As our diocese goes about beginning the journey to becoming a "Total Stewardship Diocese" filled with thousands of true "Intentional Disciples," one great reminder must consistently be voiced and promoted: Discipleship/Stewardship is a "way of life" which we will be encouraging all our Catholics in the diocese to embrace.
This "way of life" is so much more than what some perceive to be only "all about money." The model we are promoting is all about "a way of life." We as a diocesan family are seeking to empower all the "flock" with its bishop, priests, and religious as well, to embrace this conversion to becoming "Intentional Disciples,"— no less or different then what Jesus hoped for when he called forth the first disciples (Apostles and others). It was a radical calling to leave all behind and come follow him.
All you have to do is spend a week in the Diocese of Wichita talking to folks actively engaged in discipleship and you will "catch a fire" from simply listening, watching, and getting caught up in this "way of life."
Our first stage of this formation and embracing this way of life will be teaching this model to our priests and leaders of our 128 parishes. It is essential that all our wonderful priests, sisters and deacons in parish leadership be formed in this "way of life." In their vocations to serve they must be willing to ask, "Have we totally given ourselves to the Lord as true 'Intentional Disciples' as described in Sherry Weddell's book, Forming Intentional Disciples?" Our goal in this first year is that we will reach our goal of 100 percent saying with honesty and confidence, "Yes, I am an Intentional Disciple called by God to help create our total stewardship/discipleship parish and diocese here in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois."
As leaders in our parishes we are called to shepherd with our bishop our faith communities to become "Total Stewardship Parishes," also described in one of Weddell's books, Becoming a Parish of Intentional Disciples. We hear of the seven signs of a true, vibrant stewardship/discipleship parish, which are: Hospitality, Prayer, Active Stewardship Council, Recommitment, Outreach, Lay Witness, and Accountability. For leaders to be able to enable their parish to achieve these signs as true characteristics of their viable parish, we first must be living this way of life. And in being true intentional disciples, we lead by example first, and with the formation we offer along with our witness, like the first disciples with Jesus, the flock will follow. Their action of "follow" hence will be living this way of life as a parish with the four pillars of Hospitality, Prayer, Formation, and Service as the foundation for creating this "Total Stewardship Parish" and together with all the other parishes, creating a "Total Stewardship Diocese" as the Diocese of Wichita models so well. Our plan is to give our energies to this providential plan for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois (all 128 parishes) where our plan is for all our parishes to "get on board." With the Lord and the Holy Spirit guiding us, with the intercession of Mary, Ss. Peter and Paul, our diocesan patron saints — along with Bishop Thomas John Paprocki as the "conductor" of the train — and the leadership of our clergy and religious assigned to our parishes, our journey and our efforts will bring forth great blessings and bear great fruit in ways we can't yet even imagine could happen. Creating "on fire" parishes is a must in this model, using the four pillars.
One way of promoting the pillar of "Hospitality" in each of our parish is to look at what are called the four "W's" of Hospitality, which is to make each and every person feel welcome when they come to our parish/church to worship. It is our call to ensure everyone who comes to our parish will feel: 1. a "W"arm reception; 2. a "W"elcoming spirit as they enter the church (even out on the parking lot); 3. that they are "W"anted by the faith community to be an actively engaged member; and 4. that they (feel) they are "W"orthy. This is a big task, but a worthy goal and mission to achieve to strengthen in every parish. The school for stewardship and discipleship to be taught, received, and lived is the Mass.
In Evangelii Gaudium: Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today's World it states, "In all its activities the parish encourages and trains its members to be evangelizers. It is a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey, and a center of constant missionary outreach."
In the Sept. 20 issue of Catholic Times I spoke of how currently we are seeking four or five persons from each parish of our diocese to respond "yes" to their pastor/parish leader's invitation to become key leadership in this model for our diocese. Becoming a true "Evangelizer" for the faith and this way of life will be their main role in this model for our Springfield diocese and all its parishes. Talk to your priest if you feel the Holy Spirit creating a hunger and thirst, a fire deep within you nudging you to step up and be a true disciple for this journey.
Our statistics tell a gloom and doom picture. In our diocese the Catholic population has been declining. In 2003 we had 152,985 Catholics. In 2014 we had 145,189. This shows a decline of 7,796. In the Diocese of Peoria in 2003 they had 193,970 Catholics and in 2014 their decline fell to 111,723, a decline of 82,247. There are many other startling statistics which all point to a true need for change.
Bishop Paprocki sent to all Catholic households his second pastoral letter on growth, Ars crescendi in Dei gratia (Building a Culture of Growth in the Church).
We can see from the content of this wonderful letter the bishop is certainly living up to his promise to be the "conductor" of the train. To build up parishes to become "vibrant community of saints," he shares we as a diocese will do four things: "Invite people to join us in prayer, especially Sunday Mass (First Pillar: Hospitality); Study the Bible and learn more about Jesus and our Catholic faith (Second Pillar: Formation); Provide the sacraments as signs of hope and paths of grace to heaven (Third Pillar: Prayer); and Serve those in need to practicing charity and justice (Fourth Pillar: Service)."
In some ways this is happening already, but this effort will intensify as we strive to bring this model and this "way of life" to all our Catholics.
The Holy Spirit is at work, folks. God has great plans for this wonderful Midwest diocese we call home. I dream of a day where unity becomes our best identity. Unity which paints a picture of a strong, vibrant diocese filled with thousands of dedicated, spirit-filled stewards who claim as their identity nothing less than being a true "Intentional Disciple." This is the church which Jesus began 2,000 years ago when he began to call forth discipleship from the people; but without a doubt it is the church he desires us to be today as his Spirit wants to live and breathe his grace into our discipleship and hence into the world and the daily environments we find ourselves in.
Wichita's model teaches, "Stewardship begins with the grateful response of a Christian disciple" and "Discipleship is a lifelong commitment to faithfully following our Lord so we can one day share in His everlasting kingdom." This is our path we seek to journey and attain together. God has loved us so much. Our response to him as an "Intentional Disciple" is our gift of love in return. Looking at the four pillars: Prayer: I Love God; Formation: I love our Catholic faith; Hospitality: I love our parish; and Service: I love our neighbor. Keep opening your hearts to this call, this way of life, this love.