Welcome to this week’s Realign Resources for Mission Weekly Update. Happy Feast of Saint Andrew Andrew Dũng-Lạc and Companions
As ever, this week we are exploring another of the principles, developed through prayer and study, which underpin the vision for realigning resources for mission across the Diocese of Lansing. Today:
"A healthy parish in the Diocese of Lansing ensures ongoing formation, mentoring and coaching for diocesan clergy," Realign Resources for Mission Principle 1.4
Read: A great article by Father Steve Mattson. Father Mattson is Pastor of the Church of the Resurrection and a member of the Realign Resources for Mission Committee.
Watch: A short video by Deacon Devon Wolfe. Deacon Wolfe serves the parish of Saint Mary Magdalen in Brighton and is also a member of the Realign Resources for Mission Committee.
Pray: As we begin our Thanksgiving Holiday, let us offer prayers of heartfelt gratitude to God Almighty for all the blessings he bestows upon us. Te Deum laudámus!
This week's Realign Resources for Mission Principle:
"A healthy parish in the Diocese of Lansing ensures ongoing formation, mentoring and coaching for diocesan clergy," Realign Resources for Mission Principle 1.4
With Father Steve Mattson,
Pastor, Church of the Resurrection, Lansing,
Member, Realign Resources for Mission Committee
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Feast of Saint Andrew Andrew Dũng-Lạc and Companions
Dear Friend,
All the priests who serve in our diocese, whenever or wherever they were formed, went through extended coursework and formation. When I went through seminary (2000-2005), the Program for Priestly Formation was guided by the 1992 Apostolic Exhortation of St. John Paul the Great, Pastores dabo vobis “I Will Give You Shepherds,” which focused “on the formation of priests in the circumstances of the modern day.” Priestly formation, Pope St. John Paul II made clear, has four dimensions: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral.
The Church, like the Lord, desires that priests be well-formed men, humanly speaking, first and foremost. (Grace builds on nature, after all!) Priests also need to be holy, prayerful men, if they are to be able to help others become holy and prayerful. Obviously, priests need also to have a good academic/intellectual preparation, so that they can engage hearts and minds, as they read the signs of the times, and strive to feed the flock from the table of the word. Priests need also, of course, to be pastoral, to know how to encourage and challenge the flock to live as missionary disciples of Christ. It goes without saying that every priest has a different combinations of gifts along these lines, but the Lord (and His Church) desires all priests to be well-formed.
Having been ordained now for sixteen years, it seems to me that seminaries are getting better in the process of formation. I was surprised by the developments and improvements I observed even across the five years I was in formation. By reports, it seems that formation efforts are getting better still. However good seminary formation is (or becomes), no seminary can “fully form” a priest. That’s because formation is a life-long process. No priest is completely formed by the time he is ordained.
Priests learn many practical things on the job, as they draw on the four aspects of their formation. Priests learn a tremendous amount from the people of God, from other ministers, priests, deacons, and lay ministers alike, as they begin their priestly ministry. But even years on, challenges present themselves to priests as they are called to navigate the various challenges they are presented with in ministry. For that reason, as is the case for every other professional, priests need ongoing formation, mentoring, and coaching.
Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne, The Last Supper, ca. 1678, Detroit Institute of Art
Some priests are already very intentional about continuing to learn as professionals, but others others have been less intentional or strategic on continuing to grow in their effectiveness as spiritual doctors. Because of the importance of priests in the life of the Church, the first principle in our vision for healthy parishes is the following: Healthy parishes are led by priests striving for health and holiness. One of the sub-points that helps flesh out that principle is the following: “Ongoing formation, mentoring and coaching is provided to diocesan clergy.”
Just as the entire vision for healthy parishes is focused on moving forward into greater excellence, faithfulness, and effectiveness, this aspect of the first principle underscores the need and our recognition of the need for priests to be continuously learning and growing in their skills and wisdom and practices. Given the humbling and great role that priests are invited by God to play in the lives of the faithful, we need to be reflective on the ways we can grow and become more effective ministers.
Ongoing formation, mentoring, and coaching will not just be available to priests, but the expectation for priests is that they will commit themselves to such reflection, learning, and growth. With this sort of continuing investment in our priests, and with the cooperation of priests with ongoing formation, mentoring, and coaching, we have reason to hope that our priests will, in fact, become healthier and holier. And as they grow, they will, by God’s grace and in cooperation with other ministers (lay and clergy alike), help parishes become healthier and holier. All with the goal that we will be a light in our world, pointing always only to the One High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yours in Christ,
Father Steve Mattson,
Pastor, Church of the Resurrection
Watch: The term "clergy" refers to those who have had Holy Orders conferred upon them: Bishops, priests and deacons. Hence, you are invited to watch this short video by Deacon Devon Wolfe on today's Realign Resources for Mission principle:
"A healthy parish in the Diocese of Lansing ensures ongoing formation, mentoring and coaching for diocesan clergy," Realign Resources for Mission Principle 1.4
Deacon Wolfe serves the parish of Saint Mary Magdalen in Brighton and is also a member of the Realign Resources for Mission Committee.
This Week's Friday Prayer Intention:
Pray with filial love in thanksgiving for all the graces and blessings Almighty God bestows upon each of us including the Incarnation of his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and the divine founding of His Holy Church. Te Deum laudámus! Amen.
Guidelines for Friday Prayer:
Prayer: At three o’clock each Friday afternoon pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To help with prayer, Eucharistic Adoration from Saint Mary Cathedral in Lansing will be live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook. If you can’t manage to pray at 3pm? Just say the Holy Rosary whenever you can.
Fasting: The present norms for fasting suggest that we eat no more than one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. It is also permissible to attempt a strict fast. A penitent’s age and health should always be taken into consideration before fasting.
Almsgiving: Giving alms is a “work of justice pleasing to God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462). Hence, each Friday we should donate money or goods to the poor or perform another act of charity. Let’s not reach sundown on a Friday without having poured out some of the content of our heart or our wallet or both during the day.
Catch Up: On Thursday, November 18, the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, the Diocese of Lansing's Realign Resources for Mission Committee published their key findings and recommendations.
In this video, above, Father Mathias Thelen, Chairman of the Realign Resources for Mission Committee, gives his overview of the publication. The committee's key findings and recommendations are now with Bishop Earl Boyea for prayerful consideration. You too can read them by clicking the link here:
Invitation: As the report above states, one of those who has influenced the thinking of the Realign Resources for Mission process is Father John Riccardo, below, Founder and Executive Director of ACTS XXIX, a non-profit apostolate that aims to equip clergy and laity for the challenges of the apostolic age in which we live.
The parish of Saint Martha in Okemos are hosting a talk by Father Riccardo next month and you are cordially invited to join them. The details:
"Getting Clarity on Mission” w/ Father John Riccardo
7pm on Monday, December 13, 2021
Saint Martha Parish, 1100 W Grand River Rd,
Okemos, MI 48864,
All very welcome.