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June 21, 2024This I am writing from the hotel in Harrogate, England where I have been attending a wonderful worldwide conference about Divine Renovation, the parish renewal process we are using in our parish. Some members of the parish also attended, and it was great to be with them and many people I only know from Zoom meetings and emails. The vision of this movement is to inspire renewal in 16% of parishes around the world. That number is 33,000. I had previously written that this big number was 10%, so I want to correct the record and clarify. From statistics, 16% is a tipping point for change in organizational systems like parishes, large groups, and business organizations.
The hope for Divine Renovation is that by 2033, the 2000-year anniversary of the resurrection, there will be a visible church renewal sparked by the 16% working now to grow missionary parishes that go out to the world (in our case Salem) and bring all those who do not know Jesus to faith in him. The phrase that they use is to move from maintenance to mission. We still maintain the buildings and watch over the people who are part of the parish, but the main goal is to go out to where people are and to introduce them to Jesus.
We can see from the conference that we are doing well in working to bring more people to faith in Jesus Christ through the Alpha program and afterwards through encouraging people to discover their gifts, volunteer in the parish and be people who invite others to renew their faith and relationship to Jesus or be someone who introduces them to him.
What was most impressive was the preaching and intercession of the Holy Spirit during the conference. It was clear that the Spirit was moving among us and people were being inspired.
I talked to a number of priests from Canada, the Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, Ireland, and New Zealand. Many places are just starting out, but some are quite a way along and we got to share with them and they with us, the good things that are happening. We will have some time to reflect and then we can offer some insights and learnings for the future. I am grateful to the parishioners who joined Steve and I there. Thanks, Peter, Mari, and Christine. It was good to have you with us.
This weekend Fr. James, (Jim Ronan) will be here to speak to us and ask for our help for the missions around the world. Fr. Ronan, who is now retired, is the founder of Rostro Cristo (the face of Christ). He has started a mission that serves various countries in South America and beyond. When I was on the faculty of the seminary, I was in contact with him frequently as he was helpful in getting connections.
Welcome Father Jim Ronan!
Peace,
Father Murray
Building news. Well by now everyone can see that the scaffolding is down, the front of the building looks good, and we are ready for the summer and fall visitors. We also have had good success with the rose bushes in front of Mary. The bushes have been cut back and now that the stumps have been removed, we can think about another plant or grass. Thanks to the garden committee and Richard and Donna Oliver for their wonderful work at beautifying the grounds. We hope to have the stone tablets done in July and then that is it for the summer. Thanks for your patience. We have also taken out the roots of a tree behind the garage that was removed. We are contemplating putting a statue of St. Francis there, along with a stone bench for resting and contemplative prayer. The company that is doing the work on the tablets will be here this week to get them and start that project. Thanks to Lorrie Card for her assistance with this project.
