St. Joseph’s Church rocks! It really does. This was the
thought I had back in August when I attended Mass at the Church of the Nativity
in Timonium, MD, the subject of the much-acclaimed book Rebuilt by pastor Fr. Michael White and
pastoral associate Tom Corcoran. This is not a criticism of Nativity so much as
a renewed appreciation for the vitality and leadership of our St. Joe’s Penfield,
New York parishioners and the glory of our liturgy where the Gospel is made
accessible for all to take into their hearts and Christian lives.
Recognizing that all churches and organizations have room
for growth and enhancement, the St. Joe’s Parish Pastoral Council is reading
and discussing Rebuilt. It has many
best practices to offer to parishes in the areas of hospitality, faith
formation, small groups, preaching, and music ministry.
Last night our Council meeting started with a gut check
about members’ reactions to the book. In summary, what matters to our Council
members is that we never lose focus on two things: the proclamation of the
Gospel and our PEOPLE. ALL of our PEOPLE. There’s no room here for the “mean-spirited” commentary
about parishioners that is the serious flaw of Rebuilt.
Pastoral year seminarian Jorge Ramirez, a native of
Colombia, beautifully articulated that we need to study the best practices of
the Church of the Nativity in the context of where St. Joseph’s is as a parish community
today. What are the needs of our people, of the community around us, now, in
this time and place?
My prayer last night and today is one of gratitude to our
gracious God because St. Joe’s really does rock! I am grateful for the diverse
views of our many parishioners, for the leadership of our ministry teams, for
our Council members, and for the fellow staff members with whom I have the
opportunity every day to collaborate, to pray, and most importantly, to LAUGH!
I cannot conclude this
first journal entry without another note of gratitude on behalf of St. Joe’s
staff to my husband, Greg. For the past few weeks he’s been donating his time
and talent in the social media arena to help us up our game on Twitter,
Facebook, our website, and now our blogs. He’s the best.
Blessings to all!
Thanks Cathy for the comments on 'Rebuilt'. No doubt, the Gospel as the focus of parish life is the key redeeming message in this important, but difficult to digest book. Rather than throwing multiple people and groups under the bus as the authors were prone to do, we benefit from remembering that in Christian communities of the 1st as well as 21st centuries, ALL are Welcome, All the time. What matters more about the Gospel than the quality of production in a given church, is the the quality of our living the Gospel message in the "real" world between Masses. The Liturgy of the Word really needs to become for each of us the Liturgy of the World.
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