So, Father, what´s next?

 

And then what follows after our great Spaghetti Dinner event? What to do in our parish community? These are good questions. The event was a good activity, there were many people who gave us their time and effort and I, the pastor, I am SO grateful. In the conversation of those days with some parishioner pop-up another important question: should one person (or family) must be registered in the parish to be formally part the community? What gives a person or a family a membership in a parish? Is it the registration form? No! Belonging to a parish comes to us by the sacrament of Baptism. Through Baptism we are members of the Catholic Church and part of the Mystical Body of Christ. The registration form is, let us say, a purely administrative process, a process however that helps a lot the pastor and his staff to know how many people have in the parish as well, to better plan for the future activities at the parish. Being part of a parish goes far beyond a paper or a registration form. Belonging to a comes when there is a communion in faith, piety, prayer, service to others. Belonging to a parish begins to exist when we forgive each other our mistakes and we seek to live in charity and love. Parish Membership begins when we all seek the glory of God and we worship together Jesus Christ, in fewer words: when Jesus Christ himself is the center of parish life! So it is important or not register in the parish? Of course it's important! But we cannot remain “anchored” on paper or in an envelope, not we stay “trapped” in a phone list. Our membership in the parish goes far beyond. In the same way that our baptismal certificate is not what gives us our identity as Catholics, the parish registration does not give us our sense of belonging, is our common faith and beliefs! This weekend, I invite you, my dear brother, my dear sister, to get some examination of conscience. Let us think together how committed we are with our parish, how quick we are to serve others, how much attached we are to material things and how united we are into the spiritual things. At San Francesco di Paola we have very strong bonds that help us to remain united. What are these bonds of unity? Above all, charity "binds everything together in perfect harmony."[1] But the unity of the pilgrim Church is also assured by visible bonds of communion: profession of one faith received from the Apostles; common celebration of divine worship, especially of the sacraments; apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God's family. This is the unit to which we are called. This is what makes us a true parish community! ■ Fr. Agustin, pastor.

---

[1] Col 3:14.