Accompanying people to find Jesus is the plan

In his Apostolic Exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis encourages “the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization.” A chapter, the pope said, that is stamped by the joy found in Scripture, and which will lay out “new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.” That is the intent and hope of the new pastoral planning process in which the Diocese of Corpus Christi has embarked.

“The pastoral plan will assist us to minister to the needs of those who have lost their way or have never known the beauty of God's love and his mercy,” Bishop Michael Mulvey said in his announcement of the pastoral planning process made on the Feast of the Epiphany. Referring to the Holy Father’s exhortation, Bishop Mulvey said that the response “We have always done it this way,” would not be acceptable in developing the new pastoral plan of the diocese.

In a retreat with diocesan staff in December, the bishop said that Pope Francis, since his installation, has been encouraging the whole church to be mission oriented. Especially us at the diocesan level, Bishop Mulvey told diocesan staff, adding that they should not see their office as coming to work, “it is to come to the mission office.” To be a part of this mission of bringing Christ to others.

The planning process goal is to make clear what “we are here for,” the bishop said. “Pope Francis has spoken on a number of instances of people coming to our parishes and finding an institution,” Bishop Mulvey said. The response is usually something like, “Here are the rules, here are the class times, here are the requirements.”

“Nobody that walked up to Jesus heard those things,” the bishop said. “Pope Francis is calling us not to put up roadblocks. His word is ‘accompanying’ people. Don’t just throw up requirements, walk with them, accompany them.”

The second part of the planning process is to look at the structures in parishes, schools, in the chancery and make sure they “correspond to the spirit of Jesus.” It is not so much about structures, he said, it is about the spirit of bringing Jesus to others is what we want to focus on. “Listen to people who have a wisdom for life,” he told the staff.

The third area in the planning process is to look at the methods used to “evangelize people in our communities.” The bishop said there is going to be a lot of work, but the idea is “to be able to reach out to the world that we live in.”

The current Pastoral Plan of the diocese was adopted in 2009—before the election of Pope Francis—and has become outdated, requiring new approaches to achieving the evangelization the Holy Father has been calling for, at times in colorful language. “An evangelizing community gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives; it bridges distances, it is willing to abase itself if necessary, and it embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others. Evangelizers thus take on the ‘smell of the sheep’ and the sheep are willing to hear their voice,” the pope said in the “The Joy of the Gospel”.

During the last year, Bishop Mulvey has met with the priests of the diocese on a number of occasions to discuss how to move forward with the Holy Father’s pleas for the New Evangelization. Bishop Mulvey’s desire for the pastoral planning is to—in the words of Pope Francis—“invite everyone to be bold and creative in…rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities.”

The diocese has set up an online page on its website (diocesecc.org/pastoralplan) to keep the faithful up to date on the planning process. This page includes the video shown at all Masses on Jan. 6-7, a podcast of the video, a pastoral planning prayer, a calendar of upcoming pastoral planning events and a sign-in form to be kept abreast of latest developments. Other important elements of the planning process, such as a survey form, will be made available at parishes and online as they become available.

The formal kick off of the Pastoral Planning will be on Saturday, Feb. 3, with a concert performance at the Cathedral with Eric Genuis. The concert will begin after the 5:30 p.m. Vigil Mass to be celebrated by Bishop Mulvey. Genuis is a world-renowned pianist, composer and inspirational speaker.

The pastoral plan will address areas such as evangelization, catechesis, worship, family life, vocations, youth and stewardship, as well as parish life. A number of town hall meetings will be held throughout the diocese on Feb. 19 and 20 to afford the laity an opportunity to provide their ideas.

The idea is to prioritize the plan elements for three to five years. After all the input has been received, a leadership team will put it all together.

“It’s not going to happen overnight,” Bishop Mulvey said. “We can do this.”