How To Become A Merciful Parish

What questions should I ask to ensure that my parish is a place of reverence and welcome?

Mercy is another name for God. Mercy was most fully manifest in the Death-Resurrection of Christ, an event that unfolded within human space and time two thousand years ago. It is also a mystery that transcends the limits of space and time, for Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8).

Our parishes seek to be concrete manifestations of God's mercy in space and time as we celebrate the Paschal Mystery anew each day in the Holy Eucharist and in all our programming.

Markers of Space and Time

I will use two markers of our live—space and timeas means for describing how we can become ever more merciful parishes. Parishes necessarily face many limitations: size of property, age of buildings, circumstances of neighborhood, history and traditions, financial resources, the spirituality of clergy, laity, and religious who have formed and shaped the community over the decades. Yet, these very limitations can be opportunities.

A parish need not be defined by its challenges. The Paschal Mystery proclaims that human limitations, losses, and apparent failures are but the doorway for God to enter, take charge (in a subtle way), and transform people's minds and hearts, making all things new.

Consider the first parishthe disciples in the Cenacle on the first Christian Pentecostand the conditions they experienced: wind, fire, locked doors, and fearful hearts. Here in the Archdiocese of Detroit, at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, and in our parishes, we are waiting for a new Pentecost and a fresh outpouring of the mercy of God for us and through us.

Parishes as Space for Mercy

Mercy depends upon hospitality, a state of constant openness to receive the generous, unbelievable goodness of God, and the readiness and willingness to allow others to enjoy that goodness with us. Mercy is space to receive. There is space in the heart of God for everyone in the world. When we are at our best, we rest peacefully with all others in our common home, the merciful heart of God.

Receiving well means living the story of the Visitation. We put ourselves in the place of Zechariah and Elizabeth, joyfully accepting the surprises that God offers u—new beginnings and new missions just when we thought we had everything figured out.

Elizabeth and Zechariah welcomed two unexpected guests, Jesus and Mary. In some way, every parish, every day, is Ein Karim, the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Our structures and our thinking may have aged, but we remain young when we see all events and people as gifts and opportunities. We are space, empty and ready to receive.

How might this attitude of acceptance be lived out? Consider these questions:

Is there a spirit of welcome in the way people are received on our campus and into our buildings?

What is the attitude of the front line staff who greet people at the office, or Ministers of Hospitality who greet people at the doorways before worship service?

Do all parishioners think of themselves as Ministers of Hospitality?

As a priest or pastoral minister, do I carry myself in such a way that people feel free to interrupt me and enter my space?

Do we have an eye for spotting visitors or strangers?

Is our website inviting to visitors?

Do we see all weddings and funerals as occasions for evangelization?

Above our two main church entrances at Holy Name Parish are signs that proclaim Encountering Mercy. Our Evangelization Commission chose to use a gerundthe word encounteringbecause mercy is the fruit of a relationship where there is genuine mutuality. Mercy is offered and accepted. Mercy bridges different experiences and world views. Every parish is inter-generational and diverse in race and ethnicity, and all parishes should be treated equally.

Much happens at the doorways of a church as people come and go with great speed, while others struggle through the doorways with walkers, wheelchairs, and cane—and wait with humble patience for their driver! We have learned that being a merciful parish means being sensitive to what happens at doorways; for example, having furniture that is comfortable, inviting, and convenient.

Once people have arrived, it is vitally important that the worship space itself truly be a space where one senses reverence yet feels free to move about. The coming and going of people in our semi-circular circumstances at Holy Name force all of us (literally) to bow to one another, asking pardon with a cheerful smile.

Mercy-in-Motion

In the rhythm of every day and week, at the heart of all that happens in a parish is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, our daily immersion into the timeless mercy of God. We make that mercy concrete and immediate in the liturgy.

At Holy Name, we, as a staff and in our commissions, decided to emphasize the times within the liturgy when mercy is mentioned, always singing the Penitential Act, often using the K_rie; giving emphasis to the Agnus Dei, and stressing the word mercy or reconciliation whenever it appears in the Eucharistic Prayer. In the homily and Prayers of the Faithful, we have been attentive to God's mercy and our need to let it flow upon us, through us, and among us. Our petitions end with Remembering your mercy, we pray . . .

Reaching out to potential new members of the parish, welcoming back the uncatechized or disenfranchised, and responding to those with needs are moments of grace for us as ministers.

Sacred times of the year call for special celebrations of mercy. At Holy Name, our communal penance services last year were organized around some aspect of mercy. The Examination of Conscience for this Lent is on how the five senses can be windows for God's mercy and means for sharing that gift with others. (A Lenten reflection aid to prepare for the Sacrament of Penance is available through the Holy Name website, hnchurch.org.)

Our parish and school theme for 2015-16 is Missionaries of Mercy, emphasizing that mercy must be put in motion through attitudes and actions of service. Our parish council and commissions meditated on the Good Samaritan story, pledging to remember: At every moment, we are the ones needing mercy as well as the ones capable of extending mercy.

Mercy Space/Mercy Time Converge

Fr. Henri Nouwen, the popular writer on spirituality, used to say that mercy is lifting up the other so that we are eyeball to eyeball. Mercy restores dignity that may have been lost along the way. A merciful parish is one where pastor, staff, and all members of the parish readily and willingly acknowledge failures and limitations yet are confident that we are beloved and capable of being ministers of that same mercy to others. After all, it is not our mercy but God's mercy.

Suspended in front of the courtyard window of our gathering space, with trees as a backdrop, is a small stained glass window from our original church building of 1921. The cross resembles the biblical Tree of Life. From one perspective, Christ is dying, while from another he is giving new life and mercy to all of us. I walk by the stained glass window hundreds of times a day and often pray for myself and all our parishioners, Lord, have mercy upon us and through us.

God's space is mercy. God's time is mercy. On the cross, Christ's mercy broke through the limits of space and time. Our parishes are indeed limitedas are we, the ministers and member—but God's mercy for every time and place overcomes our limits. Amen.