Out to the Highways & Hedgerows

1. Enter the Mystery… Out to the Highways & Hedgerows How to invite & welcome in God’s name

2. An opening conversation • Who is absent from parish life? • What groups of people do not feel welcome in your parish • OR just stay away? • Why aren’t they with us? PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

3. Who’s absent • People who are in an “irregular marriage situation” • People who feel shame about decisions they’ve made • People who feel the church is out of touch or no longer loves them • People whose faith has grown cold PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

4. Luke 14:15-24 • Jesus tells a story: • This guy throws a huge dinner party. • He invites a group of locally important folks, but, one by one, they make excuses and don’t show up.

5. Luke 14 • So he sends his servants out to invite in people from the neighborhood. • “Go out to the highways and hedgerows,” he tells them, “and tell people that I really want them to come to the table that my home may be filled.”

6. All are invited • With God, we are all welcome. • God loves us all. • And the love is unconditional • Meaning truly without conditions • The message we want to send is • You belong to us because you belong to Christ. We welcome you. We treasure you. We do not judge you. PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

7. All are invited • Only in God can we find true human happiness • The teachings of Christ • The Grace of Christ • Learn about self-giving love • Forgiveness, generosity, hospitality • Nothing else makes us happy PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

8. Conversation What prevents us from welcoming people with (fully) open arms? OR Why do people stay away from us? PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

9. How to Invite & Welcome in God’s name • Two Steps: 1. Sweep in front of your own doorstep- to be sure you’re ready to welcome 2. Train your own people how to reach out PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

10. How to Invite & Welcome in God’s name • We have to think about our own house first – • a sort of parish examination of consciousness • Do we really want to reach out? • Is this really our goal? Are we ready? • To what will we invite people? PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

11. In other words… • If you were writing the ad for your Catholic parish right now… • What would it say?

12. To what do we invite people? • Mass on Sundays? • Social events? • Small group faith formation? • Projects to • Feed the hungry • Visit the sick and imprisoned • Protect the vulnerable? • Or what? PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

13. Sunday Mass • A weekly pause from the busy-ness of daily life… • …to reflect and be together with God • Families or households bond as they do this together • God works through the sacraments to touch and heal us • Even if we don’t realize it at the time. PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

14. Sunday Mass • But not to earn eternal salvation • Some people who do attend weekly • Still live in darkness • Not about earning grace • Grace is FREE • People who rarely come to Mass still have grace operating in their lives • God does not stop loving them PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

15. Sunday Mass • But to cooperate with Grace • We do need the liturgy in our lives • It shapes and forms us • It leads us to the Paschal Mystery • To dying and rising in Christ • Self-giving love • We are fundamentally changed • Our inborn hunger is fed PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

16. The inborn hunger • We all have an inborn hunger for • Meaning • Purpose • In a word, for God. • This is why we want to invite and welcome • In God’s name PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

17. 3 elements in the process of drawing people in

18. #1 Feeling invited • We talked earlier about why people don’t always feel welcome • We are tempted to say that these people make their own choices: • That they choose to be outside our fold • By choosing what they do in life • But really, who among us is worthy to be here? PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

19. Why is this hard for us? • We tend to sort people by their sins • Some we accept • Others we reject • We worry that having them at liturgy might somehow taint or desecrate the Eucharist • Matthew 8:8 PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

20. Who is really worthy? • Matthew 8:8 • ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.’ PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

21. We need not worry • Christ is our host at Mass • We act in his place • Who does Christ welcome? • All who need healing • Sinners and saints alike • In a word, Christ welcomes all • How dare we do any less? PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

22. If you need a tool for this • eResource • Reproducible • “How to welcome” • Step-by-step • A lovely prayer to use

23. #2 Feeling we belong here • Belonging is a very strong feeling • We say, I’m from Minneapolis (or wherever) • But we say, I belongto St Mary’s • What causes one to feel that he or she truly belongs? PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

24. Belonging • How do the people of a parish “choose” each other? • by paying attention to them • by knowing their names • by greeting them warmly • by chatting after Mass • by inviting them to social engagements PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

25. Belonging • This isn’t a “parish program” • It’s a part of “parish culture” • Or it isn’t! • The way leaders speak of this • Creates a “culture of belonging” • The language you use creates the reality PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

26. If you need a tool for this • An eResource • The full plan for a gathering • At which people sense how much they belong • A youth element is built in

27. A brief review • We come to the parish to feed our inborn hunger for God • But what keeps us here are • Feeling welcome • Feeling we belong • And #3: Being fed spiritually. PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

28. #3 Being fed spiritually • What feeds our spirits? • The Sacrament itself • Being together: singing, praying, talking • Being “of one heart” with each other • Getting something we can take home and apply to our daily lives • What else? PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

29. Being fed spiritually • Personal prayer • Scripture • A love for the poor • Forgiving the trespasses of others • Giving of ourselves in love • Sharing meals PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

30. Small group life • How are we fed spiritually? • We talk together about faith • “Never discuss religion or politics” • The research tells us: • Small groups grow faith • People have to find their own group • Friends, family, fellow parishioners PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

31. Small group life • In the small group, we chew on life: • Decisions -- big or small • Goals and dreams • Sick parents, partners, or children • Friends moving away • Our own sense of happiness and well-being • What we believe about God • How we are responding to the world around us • Our fears, failures -- or whatever PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

32. Small group life • Faith happens within life • This conversation • leads us to faith • Faith is inside our life • It’s not floating above our heads • But in the very centerof life • We see life through the lens of faith • which means faith lived out in daily life PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

33. If you need a tool for this • Come to the Table y Ven a la Mesa • Conversations about faith - with a heart for folks from other faith traditions • Welcoming and engaging!

34. Review • Learn how to invite & welcome • Help people feel they belong to us • Feed them spiritually

35. How to Invite & Welcome in God’s name • Help our active members • to reach out • Catholics don’t like to do this • We don’t want to preach to others • Or knock on their doors • Or pass out literature PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

36. How did the early church do it? • They lived a convincing life • And others noticed it • When they asked: • Why are you so happy? • How do you cope? • What gives you so much hope? • Why are you so forgiving? PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

37. How did the early church do it? • They cared for the poor and sick • They were faithful in their marriages • They were devoted to their community • They seemed to be so happy PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

38. How did the early church do it? • Finally someone would ask • At that point the Christian would say • “Come and see what I have found…” • And by grace… PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

39. The Call to Ministry Lumen Gentium 10 The Constitution on the Church We share in the priesthood of Christ, baptized & ordained This is what “discipleship” means

40. Lumen Gentium 10 • Constitution on the Church • Article 10: • Christ made the new people who would gather in his name • A kingdom of priests to his God and Father • The baptized are consecrated as a holy priesthood • That through their sacrifices and good work they might bear witness to Christ

41. Lumen Gentium 10 • The ministerial priesthood and the common priesthood differ • But they are part of the one priesthood of Christ • The ministerial priest forms and governs • In the person of Christ, he brings about the Eucharist • The faithful share in this Eucharist and live with prayer and active charity

42. What does this mean? • Some form of the word disciple appears in the New Testament more than 200 times • Early Christians felt deep solidarity with each other • Galatians 3:28 • All of you are one in Christ • Hence our focus earlier on the Paschal Mystery • And on dialogue toward unity

43. What does this mean? • 1 Peter 2:9-10 • The term hiereus is applied to all in the community • In Romans 12:1, a disciple is one • who became a living sacrifice • drawn from the transformation in faith • that flows only from the sacrifice of Christ.

44. Over time • The distinction between ordained and lay become very pronounced • Liturgy had become almost exclusively a clerical matter • Luther tried to revive the idea of the common priesthood • But he went too far in regard to the ministerial priesthood

45. Vatican II • Corrects this distinction • It placed the chapter on the People of God before the ones on hierarchy, laity, and religious • Just read article 9 • A gorgeous restoration of the baptized as the People of God • “the dignity and freedom of the daughters & sons of God…”

46. Vatican II • There are not two priesthoods • The call to discipleship flows from baptism • We are all in the common priesthood • The ministerial priesthood is seen in relation to the priesthood of the baptized • To serve and support it • To lead and govern it (to bring “holy order”)

47. We might ask • What are the demands of authentic Christian discipleship? • Not limited to parish activity • The real task is to animate the world with the spirit of Christ • Which begins at home • Always involves sacrificing oneself out of love for others

48. How to Invite & Welcome in God’s name • We want our active members • to live their Christian lives in a convincing way • What does this mean? • It means letting faith shine in daily life without clobbering people with it • And without annoying them PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

49. How to Invite & Welcome in God’s name • No soap boxes! • No sermons! • No big public witness at ball games! • Instead, a quiet whisper when the moment is right: PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications

50. The right moment • Someone tells you about a big loss • A parent is worried about the kids • A friend is having financial trouble • Your child feels left out at school • You’re sitting on the porch and just feel a sense of well-being and love • Something has made you very happy PastoralPlanning.com │ 23rd Publications