Six ways to make your parish better

By Lorene Hanley Duquin OSV News

Today, parishioners are expected to feel a true sense of ownership in their parish. That means looking at your parish as more than just a place where you go to Mass.

A parish can be a sacred place where the human and the divine meet, where people of all ages grow in the knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

It can be a place where people receive spiritual nourishment, guidance, inspiration, and strength health that was pretty frail, he stunned the world. For the first time in hundreds and hundreds of years, in an ultimate act of humility, as he met with cardinals and spoke in perfect Latin, he resigned. The cardinals for the most part did not understand perfect Latin except for a few, so they were puzzled, until one talked to the other who talked to the other, and they realized that instead of just voting on new saints, something would change.”

Pope Benedict after that announcement to the cardinals “hung around as pope for a while,” Bishop Stika recalled “and eventually there was this very dramatic moment when he returned to the summer residence of the pope, Castel Gandolfo, and at midnight on that February day, I think, or maybe a little bit earlier, he said goodbye to the world as pope and became pope emeritus, and the doors were closed. And he stayed there for a while and eventually returned to Mater Dei Monastery, which is right behind St. Peter’s Dome. He wrote and he visited with people until finally his health after 10 years gave out.”

The 95-year-old pope emeritus’ health began to fail this past Christmas.

“And then, on New Year’s Eve, he said words that I think really and strongly spoke of his heart. According to Archbishop Ganswein, the man who took care of him so well as pope, his last words were, ‘Jesus, I love you,’” Bishop Stika said. “He was born on Holy Saturday, and he died the last day of the year. On Holy Saturday then, they would celebrate the Easter Vigil in the morning. Now, we do it in the evening. But it was centered around a candle that was lit in the darkness of the churches and remembered in our own day and age as Christ the light. He certainly brought the light of faith to those who read his books, heard his teachings, reflected on his encyclicals, and saw his witness in some ways as very much of a suffering pope in a world that is so complicated, where so many people say no to God. He even predicted, he said, ‘Maybe the Church must shrink, but then true believers will exist.’ He said that many years ago, this man who was so much the light of faith.”

Known as “Pope Ratzinger” in Italy, Benedict “loved Jesus,” Bishop Stika pointed out.

“So, today we gather together with churches around the world to celebrate his legacy, for he will not be forgotten,” the bishop said. “Many seminaries today use many of his books, his reflections, his books on Scripture, his books on liturgy, for he touched all those different aspects, this man who only wanted to be a teacher and died as the pope emeritus. Now, he gets rid of that title as well: emeritus. He’s now part of the ages as Pope Benedict XVI. He carried a cross and a burden, as does Francis, as did Paul VI, as did John Paul.

“In the private chapel of the pope, in the papal apartments, there’s a crucifixion scene. It’s kind of a modern chapel. It’s a beautiful chapel. Cardinal Rigali was in it many times. I was there a few times for Mass. The story goes that Paul VI noticed when he entered that chapel that there was something different. There was something missing as he looked upon the corpus, the body of Jesus, on that cross. You know what was missing? The crown of not just from the priests but from other members of the parish as well.

It can be a spiritual home where people share in each other’s joys, support each other in times of sorrow, offer encouragement to those who are struggling, and help to heal anyone who feels battered or broken by life’s trials and tragedies. Or it can be a social place where people make new friends, reach out to those less fortunate, and invite others to become part of a community of believers who try their best to live the Gospel message.

Maybe your parish is already all thorns. The artist who sculpted that beautiful sculpture in silver, when he was quizzed by Paul VI, said, ‘Holy Father, you now wear the crown of thorns,’ as did Benedict and now does Francis.”

Social communication is so powerful in this day and age, Bishop Stika continued, that “it’s kind of ironic that almost everyone feels free to say this or that about leaders in the Church or leaders in the world. How Benedict was attacked because he was faithful. How bishops are attacked because they are faithful. How priests are attacked or religious because they try to direct people to Jesus and to God. The one thing I’ve learned as a bishop, and I hear it from other bishops, is so often we have to make decisions that nobody will ever know why or the reason, but they must be made. That’s why this day we give thanks to Almighty God for the witness of Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, a man of faithfulness.”

Popes such as John Paul II “usually write a spiritual testament, not a will that ‘I leave this, that, or the other thing’ to somebody else—that all becomes property of the Church,” Bishop Stika said. “But Benedict at one point did that. I’d like to share it with you because I think it sums up him, who he is.”

Benedict’s testament reads, in part: “If, in this late hour of my life, I look back at the decades that I have been through, first I see how many reasons I have to give thanks. First and foremost, I thank God Himself, the giver of every good gift, who gave me life and guided me through various confusing times, always picking me up whenever I needed, when I began to slip, and always giving me again the light of His face. In retrospect, I see and understand that even the dark and tiring stretches of this journey were for my salvation and that it was in them that He guided me well.

“I thank my parents, who gave me life in a very difficult time and who, at the cost of great sacrifice, with their love prepared for me a magnificent abode that, like clear light, illumines all my days to this day. My father’s lucid faith taught us children to believe, and as a signpost it has always been steadfast in the midst of all my scientific acquisitions. The profound devotion and great goodness of my mother represent a legacy for which I can never give thanks enough. My sister, never married, has assisted me for decades selflessly and with the affectionate care of a sister. My brother, with the lucidity of his judgments, in his vigorous resolve and serenity of heart, has always paved the way for me. Without this constant preceding and accompanying me, I could not have found the right path.

“From my heart, I thank God for the many friends, men and women, whom He has always placed at my side, for the collaborators in all the stages of my journey, for the teachers and students He has given me. I gratefully entrust them all to His goodness, and I want to thank the Lord for my beautiful homeland in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, in which I have always seen the splendor of the Creator Himself shining through. I thank the people from my homeland because in them I have been able again and again to experience the beauty of faith. I pray that our land remains a land of faith, and I beg you, my dear countrymen, do of this and more, but even the best parishes can become even better when parishioners take an active interest in making the parish grow and prosper. Here are six ways to do just that: not yourselves be turned away from the faith. And, finally, I thank God for the beauty I have been able to experience in all the phases of my long journey of life, especially in Rome and Italy, which has become my second homeland.

1. Think of yourself as part of a parish family. Family members share a common heritage and history. They are grounded in the same beliefs, values, and traditions. They embrace new members of the family with a spirit of love and acceptance.

Family members don’t always agree, but they do feel a strong commitment to one another and to the family as a whole.

“To all those who I have wronged in any way, I heartily ask for forgiveness. What I said before to my countrymen, I now say to all those in the Church Universal, who have been entrusted to my care and my service: stand firm in faith. Do not let yourselves be confused.”

Bishop Stika added, “And so in those last words of Benedict just a few days ago, probably sums up his life as a life that we should all say at the end, ‘Jesus, I love you.’”

Cardinal Rigali spoke at the end of Mass.

“Dear friends in Christ, over the years Bishop Stika and I have been able to share various events in the life and ministry of several popes,” he said. “I am very grateful now to be invited by Bishop Stika to share this moment of special communion in the Church. Whether we are bishops, priests, deacons, religious, or laity, the Holy Father is so important for all of us. According to God’s plan, it is the Successor of Peter who keeps us united with one another and with the Lord Jesus Himself in the unity of the Blessed Trinity.

“The hour has come for us to express farewell to Pope Benedict XVI, but we are called to renew our communion and love for him, for the Diocese of Rome, and for all God’s people. We do this knowing that whoever the current Successor of Peter is, he is powerfully assisted by the Holy Spirit of God. The great lesson we learn from each new pope is that he represents Jesus of Nazareth in a unique way. For the life of Pope Benedict XVI, we are eternally grateful. Amen.”

Bishop Stika closed the Mass with a special story on Pope Benedict and Cardinal Rigali.

“Just imagine if you’re elected pope, all the complexities that fall upon you,” the bishop said. “And

2. Be welcoming. When you come together on the weekend for Mass, think of it as a large family reunion with people you know well, know slightly, and don’t know at all.

Introduce yourself to people you don’t know, especially if they are sitting alone in church or standing by themselves at the coffee-anddoughnut hour. If they’re new to the parish, offer to give them a tour, introduce them to other parishioners, or simply tell them why you love the parish. Enthusiasm is catching!

Watch your nonverbal commuParish life continued on page A18 there you are with the cardinals, those who chose to make your life different. Before you’re presented to the world, each cardinal came up to the new pope, Benedict, and knelt before him, and they put their hands in his hands, and they pledged fidelity and peace and obedience, just as every new bishop does when he signs the document after he’s appointed a bishop.

“Benedict, brand new, less than an hour, looked at Cardinal Rigali when he knelt before him, and the thing that Pope Benedict said to our cardinal was, ‘Happy birthday, Your Eminence,’ for it was his 70th birthday that day. He could have said thank you. He had all these other things on his mind, but he remembered a friend was celebrating his birthday. That kind of marks the person of now the departed Pope Benedict XVI.”

Pope Benedict was buried in a tomb “as close as you can get to the remains of St. Peter,” Bishop Stika said, adding that “it’s a used tomb, but the former occupants were pretty cool. Pope St. John XXIII was there for many years, and then when he was declared blessed he went upstairs. Next was St. John Paul. He was there, and when he was declared blessed, he went upstairs. Right across from Benedict’s soon-to-be tomb is the tomb of Blessed John Paul I, and there’s a tomb right down the aisle from it that I guess will be for Francis because nobody’s there yet. Pretty good neighborhood to be in.”

Pope Benedict may also “move upstairs,” the bishop said.

“I kind of think that maybe someday God will honor Benedict with the title of saint. It’s up to Him,” he said

Bishop Stika thanked the cathedral music staff for its use of classical music during the liturgy, something Benedict loved in his life, he said.

At the memorial Mass for the Holy Father were a picture of Benedict on display in front of the altar with a lighted candle nearby, as well as a white zucchetto he once wore.

“The man who wore that hat is indeed a good man,” Bishop Stika said ■