The third objective of the pastoral plan submitted to the Diocese of Jefferson City in the fall of 2020 was to build on and educate people in Catholic identity. The activities that would strengthen the Catholic identity of parishioners are to hold a parish mission, to offer mini-classes during Lent on Catholic topics, and to promote life-long learning through a book club or podcast presentations and discussions.

The challenges of the pandemic last year made it very difficult to plan parish activities, but those same challenges required all of us to come to a clearer understanding of what it means to be Catholic. The single most visible sign of Catholic identity is of course the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. The celebration of the Eucharist continued in our church throughout the pandemic, but the ability of people to participate in person was and still is a challenge for many. I talked to many in the past year who remained fairly isolated until earlier this summer when widespread vaccinations were available. The consistent refrain was, “It’s nice to be able to watch the live-stream from our own church, but it’s not the same. I know that God is present everywhere, but nothing can substitute for the presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.” 

Isn’t that the key question about identity? What are the things we do and the beliefs we hold that are indispensable? What do we hold as fundamental to our self-image, our relation to God and others? Who are we, and who are we not as Catholics?

It is understandable that the first step in strengthening Catholic identity would turn to faith formation and discernment programs. Education in a large part is about definitions. We learn the concepts, facts, and history of some topic or subject. Identity then is defined as a way of knowing, observing, acting and  believing. 

Faith formation, and therefore defining oneself in relation to God, takes place in a large part through the day to day life of a believer, especially through the sacraments. The grace of Christ continues to mold us and change us, restoring his image within us. We read the Sacred Scriptures, we reflect on God’s Word to us, and we discern God’s will in our lives. We discover more about God and more about ourselves in our daily prayer. It’s a gradual process of conversion of heart that continues all of our lives.

There is something about faith formation that contains much more drama and excitement. One distinct type of faith formation that is customary for Catholics is that of a retreat experience. Priests and religious are required by canon law to attend a substantial retreat each year. The wisdom of tradition has taught us that it is necessary to stop the regular activity in our life and devote an intense or concentrated period of time to renewing our faith. By setting aside extra time for prayer, reflection, and study, we are more disposed to allow God’s grace to change us and form us into the person He wants us to be.

For many centuries, parishes have hosted missions to allow the faithful to have some type of retreat or renewal experience while remaining at home. In general we think of the missionary work of the Church as outwardly focused, to those who have not been evangelized. But with the rise of the preaching orders—Dominicans and Franciscans—missionary efforts to evangelize communities who had already embraced the Gospel but had become lukewarm or negligent about the faith became more regular.

The Counter-Reformation led by the preaching and teaching of the Society of Jesus saw a new type of missionary effort. The life of Saint John Francis Regis is just one example of how important and effective parish missions were in strengthening the faith of the average Catholic lay person. 

Saint Vincent de Paul founded the Congregation of the Mission in the early 1600s to bring the Gospel in word and deed not only to the poor and neglected, but to the clergy itself which had grown lax and irreligious. The Redemptorists were founded by Saint Alphonsus Liguori a century later with much the same aim. Widespread secularization in the late 18^th and 19^th centuries in Europe saw the rise of religious orders founded with the particular aim of restoring Catholic religious life. The devastation wrought upon religious and parochial life during the French revolution and Napoleonic wars and other political upheavals required new armies of missionary societies to teach people what it means to be a Catholic believer. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Precious Blood orders were founded in the 1800s with the specific purpose of renewing the faith of the people in the parishes throughout Europe through a missionary effort. That model of faith formation and renewal accompanied all these orders to the United States as the Catholic Church grew here at a great pace in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Typically a mission consisted of the visitation of one or two priests of these missionary orders who would come to a parish and preach at all the weekend Masses. Then each night of the week, the missionary priest would preach the mission to a full church. Confession was an integral part of the mission, especially in bringing priests from neighboring parishes to come and assist. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction were customary.
Parish missions have become less common over the past fifty years. What has replaced them?  In our Diocese small group faith sharing has become a model for spiritual renewal and faith formation. Beginning in the early 80s with Our Journey in Faith, many parishes turned to small study group programs for primary adult faith formation. I know of some parishes where groups first formed by “OJIF” still meet weekly. Disciples in Mission and Why Catholic are other examples of renewal programs that have been very effective at strengthening Catholic identity in our diocese.

I am convinced that every Catholic needs to engage in some type of significant retreat or renewal event in their lives if they are to be true to their baptismal faith. Since the Second Vatican Council, parish missions have continued, but new renewal programs flourished also. Teens Encounter Christ, Cursillo, Marriage Encounter and many other renewal programs that take place over a two or three day weekend have provided millions of Catholics in the United States to make a firm commitment to their Catholic faith.

In the Diocese of Jefferson City for the last fifteen or so years, Christ Renews His Parish has become a staple of parish renewal. The movement in a parish begins with a weekend retreat in the parish led by a visiting team from another parish on mission to spread renewal. There are separate men’s and women’s retreats. The formula then is simple:  those who make the retreat are now asked to prepare for and direct a retreat for the next group of candidates.

Immaculate Conception in Jefferson City and Holy Rosary in Monroe City are two parishes who have been leaders in bringing about parish renewal through CRHP (or as those familiar with the programs say, “Chirp”). Recently Matthew Kelly purchased the rights to the program, updated it, and rebranded it as a Dynamic Catholic offering:  Welcome. Key to this weekend of renewal is parishioners witnessing to other parishioners about their faith. 

In the coming months, we will be evaluating our parish’s pastoral plan using the guidelines provided to us by the Diocese of Jefferson City. This will allow us to make some more concrete plans about what type of renewal mission is best for our parish. The three pillars of the pastoral plan are the fostering the spirituality of stewardship, the co-responsibility of the laity and the clergy for the mission of the Church, and fostering the parish as a center of mercy and charity. I see that the activity of strengthening Catholic identity is most expressive of the co-responsibility of the laity and the clergy. Missions, retreats, and study groups will provide the opportunity for renewal and strengthening the faith, but after the work of the Holy Spirit, the most significant actor in renewal is the Catholic himself or herself. 

Clearly the strengthening of our Catholic identity is a highly personal and subjective thing—subjective not in the sense of relative or idiosyncratic but in the sense of believing the subject has to engage and assent to transformation. Whatever we end up choosing, it is going to require the involvement of a significant number of parishioners if it is to achieve the objectives of our pastoral plan. 

Our parish can easily display external signs of Catholic identity:  the renovation of the Church this past year is a beautiful example of Catholic identity. But transforming our hearts and our behavior, that is another thing. Going back to the great missionary efforts of the 19^th century, I am in awe of what was accomplished by these saints in re-founding Catholicism. The need for renewal is no less great in our time; instead of the terror of the French Revolution and the destruction of religious life through violence and bloodshed or royal decree, our faith and Catholic identity in 21^st century America has died the death of a thousand cuts from neglect and inattention. Clearly the type of spiritual renewal preached by Saint Vincent de Paul or Saint Gaspar del Bufalo is needed now as much as then.