By Samantha Wallace
St. Mary of the Assumption
We’ve been seeing increased messaging about our pastoral planning process in the Diocese of Wilmington, United in Christ. Driven by the pastoral letter we received from Bishop Koenig in May, all of us have now had the opportunity to offer our voice to respond to the “Ten Best Practices” derived from our diocesan synod in 2021. Those survey results are being reviewed now by each deanery team, and the dominant themes will be addressed early next year through goal setting for each of the deaneries.
This is a valuable process, but admittedly, one that can feel distant to some of us as individuals. I have found I sometimes feel this way. “How can I make a difference in an effort so vast?” I’ve come to appreciate that pastoral outreach is a meaningful catalyst to getting truly engaged in pastoral planning. From one individual to another.
Many practicing Catholics are converts – joining through the graces of OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults). These brethren primarily join the Catholic faith during the Easter Vigil. My husband, Howard, and I fall into another category, known as reverts. We were both baptized Catholic and raised through the sacraments, in Catholic schools and participating in Catholic communities. We each fell away from the faith and rejoined many years later, both feeling quite welcomed when we did.
I’ll speak for myself now. I continue to attempt to understand what happened that caused me to fall away from the Catholic faith not long after I graduated from my Catholic university. I know I can’t point to any incident that changed me. I wonder if I just no longer felt an inclusive draw to the community. I’ll continue to discern why this happened. As survey responses are reviewed around the diocese, I know there are many other people in the situation I was in, and congregations are wondering where so many people have gone. It’s clear that our diocese would like to welcome everyone back. Specifically, it’s clear that we are sad to lose so many of our young people and are anxious to welcome them back.
My life changed when I finally accepted a very persistent invitation from my friend, “Please join us for Mass this Sunday at St. Mary’s. We’ll meet you in the parking lot and go in together.”
Honestly, at the time, I was relenting by saying yes. Fast forward, Howard and I resumed regular Mass attendance that day, and that day was more than 15 years ago. We still remember everything about that Mass. Father Dillingham was the celebrant, and the Gospel was about the one lost sheep. We looked at each other, and we knew. Tremendous things have happened for us since that day, and we continue to live a fulfilling life participating in everything we can in the Church. I’ll never minimize the impact, though, of the fact that all of this came by virtue of a heartfelt and persistent invitation – a pastoral outreach. From one individual to another.
So maybe as individuals, we’re not so distant from this valuable process of pastoral planning. We each have choices to make every day, and one is the opportunity to extend a heartfelt and persistent invitation to others. Our other choice is to accept an invitation from another. Jesus simply asks, “Follow me.” Together we will fulfill the Kingdom of God here on earth, United in Christ.
Samantha Wallace is a parishioner at St. Mary of the Assumption and member of the diocesan core leadership team.
