Go Make Disciples Wrap 12 Dec 2021

catholicweekly.com.au 2 D uring the lockdown most of us placed myriad work and personal activities on hold. Despite the hard- ships of lockdown many peo- ple commented to me that they found the restrictions had liberated them from the relentless activity in which they were usually engaged and which our culture seems to demand of us. Sometimes the culture can overpower the still, small voice in our deci- sion-making, a dynamic ex- perienced strongly on social media. Our criteria for wheth- er to engage in something is in danger of being flipped from ‘Is the activity good in and of itself?’ to ‘Will it look good to others?’ What has any of this to do with the renewal of our Building the Tower of Babel or parishes? As it turns out, a great deal. When it comes to parish renewal our question should be: ‘How do we make decisions which will not sim- ply lead to the sating of our culture’s appetite for activity (or perhaps quell our own anxiety) but instead actual- ly lead to participating in the superabundant fruitfulness promised by God?’ Or to put it more simply: ‘What actions will really lead to the renewal of our parishes?’ Scripture has helpful in- sights about this. The story of the tower of Babel can be read as a cautionary tale about re- newal. In this narrative the people of the plain of Shinar faced the problem of being “scattered about the whole earth” (Gen 11:4). Their anx- iety is not so different from our real post-lockdown con- cerns about whether people will remain scattered or re- turn to Mass. The solution of the tower-builders was to immediately make plans to save themselves: “let us make bricks and bake them in the fire”, “let us build ourselves a town and a tower with its top reaching heaven”, “let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen 11:4). Wow, all that activity! I guess that is going to solve their problem! Well, no. Unsurprisingly their self-reliant and impru- dent attempt to save them- selves fails and results in fur- ther fragmentation of their community. This is because the people of Shinar have made their plans without God, a point made plain by the writer’s wry remark about God making a ‘visit’ to see the town and the tower. This is what Bishop Barron calls participating in the ego-dra- ma which ‘I’ write and direct, and in which I star, rather than theo-drama, which God writes and directs, and in which He invites me to play a role. The ego-drama is not fruitful. Fr Jacques Philippe reminds us that “all the good we can do comes from God and from Him alone: Apart from Me, you can do nothing, Jesus said (Jn 15:5). He did not say, ‘you can’t do much’ but you can do nothing.” This is consonant with the words of the psalmist: “If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the labourers work” (Ps 127:1). By contrast, God’s plans, which can seem pretty coun- ter-intuitive to us, are dispro- portionately fruitful. With an irony characteristic of God’s way, the psalmist tells us that people who implement their own plans will merely work longer and longer hours, while those who cooperate with the Lord will be blessed by Him even while they sleep (Ps 127:2). We see this kind of blessing on the efforts of the saints who produce incredi- ble fruit through obedience to and trust in God’s plans. Take St Therese of Lisieux. Despite never becoming a great ac- tive missionary in the way she envisaged, and spending her life in a cloistered convent be- fore dying at age 24, the Little Flower’s life and writings have made her one of the most in- fluential saints in recent cen- turies and now, ironically, a patron saint of missionaries. Don’t we want this kind of fruitfulness for our parishes? If we do, then we must resist engaging in activity for its own sake, as demanded by our culture or our own anx- ious need to do something to address the problems we can see, and instead discern how to participate in what God is asking of us. Does this mean that we should never do any- thing? No! Or that we should sit around endlessly ponder- ing the perfect solution and never carrying anything out? Of course not! Go Make Dis- ciples gives guidance for are- Elizabeth Arblaster Without our eyes on Godwemay buildmonuments to our egos rather than true parish renewal. IMAGE:WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 4.0 Investing in outreach Catholics of Bondi parishes deepen their faith and take on leadership INVESTING IN parishion- ers to be lay leaders in today’s secular world is money very well spent, according to Bon- di’s Fr Anthony Robbie. The parish priest of the iconic seaside suburb has taken advantage of a pilot program, organised by the Sydney Centre for Evangelisa- tion to provide the formation of parishioners to serve in key groups and ministries within the parish. Subsidised by the Centre, Fr Robbie has selected three members from his parish to undertake the Foundations of Missionary Leadership course at the Arete Centre in 2022, which he hopes will produce “energised, focused, enthusi- astic and capable evangelical agents in his parish”. He said reorienting our parishes onto a new evangel- ical footing is “a matter of par- ish life or death”. “Evangelisation is the ab- solute crux of parish life, we simply can’t survive without it,” he said. “Every priest is the same, we wish there were 48 hours in each day, as it’s simply not practical for the priest to have sole responsibility of the evangelical and apostol- ic works of the Church and it never was, so what we are do- ing is restoring the apostolate of the laity. “These parishioners going through the program will car- ry forward innovative and sin- cere means of outreach to the young church as well as the renewal of current parishion- ers to increase their enthusi- asm and practice of the faith. “It really is money well spent, you can’t put a price on it, even if it cost a lot more, it would be a wonderful bar- gain.” Bondi teacher Marcia Da Costa said being selected to take part in the programwas a “God send”. One of three parishioners selected, she said the GoMake Disciples Mission Plan was ideal for people like her who was “luke warm in their faith and needed to be reminded of the message of Jesus in their lives”. “After a few family issues, I did a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 2019, as I was feeling empty inside and felt a calling to go to the Holy land,” she said. “My faith was rekindled af- ter lots of soul searching and then I met Father Robbie at Bondi Parish. “He kept in contact with me regularly during COVID, checking up on how I was go- ing and the sense of loneliness and isolation seemed less and more manageable. “I felt this calling from God to do more since I knew Father has a big job to do in our Parish. It was time to stop sitting as a bystander and use the gifts bestowed upon me to help out in whatever way that I can.” Parish Renewal Manag- er Elizabeth Arblaster said the Archdiocese is blessed to have the Arete Centre on its doorstep and that it was great to see so many clergy take this opportunity to support the formation of people who serve in key leadership posi- tions. The Sydney Centre for Evangelisation’s Digital and Design team has also provid- ed support to the parish in de- signing a new parish logo and updating its website. At top: Parish priest of Bondi Parish, Fr Anthony Robbie. Inset: St Anne’s Church at Bondi PHOTOS: GIOVANNI PORTELLI I felt this calling fromGod to do more since I knew Father has a big job to do in our Parish. It was time to stop sitting as a bystander and use the gifts bestowed upon me to help out.” Marcia Da Costa ¾ Debbie Cramsie Design team leader, Peter Rodrigues said it has been a great pleasure to work with Fr Robbie and his parish. “Fr Robbie has a passion- ate commitment to parish renewal and we have greatly enjoyed working with him and look towards a continued partnership in 2022”.