Reflections

Your Role in Renew My Church

“One of the great challenges in facing the Church in this generation is to foster in the faithful a sense of personal responsibility for the Church’s mission, and to enable them to fulfill that responsibility as missionary disciples, as a leaven of the Gospel in our world. This will require creativity in adapting to changed situations, carrying forward the legacy of the past not primarily by maintaining our structures and institutions, which have served us well, but above all by being open to the possibilities which the Spirit opens up to us and communicating the joy of the Gospel, daily and in every season of our life.”

- Pope Francis

It is important to prayerfully discern our own efforts to renew our faith lives and our active participation in the life of the Church using our three mission imperatives as a guide:

Make Disciples

Through Renew My Church, we must reflect on how each of us invites others - today and in the future - into a personal encounter and lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.

Am I a disciple of Jesus Christ? What holds me back from following Him more closely? From introducing others to Him?

Build Community

Through Renew My Church, we aim to ensure our communities have enough resources to carry out our mission. But we also recognize resourcing alone does not address all of our challenges. Parish and school communities that today are well-resourced and vibrant still face significant challenges because of the changes in society. That is why we need a spiritual renewal at the foundation of all we do through Renew My Church. And that spiritual renewal begins with each and every one of us.

What is my relationship with the parish community? Where can I give of my time and talents to strengthen the larger Catholic community?

Inspire Witness

In keeping with the urging of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis is calling the Church to go out into the world as a field hospital to bring healing to a world torn by division, violence, racism, poverty and to promote respect for human dignity and life.

As a disciple of Jesus and a member of His Church, what witness do I bring to my local community? To the wider world?

Use these questions in your own quiet prayer life. Allow them to open a conversation between you and the Lord. Perhaps He is calling you to greater trust, to a decisive moment in your relationship with Him, to an active role in your faith community.