Reflections" regarding THE PATH TO COMMUNION (continued) Prayer  ~~  "Come Spirit of Love!  Come that we may be one, as the Father and You are One.  One united with You!     One united through our Baptism in FAITH and in LOVE!"

Renewing parishes

OUR LOCAL PARISH IS A 
VITAL CENTER 
OF  
CATHOLIC LIFE  ~~

It is where we come to be continually instructed and enlightened through  the Word of God  and  the traditions of our Faith.   It is where we find time to meet with our fellow Catholics and take part in social activities and programs that help to foster and strengthen the life of our faith community.

It is where we gather together  to celebrate the Eucharist

and be refreshed by partaking of the  Sacraments of our  Catholic Faith.

Pope John Paul II feels that not only the CHURCH IN AMERICA, 
but the CATHOLIC CHURCH throughout the world is experiencing certain obstacles in fulfilling its mission of being a privileged place where we may concretely experience the CHURCH! 

We must keep in mind that each parish has its own unique needs because each one is made up of different people, different attitudes and different social economic conditions.

Our Holy Father reminds us that our parishes  MUST be EUCHARISTIC COMMUNITIES.

 This means that "...PARISHES ARE CALLED TO BE
WELCOMING AND FRATERNAL PLACES 
of Christian initiation of education in and celebration of the faith,
OPEN to the full range of charisms, services and ministries,
ORGANIZED in a communal and responsible way,
CAPABLE of utilizing existing movements of the apostolate,
ATTENTIVE to the cultural diversity of the people,
OPEN to pastoral projects which go beyond the individual parish, and
ALERT to the world in which they live." 

Our Pope feels that special attention should be given to parishes in large urban areas because they may find it more difficult to fulfill the above attributes than suburban or rural parishes.

That is why some suburban parishes have financially and spiritually "adopted" a poorer inner-city parish in order to help them to better meet the above criteria.

He also suggests that small church communities and groups should be formed so that more personal relationships could be fostered.  

In that way, each parish becomes a loving "community of smaller communities and movements."  

A parish that has fulfilled its mission of being a privileged place where we may concretely experience the CHURCH 
is one that has been 'renewed'. 

This type of parish is able to be a source of great hope to other parishes 
because 
"...it can GATHER people in community, 
ASSIST family life, 
OVERCOME the sense of anonymity, 
WELCOME people 
and 
HELP them to be involved in their neighborhood and in society."  
Because a renewed parish fosters a more personal evangelization these parishes are able to cooperate better with other social, educational and community work. 

A renewed parish also needs the help of the lay people  and for them to be involved.

It is necessary for the CHURCH IN AMERICA   to be one with a missionary spirit   meaning one which reaches out  in order to HELP OTHERS who are geographically far from us.

It is through our local parishes that we are able to experience the

UNIVERSAL CHURCH  ~~ 

ITS LIFE,
ITS TEACHINGS
and
OPPORTUNITIES of GRACE.