Restoring the Sacred

In the past week or so, I have spoken with several people about our liturgical strategic plan at our parish of Holy Rosary. We talk about the ideal liturgical life of the parish, about our constraints in terms of people and resources, and about what steps we can take to transcend our limitations and move forward.

I thought I might share with you the stories of two other parishes that are much, much further down this road.

Because one of the results of this restoration is not only to worship God in His mystery and majesty, it is not only to aid in the salvation of souls, brought closer to the Lord by liturgy worthily celebrated, but also to serve as incubators of vocations to the Holy Priesthood and the religious life.

Look, the Archdiocese of Seattle has a desperate shortage of priests. We need a plan for tackling that issue head-on, instead of ignoring it. In one of the most frustrating moments of our recent transition to our fifth priest in ten years, an archdiocesan facilitator spoke at our parish transition meeting. When he was asked what was being done to tackle the vocations crisis, he said: “trust to the Holy Spirit”.

That’s not bad advice, certainly. But just as certainly, we as the Body of Christ have to roll up our sleeves, too. As the great Saint Augustine said, “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”

So. These churches serve as places where the Holy Spirit can call young people to consider a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. Saint John Cantius parish in Chicago alone has generated dozens.

St. Peter Parish in Omaha is perhaps even a closer model to the situation (and size) of Holy Rosary. When the freeway was built in the 1960s right by this close-to-downtown parish, the parish population collapsed. Sound familiar? Even some of their first steps – Vespers, Corpus Christi Eucharistic Processions – are things that we have begun.

These parishes give a glimpse of what can be accomplished when the sacred is restored. Take comfort in their examples.

So, by all means, pray! Everything depends on it. But also work. Remember the words of Saint Augustine. Remember Saint Benedict’s exhortation: pray and work!

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

(1 Corinthians 15:58)