I think it is true to say that despite all the changes in society and despite all the changes in the church, the parish for the average Catholic continues to be hugely important.
It is their home away from home. It is their haven of support and validation. It is a precious spiritual resource and faith resource for all. Researchers Robert D. Putnam and Chaeyoon Lim say, “Faith in a higher power associated with religion has been used as a way to lower stress, reduce depression and promote happiness.”
The parish is a precious structure that opens up the soul to the divine. It is a sacred structure where there is an inestimable and inextricable connection between people. It is where we find a great assortment of people ministering to one another in a selfless and caring way.
The parish is a focal point of faith. It is a focal point of celebration, of faith formation, of spiritual growth, of reconciliation.
The parish is where we are baptized. It is where we receive our first holy Communion. It is where we are confirmed. It is where we are married. It is where we are buried. Through the sacraments, we bring breadth and depth to our spiritual life. It is the path to self-spiritual realization for the whole community.
The parish is where we experience the joy of our children being baptized; of being confirmed in the Holy Spirit; of couples being sacramentally married; of our sins being forgiven; of church vocations being prayed for; of our sick being comforted; of our dying being reassured; of our dead being reverently buried.
The parish is a core cell of the church. It is a living cell in the Body of Christ. It is where the universal church comes into being. It is where the spiritual needs of God’s people are cared for. All are equally sacred. It is grounded and founded in the sacrament of baptism.
The parish is fundamentally people. It is where we care about one another. It is where people are comfortable with one another. It is where we greet one another by name. From their research Putnam, a Harvard public policy professor, and Lim, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, say, “Church friends are super-charged friends but we have no idea why.”
The parish is people desiring to know God. It is people desiring to love God. It is people desiring to serve God. And, in the knowing, in the loving, and in serving God they bond with each other and establish lasting friendships.
The parish is parents bringing their children to Mass every Sunday. It is parents praying with their children. It is parents modeling how to live well. It is children growing into moral and faith-filled adults. It is families becoming immersed in a Christian value system.
The parish is where we pray. It is where we pray for healthy family life. It is where we pray for a greater regard for morality. It is where we pray for a greater reverence for human life. It is where we pray for more peace and justice in our parish and in our world. It is where we pray for freedom of religious liberty.
The parish is the older generation of people who have raised families in the faith offering the example of their lives in support and encouragement to the new generation of Catholics. The new generation of Catholics loves to imitate and emulate our seniors who have journeyed the path.
The parish is people coming together in Small Christian Communities to share their faith. It is there they pray. It is where they support one another. It is where they empathetically listen to one another. It is where they make new friends.
The parish is women knitting shawls for the sick and dying. The parish is men and women witnessing their faith in our religious education program. The parish is the bereavement committee reaching out to those who have lost a loved one. The parish is the Knights of Columbus who have many years of promoting reverence for human life and generous service to our faith community.
The parish is musicians and leaders of song helping us to find God in our liturgies. It is ushers, lectors, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, and those who take holy Communion to our sick and elderly. It is sharing our unique gifts and time for the greater good of the total faith-community.
The parish is women who wash altar linens and clean the church. It is the Sunday hospitality volunteers and the St. Vincent de Paul Society who bring food and life to the poor and needy. It is living like Jesus. It is hearing the call to social justice. It is the movement from self-absorption to concern for others.
The parish is parishioners who have a focus on the poor; the sick; the hungry; the homeless; the homebound and the dying. Like Jesus, they believe that we will always have those who are in need of our care and generosity. “Christianity’s emphasis on charitable acts and positive relationships with one’s neighbor leads to a more positive mental outlook” as Putnam and Lim have found.
The parish is where we uncover a God vision of what life can be. It is where we learn that the well-being of each individual is not separate from the well-being of all others in the community. We become inspired to live for the greater good of the whole community. We delve into selfless service to others.
The parish is the Parish Pastoral Council and the Parish Finance Council. It is the raffle committee and the golf committee who do so much to build community. It is the collection counters and all who volunteer their time, talent and treasure. It is where good stewardship is lived.
The parish is the Women’s Club who do much bonding and out-reaching both within and outside the parish confines. It is our Small Christian Communities where our participants harmonize their physical, emotional and spiritual selves. Their empathic listening to one another along with the breath of the Spirit transforms the whole community.
The parish is people leading other people to God. God is reaching down to touch humanity through loving human beings who care about one another. It is where interpersonal ties are strengthened. It is where community is born through prayer and parish breakfasts and suppers. Putnam and Lim advise, “The sermons should be shorter and more suppers should be sponsored.”
The parish proclaims what researchers have discovered, “People who frequently attend religious services are more satisfied with their lives not because they have more friends overall but because they have more friends in their congregations.”
Msgr. Thomas J. Morgan is a retired pastor.
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