, degrees away from saving souls. Why do we spend time on budgets and buildings? Because staff and space (2nd degree) are necessary to offer Mass and catechesis (1st degree) which save souls.
And to make sure we do not fall into an abstraction here, when I say “saving souls” I mean assisting people to make a subjective choice for Jesus every day and at every moment.
And to make sure this is a useful refocus, we need to understand the full ramifications.
- If people are going to Mass because they like the community or the music, but their attendance does not result in a renewed commitment to Jesus, then that Mass is not saving souls, and we should consider changing how we celebrate it.
- If our sacramental preparation programs check Archdiocesan boxes and get kids to the reception of the sacraments, but these kids have not made a choice to love and follow Jesus, then our sacramental preparation programs are not saving souls, our children are not open to the grace these sacraments are supposed to provide, and we need to change our whole approach.
- If we undertake our service or outreach programs because we are trying to solve a problem but not because we are searching for Jesus in the poor and the marginalized, then these programs are not saving souls, and we should spend our time elsewhere.
- If we do not have any programs to reach those souls who are not already in our pews, then we are not saving every soul in Whatcom County, and we should consider drastically reallocating our resources.
As with all post-retreat and post-conference insights, I am not sure if I am disciplined enough to retain this lesson long enough for it to have its promised effects, but I figure if I write about it in the Pastor’s note, then I have 2,400 Mass-going souls to keep me accountable.
Fr. Moore 