This Sunday I spoke of change in our Catholic Community as we announced a formal transition pastoral leadership from Father Halka to myself. As the senior pastoral leader of the USAG Wiesbaden Catholic Community the following is my vision for the community in the coming year.
Change is a reality in our lives and with it can often come new opportunities and horizons. Transitions can often lead to a loss of hope and moments of despair. There can be much fear in the midst of uncertainty and change; however, our faith calls us to be willing to take the first step as we move forward. In the Gospel of Luke Jesus tells Peter and the disciples to “Put out into deep water…Duc in altum (LK 5: 4).” Even though they had labored all night and caught nothing, the disciples respond in faith, trusting in the Lord they haul in a great catch. Pope Francis reminds us that the heart of Christianity is found in the continuing encounter with the Lord; we cannot give away what we do not have.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, we do not have the resources to do everything we want or need to do. This means we must identify priorities, apportioning our resources, and focusing our efforts and energies on that which matters. Part of my role as the senior pastoral leader is to engage all of us to collaborate in our efforts to continue Jesus’ mission as we seek to live out our calling to be disciples.
To that end I propose that we focus on four priorities:
Priority One: Enhancing the Sunday assembly for Holy Mass (give attention to the four H’s).
This begins with a greater understanding and appreciation of Sunday as the day of worship. In the 1998 Apostolic Letter from Saint Pope John Paul II, Dies Domini (“The Lord’s Day”) is a “to the bishops, clergy and faithful of the Catholic Church on keeping the Lord’s Day holy.” It affirms the important role of Sunday in the life of the believer, and the vital part Eucharist plays in the context of the Sunday Sabbath. It expresses concern that the significance of a Sabbath day not be obscured by the separation of the celebration of Eucharist from the traditional morning observance.
Dies Domini states: “whenever the community gathers to celebrate the Eucharist, it announces the death and resurrection of the Lord, in the hope of His glorious return. The supreme manifestation of this is the Sunday assembly. This is the day of the week on which, by apostolic tradition, the Paschal Mystery is celebrated in the Eucharist in a special way.
Brothers and Sisters, our first challenge is to get people in the pews, especially our Single service members and young families. Once here we must ensure that they will want to return. To do that, we have to offer an experience that is spiritually speaking, attractive and satisfying.
I have a background in liturgical studies, so I have always had a deep appreciation to enhancing our liturgical celebrations as much as we can. Even in the field, I make Soldiers sing! Towards that end, we need to enhance the experience by attention to what I call the four H’s:
- Hospitality – How we greet people (or fail to) and the tone we set from the moment that young Family or Soldier steps foot in the door is important. Hospitality is more than handing out a bulletin or taking up an offering. It is helping the young couple with children in-tow to find a seat where they don’t need to crawl over those sitting at the end of the pew. It’s the smiling presence, and welcoming tone, that conveys “we’re happy you’re here.”
- Hymns – Music is essential to good liturgy. The musician’s role is to assist the real choir, which is the assembly gathered to worship, to find their voice. For the assembly to truly praise God in song the music must be known and sing-able by the congregation – there’s a reason traditional chant and hymnody have been preserved in the Catholic liturgy.
- Homily – While this is primarily in the “priests only” lane in delivery, the faithful share in the responsibility to listen for a nugget from the readings and homily, and to discuss these at home. Central to the homily is the proclamation of the Word of God that leads up to it. Our Lectors need to understand they have the power to proclaim a “Word that will rouse others,” or put them to sleep!
- How we celebrate Holy Mass (Worship) – To get the most out of our worship we need to be present! Presence is not just showing up to mass and going through the motions. We need to be attentive and present to others in the assembly and most of all present to the Divine Presence in and among us. We need to embrace the many forms liturgy takes. Our Sunday worship is the most important activity the Church does. It is “the source and summit from which our entire Christian life is flows and is directed back to.” While the community can take on many things, the Sunday celebration is the #1 it is the foundation. Our worship needs to be reverent and prayerful. We create this reverence by arriving on time, staying through the recessional song, and especially, by participating actively and fully in the liturgy.
Priority Two: Strengthening programs for on-going education in the faith.
Flowing from the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is nurturing lifelong formation in faith. As many of you know the Catholic Religious Education coordinator contract recently ended. I want to acknowledge appreciation for all Michelle did in the community for many years. Across the Army these contracts are are going away – this is not just a matter of fiscal constraints – these contracts were challenged as potentially violations of the Anti Deficiency Act.
This decision meant we had to look at other options. Change can mean new opportunities to think about what religious education and faith formation might look like. To this end this year we will begin a program of Family based catechesis that places greater importance on the Domus Ecclesia – the Domestic Church as the center of faith development. Why make this choice? Because, as the Church teaches, parents are the first and foremost educators in the faith for their children. We will bolster our family faith formation with classes that will meet twice per month for those in second grade preparing for First Holy Communion and for our high school age children who are preparing for Confirmation.
Faith formation cannot be the exclusive responsibility of priests or deacons, or catechists. The priesthood of believers calls all to the work of the vineyard, each according to their gifts. We also need to better catechize the parents of our RE students, who more often than not, have been under catechized themselves. For this reason our Family Family centerd faith formation will bring families together once a month to assist equip you and help you to facilitate faith centered conversations in the home.
Priority Three: Teaching stewardship as a way of life.
Stewardship is a way of life that Jesus taught to his followers by his words and example. As my bishop so eloquently articulated in his letter to me when he confirmed his permission for me to remain on active duty: “Stewardship acknowledges that we do not own anything. Everything – who we are, what we have, and what we can do – is on loan from God. All is entrusted by God to us for our management or administration.” Stewardship reminds us of the need to be grateful to God! Why? Because we are trusted to serve as caretakers. And we manage God’s property according to God’s good pleasure: To provide for ourselves and our dependents what is needed to live in human dignity. We are also called to share with the Church for its mission, and with people who cannot provide for or protect themselves.
To that end, I would like to propose a more deliberate attempt to be sensitive to our need to share. We need to cultivate a culture of stewardship, I invite everyone look for opportunities to in acts of stewardship by serving in our community and sharing your gits for the good of the Church. Stewardship must be more than just throwing a few dollars in the collection basket each Sunday.
Priority Four: Promoting the vocations of sacramental marriage and priesthood and consecrated religious life.
Vocations begin in the home with the faith formation of our children, they are nourished in the celebration of the Holy Mass, developed through the attitude of stewardship, and are brought to fruition by God’s continued work in the Church and the lives of those he calls. It is for that reason that the ordination rite contains the words “May he who began the good work in you bring it to fulfillment.” One way we might intentionally foster the vocations of Marriage, priesthood and religious life, and the single life is through multi generational faith formation that takes place at home and which encourages Families to eat and pray together for a greater awareness their vocation.
Archbishop Jackels used to tell the priests of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, “Seminarians are like garlic in cooking or incense at Mass: more is better! We need more seminarians because we need more priests. And we need more priests to ensure that now, and in the future, we can fully practice our faith.” We need to not only pray for vocations, but we must talk to our children about the importance of the vocations and marriage, and with our sons, also about the priesthood. We need to invite young men to consider God’s plan for their life. We need to talk positively to our children about priesthood and religious life and the importance of sacramental marriage.
As we look to the future with eyes of faith and hearts filled with hope I would like to offer a draft mission statement:
“May we in the USAG Wiesbaden Holy Family Catholic Community become a school of prayer and share Jesus’ Love” with all whom we encounter (especially the poor, the marginalized, the divorced, the down-and-out, those who hurt others because of their own past hurts, and all in need of spiritual healing) to build the kingdom of God through true Christian discipleship”
Draft Mission Statement
Transitions are always challenging and can be filled with anxiety as well as hope. I would ask you all to remain flexible as we move through the transition season. Should you have any questions or concerns I would ask you to address these specifically with me and I will do my best to provide you with an answer. Communities are never well served when there is gossip, disunity and division.
For this reason, we must partner together to continue the mission of Jesus and the mission of the Jesus and the Church in the world. This is not our permanent home, we live in a liminal reality – between the here and now, and that which is to come.
My dear friends in Christ, we cannot stand by as passive onlookers! We cannot expect someone else to do it! There is something each of us can do. I encourage each of you to pray, think, talk about these priorities with each other, and strategize how we can carry them out in our community; for the glory of God, the salvation of souls, and the authentic development of the human person in particular, as well as the larger society in which we live. May it be so! Amen.