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The Southern Cross, Page 8 Thursday, September 7, 2000 The community of communities known as a parish By Sheila Garcia Catholic News Service “H ow many people in your par ish do you know by name? Years ago, when I began my first post-college job in Washington, D.C., I knew no one at the downtown parish where I chose to worship. Although the liturgies were beautiful, my sense of loneliness and isolation from the community grew. One evening I decided to attend the monthly meeting of the parish’s young- adult group. Here I found a community within a community. The group not only connected me to other young adults but to other parish members as well. Gradually I learned the names of the 82-year-old woman in the first pew, the Hispanic family in the back and even the homeless man who ended up attending my wedding! Many members of Catholic par ishes tell similar stories. Since the average parish has 3,000 members, people often connect to the parish through small groups. These groups may be based on age, state in life (newly married couples, moms groups), shared interests (Scripture study, social action), faith experiences (RENEW groups, Cur- sillo) or other common ties. The parish where I found the young-adult club, for example, now sponsors more than 20 groups, rang ing from the Rite of Christian Initia tion of Adults to an HIV/AIDS spiritu ality group, the Homeless Services Project, and groups for single men and single women. Rooted in parish life, small groups provide a comfortable setting where people can learn from and support each other on a spiritual journey. The U.S. Catholic bishops, in their 1995 statement “Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium,” called these com munities a “promising development” for people who want to participate in the church’s life and mission on a smaller scale. m m a Small communities reveal the church in miniature. While each small community’s specific purpose is different, they all share certain char acteristics of the larger church. First, members of small communi ties share faith. They not only hold the same beliefs but are willing to reveal who God is for them. This ex perience builds trust, understanding and respect among the group mem bers. A colleague at work recounted the story of his parish’s pastoral council. Each month, after a quick prayer, the All contents copyright©2000 by CNS council moved quickly to its agenda. One evening a council member sug gested that the first 20 minutes of each meeting be set aside for mem bers to reflect on God’s word and how God was working in their lives — in other words, for faith-sharing. Some members had misgivings, wondering if they could complete the pastoral-council work in the reduced amount of time. They agreed to try the suggestion, however, and were amazed by the results. They not only completed the agenda each month, but meetings became much more har monious and productive. As council members came to see Christ in each other, the bonds of faith deepened, unity grew and the work became more effective. Second, small groups have an in ward focus. Their members care for, support and challenge each other on the spiritual journey. They provide a community of friends that makes spiritual growth possible. When my father died four years ago, members of my mother’s parish Leisure Club rallied around her. Their presence and comforting words at the wake and funeral moved her to tears. Many had lost their own spouses; they knew her grief and loneliness. In the months after the funeral one woman called my mother almost ev ery evening to see how she was doing. Several women, deciding that she needed more social opportunities, in vited her to join their Fun Bunch. Others challenged her to assume a leadership role in Meals on Wheels. The group helped her to see that God still had a purpose for her. They gave her the gift of hope. Third, as with the larger church, small groups have an outward focus. They are called to transform the world by using their members’ di verse gifts and talents. A variety of small groups within a parish allows individuals to use their God-given gifts effectively: —We need people with a gift for intercessory prayer who meet each week to pray for the needs of the par ish and the community. —We need activists who can advo cate for the homeless and march for the unborn. —We need those who can visit the sick and the imprisoned. No one person and no one group can do it all, but working together we can change our part of the world. Finally, small groups are con nected to each other and to the larger faith community through the Eucha rist. Our common worship, especially on Sunday, unites us. Important as our own small group is, it is not the whole church. At the Sunday Eucharist we recognize and celebrate the eyes, ears, hands and feet that make us the body of Christ. Above all we celebrate God’s love that draws us together as a community of communities. (Garcia is associate director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth.) FOODFORTHOUGHT One way of renewing parishes, especially urgent for parishes in large cities, might be to consider the parish as a community of communities and movements, ” Pope John Paul II wrote in early 1999 (“The Church in America”). He said that it “seems timely” to form communities and groups within parishes that are “of a size that allows for true human relationships. ” What these groups offer, he said, is a “human context” for members. He explained: “In such a human context it will be easier to gather to hear the word of God, to reflect on the range of human problems in the light of this word and gradually to make responsible decisions inspired by the all-embracing love of Christ.” These small groups are not ends unto themselves, however. The pope indicated that the group’s spirit of “communion” ought to spread into the larger parish and the larger church. A parish renewed in this way, the pope affirmed, can “gather people in community, assist family life, overcome the sense of anonymity, welcome people and help them to be involved in their neighborhood and society.” 30 David Gibson, Editor, Faith Alive!