South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, May 6, 1988 Page: 4 of 20
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May 6, 1988—4
SYNOD 88
BECOMING ONE BODY
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Second Diocesan Synod
The Parish
I. THEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF THE PAPISH
II.
THE PARISH AS A PEOPLE
m.
THE PARISH AND ITS MISSION
IV.
PARISH STRUCTURES AND ACTION IN
PROMOTING THE LIFE OF THE PARISH AS J
PEOPLE AND THE PARISH IN ITS MISSION
V.
THE PARISH AS TEACHER
VI.
THE PARISH AS A PRIESTLY AND
SANCTIFIH) PEOPLE
VII.
THE PARISH AND PASTORAL CARE
VIII.
CONCLUSION
I. THEOLOGY AMD HISTORY OF THE PARISH
1. The ancient story of God the
Father's love for His people reached its
heights in His sending Jesus, His Son, into
our world. It was Jesus' death and resurrec-
tion which Bade possible the transformation
of a fallen human nature into a new spiritual
existence and established a Kingdom of
sinners as the foundation of His Kingdom of
saints.
I. Our roots as a Church are in that
original calling of Apostles by Jesus and
In their being sent Into the world to pro-
claim the Good News of salvation to all
peoples of all tines (cf. Ht. 20:19-20 and
Jn. 20:21). Through our baptismal Initiation
Into the life of Christ Jesus, we have become
members of His Body, the Church. All of us,
whether ordained, in consecrated life, or
ajaong the laity, are marked by our Baptism as
disciples who share in that same apostolic
mission of proclaiming all that Jesus said
and did and continuing the ongoing work of
salvation.
3. Locally, the diocesan Church has
been concretized and actualized In numerous
neighborhood communities of the Christian
faithful called parishes. As the Greek
"parocbla" signifies, we are a "people in
exile", a pilgrim people who sojourn in a
foreign land as we are led by our Father to
our true home, the promised Kingdom of God
(cf. Phil. 3:20). But as we journey, we
offer support to one another and witness to
the world as did the early community of
Jerusalem. This primitive parish was like a
family, bound In loving service by God's Word
and Eucharist. 'These remained faithful to
the teaching of the apostles, to the brother-
hood, to the breaking of the bread, and to
the prayers. The faithful all lived together
and owned everything In common, sharing
according tc what each one needed.""
4. The parish as we know it today is e
product of the Middle Ages when the world
settled into the relatively static order of
communities centered around the local parish,
with structures that were In direct response
to the changing patterns of secular Hie.
This basic form has survived for a thousand
years, but the last one hundred years have
seen the now rapid alteration cf our
society's form, especially In the United
States. People's living and working habits
Changed by modern social and economic fac-
tors, dictate that the parish must again be
prepared to adapt its shape to, meet the
changing patterns of secular life.
S. Our parishes today axe large In sire
and diverse as a people in almost every way.
And yet we, as parish families, share a
common goal and mission while ve seek to
fulfill it according to Our unique and
different personalities and backgrounds. The
life of every parish family is still to be
measured by life In Christ as witnessed In
the early Christian community of Jerusalem—
the proclamation of the Good Hews, the
celebration of the sacramental signs of God's
love, and In the ministry of that love to
those Within the parish family as well as to
those in the larger community. The parish
alive in Christ’s Spirit proclaims itself as
the Body of Christ the Prophet, Priest, and
King fcf. Lumen Gentium)■ "Thus whatever the
form, a parish seeks to become more fully a
PEOPLE of God, sharing the MISSION of Christ
and developing STRUCTURES necessary for
supporting its community life and carrying
out its mission."
II. THE PARISH AS A PEOPLE
6. The scriptural image of this People
Is reflected In the "flock” of which Jesus
says He is the Shepherd (cf. Jn. 10:1-10)? It
Is the field which Is carefully cultivated by
an attentive and caring owner (cf. 1 Cor.
3:9); It is seen as the vineyard tcf. Mt.
21:33-43), the building of God (cf, 1 Cor.
3:9), the house of God (cf. Eph. 2:19-22),
the dwelling place of God among us (cf. Rv.
21:3) and the new Jerusalem which Is our
mother (Cf. Rv. 21:17).
7. Above all of these images, each of
which expresses some aspect or Insight of
truth Into the mystery of the Church, the
principal focus by which we In our day and
Lime have come to see and experience the
Church is as the People of God and the Body
of Christ (cf. LG).
8. In that context then, we are a people
who have been called together by God In
Christ Jesus, formed as a family by the power
of the Holy Spirit, and given an identity
which marks us both In the Church and outside
of it.
9. Our oneness with our brothers and
sisters In the Body of Christ extends to the
universal and diocesan Church. It Is here in
the parish, however, where each of us who
share a common baptismal character come
together and live out our experience of the
Church, It is here in the context of parish
life that the living Christ Is revealed In
and through Its members and the great mystery
of salvation Is extended through their
individual and communal ministries.
10, In this setting, tbe charisma and
talents of each member reflect the diversity
In unity which builds up and strengthens the
Body of Christ, The opportunities to live
the Gospel's call to love one another, ever
the least of tbe brethren, are presented to
us in concrete and Visible ways. In our
Diocese, rich in Its multi-ethnic heritage,
the perish family can be the model for the
society around It in respecting cultural
traditions and sharing common goals. What-
ever the differences of cultural background,
economic statue, or social standing may be,
our parishes should always be the places
where parishioners are united In their common
calling as "a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people whom God
claims for
his own to proclaim the glorious works of the
One who calls us from darkness into his
light,"*
11. From this awareness of who we are as
a People of God living out our lives In the
household of the parish, we are immediately
conscious that we each share in the responsi-
bility of making the life of the community
reflective of Jesus' ministry of salvation
and service. The pastor, acting In the name
of the shepherd of all the ecclesial commun-
ities of the diocese, must recognize that the
parish which has been entrusted to him has
been called to lead all who share that
baptismal mark of salvation to greater
service of God and their neighbor. It means
calling forth the charisms of every member of
the parish in order to carry out the mission
of the parish, which must always be the
mission of Jesus himself.
12. It Is in the parish that there
exists the greatest opportunity for the
Church to fulfill its apostolic mission, for
it is here that it "gathers into a unity all
the human diversities that are found there
and inserts them Into the universal Church."
Hith this understanding, then, the call to
serve the Gospel Is one that embracer every
active member Of the parish and one that
should also seek to challenge even those who
live on the peripheral edge of parish life.
13. Preparing parishioners to take their
stry of the
responsiblli
rart in the life and ministry of the parish
must become a primary responsibility of
pastoral leadership. Vocations to service in
the Church must be a central statement of
belief, prayer, and practice In every parish
of our Diocese.
34. As a people especially chosen and
marked by God, we constantly come to a deeper
and more profound awareness of what this
neans and what it requires of us as we
celebrate our truest identity as a Euchar-
ist ic people. As our parish family faith-
fully gathers around the altar of the Lord at
the beginning of each week to celebrate the
dying and rising of Jesus, we enter into that
our renewal in His paschal
■Muinn Hp destrgyed cur
Lng of Jesus, we enter into that
great mystery of our renewal
mystery whereby "dying, He —
death, rising He restored our life,
See Synod, page 5
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Freeman, Robert E. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, May 6, 1988, newspaper, May 6, 1988; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth840530/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .