Sent Out: A Story from Canada
Father Robert and Father Michael are engaged in a first for the Catholic Church in Canada: a missionary partnership.
The more than 2 dozen people sent from St. Ignatius two weeks ago are being commissioned to join Saint Willibrord.The missionary partnership is part of a vision to send people out to grow the Church in Montreal and beyond. Since the launch two weeks ago, the St. Ignatius group has become regular parishioners at Saint Willibrord, joining with the faithful remnant that is there. “We don’t want to be life support – we want to be life giving,” says Father Michael. Those that have remained at Saint Willibrord want the same thing and are equal partners with the new parishioners to make the church missional. The goal is to renew the parish and reach Verdun with the love of Jesus.
It is a risk. There is no playbook. It might all fail. Father Robert states: “it’s either going make or break the parish.” But the goal isn’t just to survive…
A Beacon of Hope: A Story from Canada
Fr. Mark was first exposed to DR when he was in the seminary studying theology, diving into the distinctions between evangelization and catechesis. He was gathering many perspectives as he contemplated how to really make Jesus known.
DR “was for me a no-brainer, this is the way we’ve got to go, mission-oriented church and we have great mentors to rely on. It’s like oh, okay, how is there anything bad here? How could we possibly say no?”
Beyond Borders: A Story about a Priest in Portugal
Father Jose has been the Pastor of the joint parishes of Santa Eulália de Fafe e Santa Comba de Fornelos since 2017. Historically it had an “immense vitality between the 80’s and 90’s,” he relates, but in recent decades has seen far fewer parishioners in the pews and now stretches to cover larger neighbourhoods. Father Jose knows he is not alone in feeling this holy discontent, “this disquiet” about what is happening in parishes.
Father Jose connected to DR through a brother priest, who directed him to Leadership Coach, Father Tiago Veloso.
“I came to Father Tiago through other priests, here in our diocese of Braga, particularly Father Sérgio Torres through our conversations and sharing about parish ministry.” Father Jose started in coaching with DR in 2021 with cohort of Portuguese priests. “Now,” he states, “I try to put all this into practice.”
Building for the Future: A Story from Ireland
The pastor of the dual parishes of Greystones and Kilquade, Fr. John is a busy man. Located just outside of Dublin, he ministers in an environment of rampant secularization and to many who view their faith as cultural rather than personal.
Last year, over a thousand children came through baptism, first communion, and confirmation; yet over 90% don’t attend after they receive the sacraments.
On Mission: A Story from Divine Renovation – Deutschsprachiger Raum
Wir sind Franzi und Michael Oberberger, wir kommen aus Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz und und eigentlich sind wir Lehrer. Unser Projekt genau zu benennen ist gar nicht so leicht, da haben wir lange überlegt.
Then and Now: A Letter from the 2022 DR USA Conference
My first experience attending a Divine Renovation (DR) Conference was in the summer of 2018 in Halifax, Canada. Being blessed to participate in the most recent conference in Dallas, I can have a better appreciation of the journey we at Notre Dame have traveled these past few years and how the Holy Spirit has been moving within the Divine Renovation Ministry and other parishes in our Catholic Church.
Preaching on Purpose: A Focus on Homilies
O’Reilly says, “This book was born out of our conversations with priests we coach. The same question kept coming up – my homily is one of the most important ways of reaching my people with the gospel…but how do I preach in a way that really helps us make disciples?”
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: A Story from the USA
“I, at one time, referred to Saint Mary’s as Our Lady of the Comatose…We were the typical parish in the mushy middle,” states longtime St.Mary’s parishioner Dwain Robbins.
He continues, “People came, checked off, ‘I went to Mass.’ They tried to be the first out of the parking lot; there was was relatively little interaction.” Ten years ago if you tried to talk about evangelization “people’s eyes glazed over.”
Located in the Lower Blackstone Valley in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, St. Mary’s has not been immune to the problems facing the Church.
But if you were to walk into St.Mary’s today you would not find a sleepy parish, as Dwain beams “I can’t say that anymore; we are anything but.”
9 Churches, 1 Mission: A Story from the UK
“We’re in the unenviable situation where we’re one parish but nine locations. So, I’m the pastor to nine churches and I’ve got two assistant priests.”
A friend from seminary passed on the book Divine Renovation: from a Maintenance to a Missional Parish to Father Michael. He then went on to join DR’s group coaching and is now in one-on-one coaching.
This support has helped him guide the renewal of his parish as they move towards mission. He states: “ We give Him [God] all of the finite and he gives us the infinite.”
Happy Father’s Day!
Genealogies litter the Bible mapping the path of our forefathers from sin to salvation. God’s love is quite literally multiplied out through the generations.
Our lineages matter.
