Last night (6/13/26), Bishop Mark came to St Joseph’s in Scotia, NY and celebrated the 4 pm Mass with us. (He will be going to the other two parishes that we are connected with in July and August.)
In his homily, he mentioned some things to reflect on that I have been thinking about this morning. For the last few months, I have been thinking a lot of how I can help the parish I pastor be renewed, but it has been dawning on me that the renewal needs to be happening within me, too. I have been thinking that this is all my job, but, I realized this week that I need to surrender to God and allow Him to work in me and through me. I am wondering if my job is to enable the community to be open to the movement of the Spirit who created and recreates us everyday.
Bishop Mark asked us to take stock of our own discipleship. I may have the stats wrong, but he said that in the US today, especially in the Northeast., 17% of Catholics come to Mass and practice the faith but have not committed to discipleship. 7% of that number are all in when it comes to discipleship: to fully embrace being a Roman Catholic follower of Jesus. The remaining 83% either never come to Mass, coming Easter or Christmas, or a culturally Catholic. I am not sure where he got those numbers but I have heard similar figures
In the Gospel, Jesus gave us our mission through the apostles. “Go after the lost sheep of Israel”. This is where we need to begin. Where do we fit in the stats? If we are the 17%, how can I deepen my conversion to discipleship? For the 83%, how can the Church (you and me) reach out to them and allow God to use us to be his instruments as Jesus did the apostles.
Bishop Mark reflected on the rest of the mission we have:
1. Cure the sick ( who are spiritually unwell today?) What support do we give the struggling? Do we invite the “lepers” of our society to our parish functions?)
2. Cleanse the lepers ( who are the lepers of today?)
3.Drive out demons. (We need to walk away from the things we have replaced God with and bring destruction? What separates us from Christ.?
Today, I am reflecting on how I can be a better disciple and how can I work with Jesus to invite people to His Kingdom? I invite you to do the same. Maybe the answer to the renewal of the Church is not a book or a program, but to be disciples who live the Faith with joy and reliance of Jesus.
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