Getting the Church ‘fit for mission’

The idea of journey is a central motif in our Faith. Whether it is Abraham leaving his homeland to go to the Promised Land or Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt – the People of God on the move is a constant.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) describes the Church as being on a “pilgrimage towards eternal happiness”.

It’s a powerful image and one which also invokes the idea that as well as being on a journey as a Church, each one of us is on a spiritual journey towards being united with our ultimate beginning – God Almighty in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Church is always on a pilgrimage – it is a journey of ups and downs, of heroes and villains. Ecclesiastical history teaches us that we stand on the shoulders of giants as well as rotten crooks. It also helps us understand that there really never was a ‘golden age’ of Catholicism – every generation had unique challenges, and yet God’s gentle hand was there guiding and leading his Church.

Previous times

Sometimes as Catholics we look back on previous times and think it was a better or easier time to have been a Catholic. It may appear so, but in reality there were difficulties then as well. It can be dispiriting to look at the Church in Ireland bowed by sin and scandals mostly of its own making, and yet this is the reality where God has placed us to preach the Good News.

In the midst of decline and falling numbers of priests, we can despair or we can get on with the work of proclaiming Christ. Despair is the opposite of faith – Christ constantly tells his followers in the New Testament not to give in to hopelessness and anxiety. We need to hear those words and know that they are also addressed to Catholics in Ireland in 2021.

The new Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell has a massive task ahead of himself leading the necessary reform of the country’s largest diocese to ensure that it is fit for mission. And that fitness for mission is the only thing that matters – the Church does not exist for its own sake, but for the sake of the world. Whatever structures are obsolete or holding back the journey need to be dispensed with quickly and without nostalgia. Survival is not a particularly Christian value. Jesus did not say “I have come that you may survive” but “so that you may have life and have it abundantly.”

Journey

Only a fool goes on a journey without being prepared. Dr Farrell will want to discern prudently along with the clergy and People of God about the future direction of the diocese. Key to that will be getting the nuts and bolts right. It’s one thing to have a nice car, it’s quite another to make sure it has four wheels and that you can keep up the repayments. It might not be the most glamorous work of Church reform – but it is vital if there is to be growth. Come Holy Spirit.