From Fr Greg's Pew: 2nd August

Hi everyone!

As you know, when I look on the Parish some 2 1/2 years ago, I did so with both a missionary background and outlook, and have often spoken to you of our current 'triple m' pastoral focus:

moving from maintenance to mission.

Our aim is to work towards a definitive, gradual and life-giving transformation of the Parish from one which simply maintains the status quo: the Masses, ministries and services it currently has, into one which re-creates, adapts and transforms itself into a dynamic pastoral platform to serve the evolving needs of the Parish, following Jesus' advice:

'When you see a cloud looming up in the west you say at once that rain is coming, and so it does. And when the wind is from the south you say it's going to be hot, and it is... You know how to interpret the face of the earth and the sky. How is it you do not know how to interpret these times?" (Matt 12, 54-56)

We, too, are asked to read the "signs of our times" and act accordingly and timely. In the 'western world', the Church is facing some pretty challenging times, grappling as we are with huge changes challenging our previously held moral, religious, demographic, financial and work values.


In this week's bulletin, we've included two reflections about a recent "Instruction" given by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy, designed to guide the reform of our parish communities into 'missionary hubs'. The Instruction is entitled “The pastoral conversion of the Parish community in the service of the evangelizing mission of the Church” and is based on Pope Francis' vision for missionary parishes in the evolving world we live in.


Over the next few weeks we will be publishing 'bite sized' sections of that Instruction in the bulletin, and I will be encouraging our own pastoral leaders to reflect upon this and incorporate elements of that reflection into their homilies and pastoral undertakings.


And to introduce the Instruction, in this weekend's bulletin we have reprinted a summary reflection from Zenit, a Catholic News Service, the first section of the document. I encourage you to read over them as you sip a cup of coffee, and perhaps discuss them with one another in your homes, parish circles and ministries.


Let's reflect together on what we, as a Parish, are achieving, with the ministries we currently have and the direction in which we are travelling. What do you feel is the pastoral conversion needed - individually and as a Parish - to better fulfill our vocation as a "community in the service of the evangelizing mission of the Church"?


'Can of worms', that one! Interested to hear your own reflections on the subject. I will be commenting further on this in weeks o come.


Your brother in Christ's service, travelling with you on this same missionary journey,

Fr Greg