MATURING THE PARISH

St John Henry Newman held this hope:

‘What I hope for in Catholics is the gift of bringing out what their religion is. I want a laity… who know their religion … who enter into it, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it.’

We offer a programme which we hope will help each parish become a hub where laity will lead Adult Faith Learning under the guidance of the priest.

OFFER TO PRIESTS

The most important centre for growth in the faith is the parish. 

There has never been a time when people’s faith is being undermined by the surrounding culture like it is today. Adult Catholics need feeding with the treasures of the faith in order to survive and also to shine the light of Christ in the modern world. Most parishes are finding it difficult to provide this nourishment. 

Most priests are overstretched and unable to address this need as they would like. Sometimes there are many lay people who would like to help, but they do not see an avenue for developing into adult faith leaders within the parish. Sometimes it seems as though there is no one willing, but this is such a pressing need that God must be calling and not being heard. One thing is certain: if God wants this he will show the way.

Fr. Brian and Anne Bardell offer a programme for helping a parish gradually set up an Adult Faith Formation facility which is at least equal to or greater than the Sacramental Programme for children. If our adults are not alive in the faith, how will they practically pass it on to the children? Evidently most fail to do so, since so many children virtually cease to be part of the parish community once they make their First Communion.

Fr Brian brings his experience of working for 51 years in parishes always looking for better ways to preach the Good News. Anne has worked with him for 36 years. She has continually sought to expand her own faith learning in order to help parishioners discover the treasures of the faith. They have found that as people encountering Jesus more deeply and open to his words, they feel their hearts burning within them, and ask: “why did no one tell us this before?” and they want to learn more.

If you are a parish priest and would like to hear more, press the link below.

Find out more

LAITY LEADING

As a concerned Catholic, are you anxious about the weakening of the Church? Do you want to help build it up, but don’t feel there is an avenue for that? Yes, there are jobs to be done like the finances, the children’s Sacramental Programme, care of the Church building etc. But that is maintenance, which is important, but not mission, which is building the Church community so that it shines the light of Christ in a darkening world.

Back in the 1950s Pope Pius XII encouraged Catholics to consider the Lay Apostolate, and there were wonderful responses like the YCW, the Little Way and the Legion of Mary, to name a few. But then we were hit by the huge Cultural Revolution that got going in the 60s, and the Church found itself unable to counter adequately the tidal wave of “Progressive thinking” which has dominated our world. 

God saw this coming, and he knew that much of modern progress provides wonderful opportunities for the prospering of the human family, but these are accompanied by a philosophy of human triumphalism, which proclaims that we have no need for God. It would take a changed Church to Christianise the real progress under the guidance of God. In the Second Vatican Council, he gave the blueprint for the renewal of his Church. The main teaching documents which came from the Council called us to look afresh at the Church itself, and underlined that each Christian has a special role to play in the building the Kingdom. 

There is no doubt that, not long ago, many Catholics were attached to the Church more by cultural and historic bonds than by a deep knowing of Jesus where they experienced living in him. When the whirlwind of “progressive thought” blew, they fell away. Those who stayed, have been harrowed and tested so that they can move closer to that special role that God has in mind for each of them.