Introduction to our New Pastoral Council January 2009 to January 2012
This weekend it is my responsibility to introduce the new Parish Pastoral Council which came into being at the beginning of this year and will serve for a three year term. The formality will take place at 11 Mass.
Pastoral Councils were mandated in the diocese four years ago. In terms of the history of the Church they are somewhat new, and as for all of us and as with life, there is a journey involved and Pastoral Councils are at the beginning of their journey. We don’t quite know where that journey will lead us. The leader in this case is the Holy Spirit. So we can trust the journey. But we can only describe the part of the journey that is before us at this time.
At different stages of the history of the Church different things get emphasis as to the way the Church understands itself. In our time, collaboration is a key term to understand how the Church needs to be now to fit the circumstances of our time. Collaboration between all members of the Church, whether Pope, Bishops, Priests, People and Parishes so that we can maximise our resources. Another key term is mission. We are all sent out from every Mass on mission to revitalise the Church in our neighbourhood.
When I came into the priesthood most priests did not see themselves as team players. They were for the most part lone rangers doing their own thing in their own patch. That has all changed. Priests in the Dublin diocese who want to work in Parishes now have to sign up to the fact that all ministry, from now on, will mainly be team style in practice. If you don’t see yourself as a team member there is a problem. The Holy Spirit is blowing us all in that direction whether we want to go or not.
All these terms, ministry, mission, teamwork, collaboration, partnership apply to the Pastoral Council. In ten years time it is very unlikely that there will be a priest dedicated fulltime to one parish. Already appointments in the diocese are being made across clusters of parishes. We will be doing well if in ten years time there will be two priests who will be as old as I will be then to work across the three Parishes of our cluster, where we have seven churches. Every Parish does need a properly constituted Pastoral Council, if it is to survive in the new circumstances ahead. Every Parish will not have a resident priest.
The coming into being of a new Pastoral Council is a very significant step in the life of the Parish. Our Pastoral Council consists of fourteen members, twelve parishioners along with Fr Paddy and myself. Six members are elected and six are selected. The experience of the first Pastoral Council was very positive. I am looking forward to what will come our way through the ministry of our new Pastoral Council. Our collective task is to provide pastoral leadership and share pastoral responsibility for the Parish and we do so mindful of our neighbours in Ballymore and Dunlavin Parishes. We have begun to establish links with these neighbours with a view to sharing resources, planning joint initiatives and learning from each other.
The members of the pastoral council are the eyes and ears of the Parish. A team of fourteen can do more than one or two individuals. Each member must have care for the whole Parish community, taking a community view of issues and focusing on what is the best option for the whole Parish.
By virtue of Baptism we all share in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ, whether ordained or lay. Members of the Pastoral Council are by definition baptised, confirmed and nourished by the Eucharist.
The Pastoral Council is concerned with issues that affect the lives of Parishioners rather than the administration or financial management of the Parish. Areas of pastoral concern, which particularly affect the Pastoral Council, are the same pastoral activities as those which apply to the Parish Priest which are described in the documents of Vatican II and the Code of Canon Law. They consist as follows:
• The proclamation of the Word of God
• Faith formation and catechesis
• Liturgy, justice and peace
• Family life
• Evangelisation
• Caring for the sick and poor
• Encouraging Parishioners to become actively involved in the mission of the Church
This is not a comprehensive list. That list is constantly evolving. The Pastoral Council is concerned with fulfilling the mission of Christ in the local community at this time and attending to all that affects the faith life of that community at the present moment.
The bottom line is: who is going to carry forward the mission of this Parish at this time? Who is going to dream and plan the future of the Parish of Kilcullen? Collectively and individually, that’s the task of the Pastoral Council. And we do not work in a vacuum. We are not an isolated unit. Rather we are part of a diocese which is part of the universal Church, that great reality we define as the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
We meet once a month. Ongoing training and formation and reflection are vital to keep us up to speed for the task.
Prayer is central to the work and life of the Pastoral Council as its source of inspiration and vision. This is not book-end prayer that opens and closes meetings, but prayer that aims to change hearts and minds, prayer that sincerely searches out the mind of God in relation to the needs of this Parish at this time.’ If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the builders labour.’