From the Director's Desk, August 2018
Greetings and blessings to all! When Archbishop Blair inaugurated the pastoral planning process in the summer of 2014, we knew that the initiative was going to result in an unprecedented amount of change. At that time, Father James Shanley and I began strategizing on how best to ease into the process. At every meeting we attended, we said to folks: “If we do pastoral planning right, it never really ends.” Think about that! It’s no different than the ways organizations in the public and private sectors operate. As conditions in the environment evolve, it’s incumbent upon leaders to ensure that their organizations respond in kind. The following example will serve to emphasize the point.
Being a musician (well, kind of), it’s fascinating to see the return of and preference for ‘vinyl’ records. Back in the days when what is now considered ‘classic rock’ was emerging, I remember the thrill of going to a ‘record store’ to buy the latest 45, which was a small two-sided vinyl record with two songs, or if we saved up enough money from our allowance (remember that term?), we could purchase an LP (long playing) vinyl. A few years later, vinyl records were replaced by 8-track cassettes. These in turn were replaced smaller compact cassettes, which soon became obsolete with the advent of CDs (compact discs). Now in 2018, even CDs have been replaced by mp3 players, but oddly enough, vinyl LPs are making a comeback due to their superior sound quality and consequently, record players are back in vogue! Change in the environment demands a response by those who live and work in it.
Now that things are beginning to settle down a bit since the restructuring/consolidation of the Archdiocese back in June of 2017, the pastoral planning team has decided to get “on the road again.” We’ve started visiting pastors of merged parishes to determine the current state of the mergers as well as the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of pastors/priests working together with priests/pastors in contiguous and/or neighboring parishes.
What we’ve found thus far is that in some cases, the mergers are progressing very well, while others are struggling. The dynamics that typify reactions to change seem to be manifesting as expected. Some priests and their people are either overtly or subtlety resisting change, while others are feeling their way around the new environment and still others are committed and moving forward into the “new business as usual.”
One aspect of the struggling parishes is the fact of an “identity crisis.” It is admittedly a bit awkward to refer to one’s parish by a new name, when for years the name of your church was the name of your parish. Take for instance, my own parish in North Haven; Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity - which consists of three former parishes: St. Barnabas, St. Frances Cabrini and St. Therese. While thanks to our Pastor and his parish staff, efforts have been underway to help parishioners embrace our new identity, there are a good number of people, who regret the merger and still find it difficult to let go of the ‘church’ they once called ‘their’ parish. That, combined with a new patron saint, who was only recently canonized and thus relatively unknown outside of her native France, make the transition for these good and faithful people a challenge.
As a deacon, I have the responsibility and the privilege of preaching, which naturally positions me front and center quite often, and as a preacher my actions need to lend credence to my words - i.e., I need to practice what I preach, because there is no quicker way to lose credibility as a preacher than to contradict in action, what I say from the ambo. There are several topics that I repeatedly weave into my homilies, one of which, is that I/we are all disciples.
When Jesus gave his contemporary followers the great commission to “go and make disciples of all nations and remember, I will be with you until the end of time,” his words were not meant exclusively for them. The great commission applies to each and every baptized Christian, because ultimately, our duty as disciples is to do our best to bring the “joy of the Gospel” to others, in hope of creating more disciples. Jesus warned us however, that following him would require us to bear our own crosses daily, but he also said that he would remain with us until the end of time to help make our burdens light.
My points are these: We are all disciples and every one of us by virtue of our baptism, have been united to Jesus in his death and resurrection. That said, as members of the Archdiocese of Hartford, we will be called on to bear among other crosses, the ones that change brings about. If we are true to our weekly profession of faith, and to words we repeat over and over in the Lord’s Prayer: “thy will be done,” then in allegiance to Christ, it is our duty not to resist, but to assist - i.e., to become a part of the solution to problems, instead of a contributor to them.
The great Lutheran theologian and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote a wonderful book titled: The Cost of Discipleship, in which he says: “Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life,” but then he goes on to say: “Costly grace elevates us to the dignity of the image of God, which is deepened and manifests more readily by the life of discipleship.”
My fellow disciples, there are some things in our parishes that are worth retaining, because of their significance and the benefit they continue to bring to our worshiping communities, kind of like the superior sound quality I mentioned that vinyl LPs have over digital media. At the same time, there are other things that we need to let go, because they have outlived their benefit. That said, we must accept that there are few things in life that last forever, and change therefore, is something we must learn to live with. Since the first moments following his great commission (Matt 28: 16-20), change in the Church has been necessary and constant. It is our Christian duty therefore, to walk with Jesus; to trust in his will (not ours) and continue with renewed fervor the building up of the Kingdom. We cannot let the blood Jesus shed, along with that of the many martyrs who followed him, be shed in vain. Their sacrifices should not be lost on us. Rather in all things, may God’s will be done.
Go forth and make disciples, glorifying the Lord by your life!
Deacon Ernie Scrivani
Being a musician (well, kind of), it’s fascinating to see the return of and preference for ‘vinyl’ records. Back in the days when what is now considered ‘classic rock’ was emerging, I remember the thrill of going to a ‘record store’ to buy the latest 45, which was a small two-sided vinyl record with two songs, or if we saved up enough money from our allowance (remember that term?), we could purchase an LP (long playing) vinyl. A few years later, vinyl records were replaced by 8-track cassettes. These in turn were replaced smaller compact cassettes, which soon became obsolete with the advent of CDs (compact discs). Now in 2018, even CDs have been replaced by mp3 players, but oddly enough, vinyl LPs are making a comeback due to their superior sound quality and consequently, record players are back in vogue! Change in the environment demands a response by those who live and work in it.
Now that things are beginning to settle down a bit since the restructuring/consolidation of the Archdiocese back in June of 2017, the pastoral planning team has decided to get “on the road again.” We’ve started visiting pastors of merged parishes to determine the current state of the mergers as well as the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of pastors/priests working together with priests/pastors in contiguous and/or neighboring parishes.
What we’ve found thus far is that in some cases, the mergers are progressing very well, while others are struggling. The dynamics that typify reactions to change seem to be manifesting as expected. Some priests and their people are either overtly or subtlety resisting change, while others are feeling their way around the new environment and still others are committed and moving forward into the “new business as usual.”
One aspect of the struggling parishes is the fact of an “identity crisis.” It is admittedly a bit awkward to refer to one’s parish by a new name, when for years the name of your church was the name of your parish. Take for instance, my own parish in North Haven; Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity - which consists of three former parishes: St. Barnabas, St. Frances Cabrini and St. Therese. While thanks to our Pastor and his parish staff, efforts have been underway to help parishioners embrace our new identity, there are a good number of people, who regret the merger and still find it difficult to let go of the ‘church’ they once called ‘their’ parish. That, combined with a new patron saint, who was only recently canonized and thus relatively unknown outside of her native France, make the transition for these good and faithful people a challenge.
As a deacon, I have the responsibility and the privilege of preaching, which naturally positions me front and center quite often, and as a preacher my actions need to lend credence to my words - i.e., I need to practice what I preach, because there is no quicker way to lose credibility as a preacher than to contradict in action, what I say from the ambo. There are several topics that I repeatedly weave into my homilies, one of which, is that I/we are all disciples.
When Jesus gave his contemporary followers the great commission to “go and make disciples of all nations and remember, I will be with you until the end of time,” his words were not meant exclusively for them. The great commission applies to each and every baptized Christian, because ultimately, our duty as disciples is to do our best to bring the “joy of the Gospel” to others, in hope of creating more disciples. Jesus warned us however, that following him would require us to bear our own crosses daily, but he also said that he would remain with us until the end of time to help make our burdens light.
My points are these: We are all disciples and every one of us by virtue of our baptism, have been united to Jesus in his death and resurrection. That said, as members of the Archdiocese of Hartford, we will be called on to bear among other crosses, the ones that change brings about. If we are true to our weekly profession of faith, and to words we repeat over and over in the Lord’s Prayer: “thy will be done,” then in allegiance to Christ, it is our duty not to resist, but to assist - i.e., to become a part of the solution to problems, instead of a contributor to them.
The great Lutheran theologian and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote a wonderful book titled: The Cost of Discipleship, in which he says: “Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life,” but then he goes on to say: “Costly grace elevates us to the dignity of the image of God, which is deepened and manifests more readily by the life of discipleship.”
My fellow disciples, there are some things in our parishes that are worth retaining, because of their significance and the benefit they continue to bring to our worshiping communities, kind of like the superior sound quality I mentioned that vinyl LPs have over digital media. At the same time, there are other things that we need to let go, because they have outlived their benefit. That said, we must accept that there are few things in life that last forever, and change therefore, is something we must learn to live with. Since the first moments following his great commission (Matt 28: 16-20), change in the Church has been necessary and constant. It is our Christian duty therefore, to walk with Jesus; to trust in his will (not ours) and continue with renewed fervor the building up of the Kingdom. We cannot let the blood Jesus shed, along with that of the many martyrs who followed him, be shed in vain. Their sacrifices should not be lost on us. Rather in all things, may God’s will be done.
Go forth and make disciples, glorifying the Lord by your life!
Deacon Ernie Scrivani
