Want to Change the World? Make a Difference in Your Parish

By Chris Sparks

Let us love one another as God loves each of us. And where does this love begin? In your own home. How does it begin? By praying together — Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

In the face of a world hostile to Christ and His Church, it can be very tempting to close the doors, build high walls, and retreat into a Catholic fortress.

When praying or proclaiming the Gospel is met by verbal or even physical abuse, well, it’s only natural to turn away, to shelter in the Church, to leave the outside world to its sins.

And yet that’s not what Christ tells us to do. That’s not what the science of the Cross tells us. That’s not the example given to us by Jesus, the saints, and the martyrs down through the centuries.

Instead, at the end of every Mass, we hear a Final Proclamation, a final commission to go forth and change the world.

Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord!

Let me count the ways
There are a number of ways to announce the Gospel, including giving away copies of the Scriptures; living the faith in worship and works of mercy; practicing the beatitudes in our relationships with others; and more. And of course, the first place we ought to be announcing the Gospel is in our own parishes, both in evangelization (preaching the Gospel to the non-Christians) and New Evangelization (sharing the faith with lapsed Catholics, or with Catholics who’ve never really learned what we believe, or who don’t practice with full faith and fervor).

We have to do both evangelization and New Evangelization in our parishes because God loves our neighbors as He loves us, and wants us to love our neighbors, as well. Indeed, Jesus said to St. Faustina, “I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere” (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 742).

Our fellow Catholics are our neighbors, of course, but each and every parish is larger than just the people you see next to you in the pew each Sunday at Mass. The family of God includes the homebound, for instance, and the ill, as well as those who are lapsed Catholics, Christmas and Easter Catholics, or those without the transportation to make it to Mass. The neighbors we are commissioned to love include every non-Catholic, as well, for whom we should be praying.

We are to be concerned with more than just our neighbor’s conversion and sanctification. We are to love them authentically, fully, now as they are, even if they are sinners (see Rom 5:6-8), even if they are enemies (see Mt 5:43-48). We are to be concerned with all their needs, physical as well as spiritual (see Jas 2:14-17).

That means everyone
Every person living within the boundaries of a parish are given to the Catholics of that parish to love, pray, and care for. Every person. Everything within that parish is to be tended and kept by the members of the parish in some fashion, whether that means prayer or some physical acts of stewardship.

I wish every parish would put in their front foyer a map of the geographical boundaries of their parish. Above it, put the Scripture, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mk 12:30-31). Below the map should be the two lists of the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, and the whole parish should treat those as to do lists.

Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

We are summoned and sent by Christ and His Church at every Mass to be light in darkness, salt of the earth, and a city set on a hill, a people set apart, known by our love for God and neighbor. The Christian way of life is summed up in the episcopal motto of Bl. George Matulaitis, Renovator of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception: “Overcome evil with good.” That motto comes from Scripture:

Rather, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good (Rom 12:20-21).

Love and serve
So love God first and foremost, and then love your neighbor as God loves them. Love and serve the members of your parish, both Catholic and non-Catholic, both practicing and lapsed. Remember that we are members of a bigger family, a larger community, than the visible bounds of the Church, and we owe love to all. If you are already practicing one or more of the works of mercy, God bless you! If you’re not, take a look at those lists (below), pick one, and try it out. We all should be doing at least one as a normal, regular habit. It’s necessary for the salvation of our souls! Take a look at Mt 25:31-46 if you don’t believe me.

Practice and proclaim the Divine Mercy message and devotion. Love and serve Our Lady, especially through the devotions she has requested through Church-approved apparitions. Study the faith — immerse yourself in Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium. Open yourself to the Light of Christ, and you will be light to the world. Taste and see of the goodness of the Lord, and you will be salt of the earth, changing the world by changing your parish.

Go forth, the Mass is ended.

Pray for me, that I may practice what I preach. I’ll pray for you.

Chris Sparks serves as senior book editor for the Marian Fathers. He is the author of the Marian Press book How Can You Still Be Catholic? 50 Answers to a Good Question.

Corporal Works:

1. Feed the hungry
2. Give drink to the thirsty
3. Clothe the naked
4. Shelter the homeless
5. Visit the prisoners
6. Comfort the sick
7. Bury the dead

Spiritual Works:

1. Teach the ignorant
2. Pray for the living & dead
3. Correct sinners
4. Counsel those in doubt
5. Console the sorrowful
6. Bear wrongs patiently
7. Forgive wrongs willingly

Photo by Derick McKinney on Unsplash
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