The Church is in a long season of waiting right now. We are waiting for the restrictions to be lifted. We are waiting for our Churches to be opened. We are waiting for a return to normal.
The dictionary provides two definitions of waiting: 1) the action of staying where one is and, 2) delaying action until a particular time.
The first definition – staying where one is – is rooted in passivity. The second definition – delaying action – is rooted in proactivity.
In our waiting as a Church, are we passively staying where we are or are we proactively getting ready for missionary action when action can be taken? Are we waiting to return to normal Sunday Mass or getting ready for the missionary opportunity unfolding in front of us? When the opportunity comes, it will be too late to prepare; so, we better get ready now.
In May 2020, Carey Nieuwhof wrote, “By now you’ve realized that the coronavirus pandemic is not an interruption, as much as it is a disruption.” One year later, his words continue to echo in my mind.
Many Catholics think that the biggest impact of the pandemic has been the interruption to the celebration of Mass. I do not think that is true. The impact on Sunday morning has been significant and negative, but it is temporary. I think the bigger disruption, the positive impact of the pandemic will be on the missionary dimension of the Church. That disruption will be positive and permanent, hopefully! That is why I think it will be more significant than the temporary impact on the Mass. Please Lord, may the pandemic be the impulse that changes everything (thank you, Eric Chow).
Many Catholics think, and feel, that the biggest impact of the pandemic is the interruption in celebrating public Mass, but I don’t think that’s true. Click To TweetNot being able to celebrate or participate in the Mass has been a heavy burden felt by all, especially our beloved priests. It is painful but not permanent.
Our souls ache to receive Communion. Our hearts long to be with our communities. But the Mass itself has not changed, nor will it in the months and years to come. Livestreaming will not become an acceptable means of fulfilling one’s Sunday obligation in the future. The temporary pain of not attending public Mass will not become the status quo. It will go back to normal.
What cannot return to normal, what must not return to normal, is the approach we have to the missionary dimension of the Church. An unintentional strategy will no longer suffice. It never did but was hard to measure until the pandemic helped us to see that Sunday Mass attendance and parish engagement are not the same things.
Over the past several decades, the Church has faded into a laissez-faire attitude toward evangelization because we did not perceive the need to spread the faith. The culture kept everything and everyone aligned to the imaginative vision of Christianity and connected to the Church. Meanwhile, the world began to change and the connection between society and the Church began to erode. In the past few years, erosion has quickened. In fact, so much has changed that we live in what is called a Post-Christian culture. The basic paradigm: Christianity has been tried and failed.
There are growing numbers of people that believe the farther and faster society flees from the influence of the Church, the better off society will be. We desperately need to shake off a Christendom mode of thinking and return to an Apostolic mindset.
The pandemic has caused our parishes to become quite innovative in their approach to connecting with people. Livestreaming Mass is only part of the effort. Outdoor Masses, parking-lot confessions, drive-up adoration, prayer groups meeting on Zoom, pastors creating YouTube channels, sending bite-sized messages to their congregations, and youth taking groceries to elders.
The pandemic has caused our parishes to become quite innovative in their approach to connecting with their people. Click To TweetSome parishes have started a telephone tree through which every parishioner gets a phone call from a volunteer who just checks in every two weeks. That is beautiful, even heroic.
We may think that we were forced to become creative to deal with the challenges of the pandemic, but more importantly, the Lord has shown us what is possible! Knowing what we are capable of, may we dare to dream again and to dream big!
What is animating that creativity? Love … love for Christ and zeal for souls.
Love motivates a pastor to figure out how to download a video from his phone onto YouTube. Love drives him from the comfort of his rectory to hear confessions in the parking lot even when it’s raining. Love animates all kinds of creativity.
That same innovation and zeal to reach parishioners during the pandemic will need to animate our missionary outreach after the pandemic is over. If we shift our energy and zeal from those we are trying to keep (parishioners in the pews) to those we are trying to reach (non-churchgoers), we may see a new missionary impulse, capable of transforming everything. As a Church we move from maintenance to mission.
We have learned valuable skills and adopted amazing technologies to care for our community. After the pandemic, may these skills and technologies be used for the sake of missionary outreach beyond the existing community. The Church is the only organization in the world that was created NOT for its own members. Post-pandemic Christianity will need a Church that re-prioritizes outreach, evangelizing presence and contagious community.
We need to shift our energy and zeal from those we are trying to keep, parishioners in the pews, to those we are trying to reach, non-churchgoers. Click To TweetThis is where the real disruption is taking place. This is where the Spirit is speaking. This is where we see His protagonism, His catalytic and prophetic Presence. The Lord is allowing us to learn how to “outreach” effectively with our own people so we become passionate and capable of reaching those not yet in our Churches.
The Lord is allowing us to learn how to “outreach” effectively with our own people so we become passionate and capable of reaching those not yet in our parish communities. Click To TweetWhen Winston Churchill said, “Never waste a good crisis,” he wasn’t speaking about temporary adaptations to get through a tough time. It’s about leveraging the momentary crisis as a burning platform to bring about deep, transformational, organizational change. The coronavirus has created this kind of crisis for the Church. The lockdown has been an interruption to the celebration of public Mass, but a disruption to the missionary dimension of the Church.
Churchill's, “Never waste a good crisis,” wasn’t about temporary changes. It’s about leveraging the momentary crisis as a burning platform to bring about deep organizational change. Click To TweetOpportunities like this are rare. The crisis is forcing us to innovate and adapt our strategies and tactics in a way that is aligned to the spirit of what was envisioned when St. John Paul II called for a new evangelization – “one that is new in its ardour, new in its methods, and new in its expression.”
The crisis is forcing us to innovate and adapt in a way that is very aligned to St. John Paul II's vision for the new evangelization – “new ardour, new methods, and new in its expression.” Click To TweetCome Holy Spirit and fill us with a renewed commitment to the mission of Christ, which is still very far from completion. Let us take advantage of the extended time of waiting, by readying ourselves for the post-pandemic mission of bringing Jesus to the world.