December 10, 2006

    We often compare a parish with a biological family.  There are many reasons for this, one of which is the fact that, as a parish, we all have the same Father and we all share the same Brother.  One other important reason is that we are human and our humanness is carried through to our spiritual life.  As we celebrate the 35th Anniversary of our parish this month, perhaps we could reflect on our parish relations and learn from our human experiences.

    Families are blessed with new life with the birth of new infants.  This is always a joyful experience for us.  So it is with our parish.  New born babies are brought to Baptism and brought into our Faith community.  This is always a time of joy and celebration.  At the other end of the spectrum is the experience of death.  Many families lose loved ones as they age, people who have given of themselves for the love of the family.  They are missed.  There are some families who lose loved ones at a younger age, before they have the experience of old age and still others who lose children.  This is always a tragedy for a family.  Our parish has had this experience several times this year and we are still reeling from these premature deaths.  As we hold on to our Faith, we sincerely believe that God will be with us in our pain.

    A second point of comparison is the idea that human families grow.  As children grow and have families of their own, the family grows with aunts, uncles and many cousins.  Some move away while others move back into town or into their parents house.  Over the past 35 years our parish has also grown.  Some have move away but others have moved in.  We have many new parishioners in our midst.  In this year alone our family has seen dozens of new faces.  We welcome all of you to our parish family.
 
    A third point of similarity is the fact that traditions and rituals must change.  This often hurts or disappoints certain family members while others are overjoyed at the changes.  If the family members really understand what family is about, they try to understand the reasons for the changes and attempt to accept things even if it is difficult.  After all, the love of the family is more important that tradition and schedules, are they not? This is a very familiar occurrence in parishes today.  Our schedules change, our ways of celebrating have to be adjusted etc.  Some people are upset and others not.  Can we learn from our human family experience?

    Lastly, the life of the family often experiences difficulty because there are always those who think that they are exempt from doing their fair share while the others are left doing most of the work around the house or at family gatherings.  We have all had those experiences, have we not?  The parish family is often plagued with the same problems.  This often happens because some people do not realize how important their help and cooperation is to the rest of the family. 

    As we look ahead to the future, we may want to ask ourselves: “What kind of family do we want to be?”  Is it important to us to be welcoming?  Do we see it as a positive when we see our family grow?  Do we feel a deepening community relationship is more important than our traditions and schedules?  Do we want to be a parish that share the burden together as we envision the life of the Gospel in our midst?    We certainly have the potential.   Shall we do it?

                                Lorette P. Nault