So what are you going to do for Lent?
Two years ago, I asked our parishioners to eat chocolate. We got a big response; in fact, we sold out of our free trade chocolate and coffee. And parishioners wrote to several international companies asking them to stop the trafficking in child labor that sustains their huge profits. Free trade chocolate, like all free trade products, provides more money for the families that grow the product by bypassing the companies that otherwise have a monopoly on the market. If you would like to eat chocolate for Lent in your parish, contact Vicki Compton in our diocesan Office for the Missions at (217) 698-8500.
Last Lent, I asked the parish council to take a parish census. Vicki Compton helped us out again. We went through our parish files and compared the names and addresses of all past and present members to the record of deaths and to the current phone book. After this first culling we mailed a letter of invitation and a census form to every known address. We also mailed a brochure containing all our parish activities and contact information to every residence within our parish boundary. The brochure also contained a printed apology for any hurt inflicted by a member of the Catholic Church upon the recipient, a request for forgiveness, and an invitation to join us for worship.
As a result of the census we now know where all our homebound and nursing home parishioners are, and the parish nurse can visit them regularly. We also know we have a 50 percent attendance rate at Sunday Masses, a 24 percent rate of total non-practice of the faith, and that several couples have had their marriages blessed in the church as a result of our contact. Several persons are now attending Mass weekly who previously did not.
The spring census provided a renewed sense of vitality among our parishioners. This vitality was evident in their response to our fall pro-life challenge. In cooperation with the Franciscan Mission Outreach Center here in Springfield, our parish accepted the challenge to raise $20,000 to ship over $150,000 in medical equipment to the Archdiocese of Kisumu in Kenya. The Outreach center collects usable medical equipment from dozens of hospitals and makes their inventory available online. The archbishop in Kenya was able to select exactly what he needed for a new medical training center. Our parish was offered 100 chances to make a $200 contribution and all the chances were taken the first Sunday of the challenge. In six weeks we had $20,000 collected and another $5,000 came in before Christmas. We gave the extra as seed money for whoever wants to accept a similar challenge.
This Lent we will be gearing up for "Why Catholic?" It is a national program to help Catholics grow in the knowledge of their faith through small group discussion. Bishop George Lucas has asked that every parish participate. Chris Malmevik from our diocesan Office for Catechesis is coordinating. The actual sessions begin next fall in our diocese, but parish organization begins this spring. Because we are an elderly parish, we probably will have sessions during the day and meet in larger groups at the parish hall to encourage fellowship. Maybe we will serve some chocolate too.
Father Richard Chiola is a certified counselor, pastor of St. Cabrini Parish in Springfield and diocesan director for the ongoing formation of clergy.