It has been quite a while since I have
written a “Log” for the bulletin or posted to my blog “Exploring
the Kingdom ( http://etk-essays.blogspot.com/
). The bulletin has been pretty full and we wanted to publish many
of Sr. Anne Rehraur's columns on the new translation of the Roman
Missal.
Lots of good things are going on in our
community and there are lots of important questions facing us as we
welcome the new translation. So, where are we headed?
Bishop Ricken's recent Pastoral Letter
“Parishes: Called to be Holy, Fully Engaged, Fully Alive” is
providing a foundational structure for our pastoral planning. This
year, both the staff and the Pastoral Councils will be reading
through this document as we plan for the future. If you would like a
copy of if for yourself, you can find one in the back of church. The
Bishop's document has 6 focus areas and we have been asked to take
one or two of these areas each year to focus on and work on
developing our ministry in that area. The areas are:
- Evangelization
- Youth, young adults, and family
- Leadership
- Education
- Eucharist
- Dignity of Human Life
These focus areas will help set the
agenda for the next 5-7 years. This year, in light of the new
translation, we are engaging in the area of “Sunday Eucharist and
Sacramental Life” as a pastoral focus area. Bishop Ricken has
asked us to begin making plans to have kneelers put into the worship
space at St. Rose. We have begun that process. Another issue we
discussed at our annual meeting was the placement of the tabernacle
at St. Rose. We are having Sr. Anne come out after the first of the
year to discuss this with us. St. Mary's is continuing to discuss
how to best take care of our sanctuary and stained glass windows. As
we also look beyond issues of brick and mortar, in what other ways
can we make Sunday the “highlight of our week” as Bishop Ricken
recommends? How can we better become parishes that are “Holy,
Fully Engaged, and Fully Alive”? This is our task. How are we
doing?
Peace,
Lincoln
