June 22nd Pastor's Message
- Communications AllSaints
- Jun 21
- 2 min read
Read this week's message from Father Don
Dear friends,
It is nearing the end of the “programming year” and already my attention is turned to the parish initiatives that will begin after Labour Day. What should the parish be doing in September? There are so many areas of parish life that would benefit from improvement, but what should be our priorities?
In answering these questions I try to apply a few basic principles:
We have limited resources and so must focus our energies on a small number of initiatives that are most likely to move us toward our parish goal i.e. leading parishioners and non-parishioners into a close relationship with Jesus and His Church.
“People before programs.” Before selecting a program or initiative we must decide who we are trying to reach and what we are trying to do for them. For example, if we wish to get elementary school families to attend Sunday mass more frequently we must organize initiatives suitable to that audience and that goal. Probably, an analysis of why they are not attending mass would also be helpful.
Everything begins with personal relationships. Whether we are trying to improve our worship or recruit volunteers or teach parishioners about Jesus, the starting place is always relationship-building. People must know that we care about them before they will be willing to listen to us and get involved with what we propose.
Start with the leaders. The parish staff cannot run things on their own. Every parish initiative requires a small group of committed leaders willing to take charge of organizing it.
Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Parish ministry in the 21st C. is very complicated. There are so many needs and often we don't know where to start. Calling upon the Holy Spirit day in and day out helps us to not become overwhelmed and sometimes clarifies how we ought to proceed.
On the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, let us enter into the sacrifice of Jesus, uniting ourselves to Him who gave everything out of love for us and invited us to share in his saving work.
My thoughts on Pastor's Message: Committed leaders should exhibit genuine behaviours. For example, they need to balance confidence with humility. They need to listen more than they speak, They are not self-righteous. They need to embrace vulnerability. .