The Catholic Moment Article

At the time that I am writing this article, two weeks have passed since Bishop Doherty’s Uniting in Heart: 2030 Pastoral Plan was presented at six locations across the diocese over a period of 3 days. While I am not a person to dwell on the past, it is good to reflect on our experiences and allow them to form our thinking as we move forward.

Reflecting on the deanery meetings where the 2030 Pastoral Plan was presented, provides me with some insight as to what the road ahead looks like for us as we begin to live the pastoral plan. One particularly important thought that I’ve considered comes from Bishop Doherty’s introductory comments at the start of each meeting. Bishop Doherty reminded us that Uniting in Heart is all about Jesus Christ. As our bishop, it is his responsibility to care for all the people within the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana by bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ in its entirety to the people.

Bishop Doherty’s words shouldn’t be lost in the complexity of the data shared during the two-plus hours that we gathered as a community of faith to learn about the plan.  During the meetings, we discussed the strengths, concerns and opportunities for improving the plan.  Our conversations were very much about the “how”.  How do we embrace and live out the three pillars of Mission, Com-munity and Witness that are key to the Pastoral Plan?  How do we go about sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ to others? How do we foster prayer and worship opportunities in our own lives so that we can more closely align ourselves with Jesus? How do we find ways to bring vibrancy and vitality to the communities of faith in our dio-cese, and not just specific parishes or schools? In exploring the “how” we can sometimes dwell on previous life experiences and overlook what we are being called to do in the here and now. We are being called to fulfill our Baptismal promises to be disciples of Christ.

The experience I took from the meetings was one of hopefulness. I am energized that this plan will allow us to live our faith lives as Christ asked of us. I am also confident that we are being guided by the Holy Spirit to realize the fulfillment of our calling. This hope and confidence comes from the conversations that were shared at the meetings. It comes from knowing that a door of opportunity is being opened by the 2030 Pastoral Plan to bring a new vibrancy to our faith communities by sharing the Word of God.  More than once it was expressed that many parishioners came to the meetings with some anxiety, but left with a feeling of anticipation of the good that would come from making the 2030 Pastoral Plan come to life. For those of you that are still feeling some anxiety and apprehension, I ask you to reflect on the Gospel of Luke (Luke 10:1-12, 170-20) from the recent Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. It comes to us at a particularly poignant time. 

In the Gospel, Jesus is sending out seventy-two disciples ahead of himself, in pairs to prepare the people for his arrival. They went forth equipped not with worldly things but only with what Jesus had taught them. They spread the Good News and returned rejoicing.

This is a poignant time for us because we are the seventy-two being asked to live out the role of disciples doing what Christ has always asked of us—to accept his grace and play our rightful role in building up his Church on earth. We might be anxious about the call we are hearing through the 2030 Pastoral Plan. Certainly, the disciples that Christ sent out must have been anxious as well!  Still, by the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives they found the courage necessary to take those first steps into the communities around them doing as Jesus asked of them. As we continue to contemplate the 2030 Pastoral Plan may we be open to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and open to how Christ is asking each of us to contribute to spreading the Good News to all people.