Homily Year C Week 20

Homilies of a Deacon in a maintenance Parish focusing on Evangelization  

After five years as a permanent deacon  at St Benedict’s Parish , the “Divine Renovation” Parish and the passing of my wife , two days after our 39th wedding anniversary , at the age of 63 . It was time to lick my wounds and consider what Christ was calling me to.  The following year I was posted to two parishes . One was a traditional city parish with a declining attendance and a delightful African priest, who brought some of his African traditions to the parish. He was well loved by the parishioners but the average age of the parish was near seventy and each month attendance declined with the passing of elderly parishioners . This parish offered a great ministry to the two nursing homes in the geographic parish.  

The other churches were a parish grouping of two parishes one an inner city , low income , community with good spirit and slowly declining attendance. The pastor was from Africa and again was well liked by the community. The second parish of this parish grouping was made up of two country churches . One church was found in a fishing village but the three dozen regularly attending  parishioners were often driving quite a distance to join the once weekly mass. The average age of mass attendance was north of 75 years of age. The other church was more of a suburban church with young families in attendance. The church glebe hosted Franciscan Sisters which provided some qualified volunteers to help the community out. Attendance had declined over the previous decade but from the beginning there was a sense of energy hopefulness and vitality in the community.

So this was the framework I was provided , the field I was given with a framework of brining life to the communities. There was much to do and many complex issues to deal with. Finances were constrained, the plants of three of the four churches needed unavailable investment. None of the parishes had an outwork focus but rather , and frankly had for years, a survival focus. This was true but there was no plan or even a strategy to develop a plan. This blog is not to reflect my three journey with these churches but rather a reflection through my efforts to preach to the communities , often on alternate weekends , to fill them through God’s guidance with the Holy Spirit. I can’t say everything worked, I can’t say there wasn’t resistance from some. But the Holy spirt filled , when I didn’t resist to much, and certainly there was some movement of the spirit in the churches. We began the pivot to an outward focus, an evangelical orientation. Find these homilies , for better and worse, perhaps they can open your heart and witness the efforts the Lord supported me in. 

In this blog I will also  consider be on the possibility of using funerals to open the Kyregma and the witness of the Holy Spirit to attendees. I will approach this through my own experience and the work I undertook in the parishes to reflect that intention