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February 19,2017

In 1993, the US Bishops published a document entitled Communities of Salt and Light, and it was a reflection on the nature and mission of a parish. In that document the bishops remind us that "The parish is where the Church lives. Parishes are communities of faith, of action, and of hope. They are where the Gospel is proclaimed and celebrated, where believers are formed and sent to renew the earth. Parishes are the home of the Christian community; they are the heart of our Church. Parishes are the place where God's people meet Jesus in word and sacrament and come in touch with the source of the Church's life." (n1)

Twenty years later, our Holy Father Pope Francis observed: "The Church is the salt of the earth, she is the light of the world. She is called to make present in society the leaven of the Kingdom of God and she does this primarily with her witness, the witness of brotherly love, of solidarity and of sharing with others."

As we continue to listen to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in today’s gospel, we continue to hear our Lord’s thoughts on what a community of believers (aka, a parish) might look like. All three of these insights are pertinent for us today at Our Lady of Lourdes, and over these past months, parish staff and leadership have been exploring - in different ways and using different tools - ways in which we might grow and develop as a parish community… all the while remaining faithful to our roots and mindful of our connectedness to a church much bigger than ourselves. Over a year ago, I received an invitation to have Our Lady of Lourdes join a learning cohort of 12 parishes from across the country in a process facilitated by a group called Parish Catalyst. We have been exploring best practices from engaging and vibrant parishes from across the country, and we have been considering applications which might be suitable for us, here in our own parish in Northridge. No two parishes are the same, but we can certainly learn from one another and from one another’s experience.

Participating in the Parish Catalyst process has been an occasion of grace and blessing for us. We have enjoyed and benefitted from being part of a wonderful “learning group” with parishes from Texas, New England, the Mid-west, Alabama, Florida, Arizona and California. When we gather together there is a great synergy as ideas flow and skilled facilitators guide us through processes designed to get our creative juices flowing and to have us dream about possibilities for our parish becoming all it can be for us, as a community of believers. Much of our work together is sharing our experiences, and learning from one another. However, an essential component of our work at Parish Catalyst is to anticipate, to look forward, to grow more and more into whatever God calls us to be as his people, as his Catholic Church Community here in Northridge.

Trying to tease out what it meant to be a follower of Jesus two thousand years ago is only one part of our own commitment as his followers today. We must also work on figuring out what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in the here-and-now of our own lives, in 2017. That’s the “so what?” question… and “So what?” is arguably the most pertinent theological question of our lives.

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