This week:
"A parish in the Diocese of Lansing makes and forms missionary disciples by offering much greater access to sacraments and devotions."
Realign Resources for Mission Principle 3.1
July 15, 2021
Feast of St. Bonaventure
Dear Friend,
Happy Feast of Saint Bonaventure! The great 13th century Franciscan, who hailed from the town of Bagnoregio to the north of Rome, is often regarded as the second founder of his religious order. Like all saints, Bonaventure's life of prayer and piety was rooted in the devotions and sacraments of the Church and, especially, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. As he once wrote:
“The Mass is a compendium of all God's love, of all His benefits to men, and each Mass bestows on the world a benefit not less than what was conferred on it by the Incarnation."
Given the centrality to devotions and the sacraments to our own attempt to become saints, as part of communities of missionary disciples, how will the Realign Resources for Mission process help us in that regard? That's the topic of today's Weekly Update. Hence, you can:
Read Father Karl Pung, Rector of Saint Mary Cathedral, as he attempts to answer that key question;
Watch Father Bob Bacik, the new pastor of Saint Gerard in Lansing and member of the RRM committee, giving his thoughts on the matter, and then;
Pray this Friday for the work of the Realign Resources for Mission committee and, especially, for these two special intentions:
* This Saturday's meeting, July 17, with the deacons of the Diocese of Lansing in Brighton to discuss the latest developments in the Realign Resources for Mission process.
* The Realign Resources for Mission committee’s next meeting on Monday, July 19. when we'll attempt to schedule the forthcoming regional meetings that will allow all of us to have our say on the latest RRM plans.
Your prayers are both necessary and appreciated. Thank you.
Yours in Christ,
Deb Amato,
Chief of Staff,
Diocese of Lansing
"A parish in the Diocese of Lansing makes and forms missionary disciples by offering much greater access to sacraments and devotions."
Realign Resources for Mission Principle 3.1
by
Father Karl Pung,
Rector of Saint Mary Cathedral, Lansing
Dear Friend,
With fewer priests are we really going to have more sacramental ministry and more devotions? No, we are not going to have more Masses. We are, however, striving to have greater access to the sacramental and devotional life of the Church. How can that happen?
As our reorganization gets rolled out, I anticipate that in the coming years, there are going to be fewer Masses but the times will be better scheduled. Think about this: Wouldn’t it be great if in a particular parish grouping that there would be both morning and evening Masses scheduled each day, spread throughout the parishes? Does every parish need a morning Mass? Imagine being within 20-minutes of an evening daily Mass!
Saint Mary Cathedral (my parish) has eliminated its weekday morning Masses because of both priest availability and the surrounding parishes all have morning Masses. The Cathedral has instead focused on our 12:05pm Mass which serves the downtown work crowd and those people for whom a morning Mass is not convenient. No one else in the area has a midday Mass. So we serve not just our parish, but the whole community. “Our” parishioners who want a morning Mass have many options in the area and I am glad they are being served by the neighboring parishes because…I am not in competition with the other parishes. All of the parishes are working toward the same goal: Becoming communities of Missionary Disciples.
Weekend liturgies within a grouping of parishes could be adjusted accordingly as well, based on the needs of the people. Those of you who have attended a Sunday evening Mass because that worked best for your schedule that day, mostly likely did so at a parish nearby that was not necessarily “your parish”. Cooperation among parishes for Mass and Confession times can work and, in little ways, is already working.
There are parishes that offer multiple times for Confession each week, and others that offer one hour or less of Confession per week. With priests being shared among multiple parishes there is likely to be more opportunities offered to celebrate the sacrament. Cooperating parishes are also likely to coordinate with one another so that there will be a greater diversity of times offered for that sacrament. As parishes become more accustomed to serving a wider area than just their particular boundaries, parishioners too might feel freer to seek out the confession times at a nearby parish simply because that works better for them.
We want God’s people to have greater access to the sacraments because the sacraments feed our lives in Jesus Christ and deepen our connection to the Church. Those sacraments might not be in the traditional parish boundaries but they will be available in a greater diversity of times.
The same could be done for Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament or other particular devotions. Again, wouldn’t it be nice if on three different days of the week Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was offered in a group of parishes, instead of on just one day Exposition being offered at three different places. Other prayer groups for widows, the sick, or intercessory needs could also be coordinated and shared. There is a lot of room here for greater cooperation which could lead to greater access to the devotional life of the Church.
What those particular arrangements will look like will be up to the local parishes to decide. As we as individuals decide that we are not going to be in competition with one another, and with other parishes, but that we are going to be on a mission with them, the opportunities for growth and access will become multiplied.
Yours in Christ,
Father Karl Pung,
Rector, Saint Mary Cathedral, Lansing
Watch: Father Bob Bacik is the new pastor of Saint Gerard parish in Lansing. He is also a member of the Diocese of Lansing's Realign Resources for Mission Committee. In this short video, Father Bacik, gives his reflections upon the theme of this week's Realign Resources for Mission Weekly Update: "A parish in the Diocese of Lansing makes and forms missionary disciples by offering much greater access to sacraments and devotions."