A Prognosis of Life: A Story from the Netherlands
On Nov. 26th, 2011, a reporter asked the newly appointed Bishop of Breda, Jan Liesen, “Are you the last Bishop of the diocese? Will the Church now finally go to rest and be over with?”
While historically a very Catholic diocese in the Netherlands, now only 1% of self-identifying Catholics attend Mass in Breda. Born in the diocese, Bishop Liesen spent most of his priesthood outside of North Brabant.
In 1968, A decade before he went to seminary, all seminaries in the Netherlands (about 30 in total) closed, including in Breda. This shift had an immediate effect on vocations: in one year, ordination dropped to 0. When Bishop Liesen first felt the call to the priesthood as a young man, he didn’t even know the route to take.
The Widow at Nain: A Focus on Mothers
The Widow at Nain is a woman who has lost everything.
In parish renewal, the first step that often leads people to connect with DR is facing their holy discontent, admitting that there is a problem in their parish. For some, with churches closing or parishes amalgamating, it feels like there is nothing left to do but throw up their hands and mourn for what was, like a mother’s despair over a lost child.
A Shrine Church Casting Off Towards Renewal: A Story from the UK
St. Dominic and Our Lady of the Rosary Shrine is a place of pilgrimage as well as a parish for its locality in Haverstock Hill, London. 17 side chapels and 20 altars make the church bigger than some cathedrals in England. Run by Dominicans, Father Lawrence Lew, OP is the Parish Priest, Rector of the shrine, Prior of the Dominican community, and Promoter General of the rosary.
Focus on the Future: A Story from the UK
In less than a year the parish has set up a SLT and grown in numbers as well as giving; but the real excitement lies in the 6 adult baptisms and 14 confirmations that took place over the weekend at the Easter Vigil. There is a real aliveness emerging in the parish — “I’m excited. There is a proper buzz!”
Father Brendan tells the story of one of the men who was just confirmed: “This guy just turned up one day,” the church was open, and the man was sitting in one of the pews. The man said, “Father may I speak with you?” He introduced himself as Arthur and told Father Brendan he instantly “felt at home when he came to the church.” He was in a program getting clean from narcotics and knew he couldn’t do it on his own, he needed God.
Grief and New Life: A Story from Canada
This Easter four adults will be baptized at St. Willibrord Parish in Montreal, Canada. A parish that just a year ago was described as “palliative” – dwindled down to 20 parishioners – is now teeming with new life.
Over the last year, St. Willibrord’s new pastor Fr. Robert Assaly and Fr. Mike Leclerc, (the Pastor of thriving parish St. Ignatius of Loyola), created one of the most innovative, and evangelistic parish initiatives in the Catholic Church – a missionary partnership between their two parishes.
This partnership has borne tremendous fruit. There are now 120-30 people at weekend Mass at St. Willibrord. Dozens have had their faith reignited.
Yet…
Catalyst for Change: A Focus on Evangelization
A group from St. Agnes Parish in Thunder Bay is currently helping run an Alpha… in another Parish. What started as a small group attending DR 2016 in Halifax has grown into a full blown parish renewal that is now spilling over into neighbouring parishes in their city. “We are being the catalyst to bring that into the city… the real dream would be to see our whole diocese on fire.”
Welcoming People Home: A Focus on Hospitality
Father Mark explains, “I am completely convinced that what people desire more than anything is to belong, and to feel welcomed and to be accepted, and to be embraced as they are… And I think the message of Jesus, the great revolutionary message of Jesus, in many ways, is that you do belong, and that you are accepted – that you are welcome.”
“Things Had To Change”: A Story from the UK
When Fr Kieron arrived at St.Joseph’s in East Brighton in 2012 he found a parish complacently in maintenance mode. He knew that “if we stayed as we were we would be in terminal decline.”
After reading Evangelii Gaudium, Fr Kieron, decided that “things had to change.” He consulted a small working group within the parish and suggested that “everything we do from now on has to fit the mission.”
But how to start this change? This question led him to Divine Renovation…
A New Year, A New DR Region: A Story from our German-Speaking Region
This region is unique in its challenges but identical to the global Church in its need for parish renewal. DACH is a region where a movement towards mission is grassroots – priests and laity who are hungry for God to move in His Church. Stories are emerging of the Holy Spirit moving and capturing the hearts of those who are willing and open to be used for the renewal of the Church.
DACH Regional Coordinator, Ferdinand Degenfeld, states that the vision is “to see parishes being really effective in changing lives, by bringing people all over our countries to the transformative experience of Jesus’ love. I want to see priests and their teams confidently and joyfully living their calling, empowering the baptized and spreading the fire from parish to parish, so that they become beacons of light in our towns and cities. Parishes are called to become the backbone of the Church once more!”
Not Alone on the Journey: A Story from New Zealand
A year ago Father Sherwin’s blood pressure was unstable. Within 5 weeks he had lost a significant amount of weight. Then an ECG showed that he had had a minor heart attack. Next, his childhood asthma came back, and he struggled with diverticulitis. A diagnostic journey began as he was sent from one specialist to the next, through test after test.
All of this happened within a year of Father Sherwin becoming the new Pastor of St. Mark Catholic Mission Parish in Pakuranga, New Zealand. “This is where Divine Renovation came in,” he says.
