All Things New and Parish Traditions

As I write, we have just completed our Fall Festival at Sacred Heart. I am again in awe at the generosity of so many people to make this day a celebration of faith, family, fun, and community – all because of our common life in Christ.

Investing hours of time in volunteering before, during, and after the event. Sharing donated items both purchased and handcrafted. Sharing hospitality and welcome. Reuniting family and friends around a church-based day. On Labor Day, the same will happen with its own unique traditions at St. Stephen. On September 7, Annunciation will have its outdoor Mass, picnic and parade. On September 20-21, St. Francis Xavier will have its annual parish celebration of FrantoberFest.

All of this and more is a rich sign of life and strength in our ACC. Some weeks ago, searching for a random example of future collaboration that might be phased in as part of the planning process, I used the idea of a joint festival. Please understand there are no plans for that, nor has it been discussed. It was just an arbitrary illustration.

But it does raise a larger question and a commitment we have as part of our All Things New committee discussions. One of our subcommittees is related to parish traditions and culture. In fact, we have tried to do this throughout our five years together. What are the treasured and long-standing aspects of each parish community that make it who it is? What can we preserve and renew for the coming generations to make the customs and sacrifices of our ancestors continue? And how can we balance preserving individual traditions with the larger needs and changing circumstances of our Current Reality?

“All Things New” is a quote from the Book of Revelation, where the risen Jesus promises that newness of eternal life. But while we are still pilgrims on the way to that life, there are things we will not be changing. Some are essential to Catholic life, of course: we will not be changing the Creed or the sacraments or the Scriptures or the Catechism. Some are practical matters: parish cemeteries, connections with our Catholic schools, existing programs that function effectively.

Other things may change. But whatever changes we propose in our Pastoral Plan are only intended to renew and build a stronger future, not to sacrifice the past for the sake of novelty or competition.

This will be a balancing act, as it always has been. These tensions are captured even in the Code of Canon Law, where one aspect of the pastor’s role is stated: Can. 529 … He is to cooperate with his own bishop and the presbyterate of the diocese, also working so that the faithful have concern for parochial communion, consider themselves members of the diocese and of the universal Church, and participate in and sustain efforts to promote this same communion.

These different levels of belonging in the Church, the Body of Christ, are not in competition with one another. They are “nested” to allow us to experience both our universality and the immediacy of our communion in Jesus Christ.

Part of All Things New is to experience this communion – in the parish, in our ACC, in our diocese, and across the world – in a deeper way. Even if nothing were to change, that deeper experience of the breadth of what we mean by “the Church” can be made new – and that affects all the other things we do with a deeper purpose, commitment, and awareness. We are the living Body of Christ, who keeps his promise: “Behold, I make all things new.”