It takes a lot to handle everything going on the parish. After all, San Antonio wants to make room for everyone who wants to serve the Church and the community. Done right, the parish becomes a place where people can come and work together productively. Pope Francis has this vision for the parish as well. At an audience last year he said, “The parish must work the miracle of a more communal life for the whole of society.”
This is what the different ministries aim to do. And everyone worked for it during the parish planning session. Even though each person had different ideas on what could be done to improve San Antonio’s missionary spirit, everyone was united with a sense of identity as a Franciscan parish.
St. Paul addressed this in the early Christian communities, when he wrote,
For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. (Romans 12: 4-6)
Edmund Lim, the parish president echoed this in his closing prayer for the planning session. Reading a homily of Father Tacky, he said “A parish should not be a place where we are constantly looking over our shoulders, protecting our backs, anxious about anything we might say. Our Family should not be like that and neither should our parish be like that. It should be enough that we are authentically CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS and proud to be CATHOLIC. Like a family, a parish embraces many people. People from all walks of life. At its heart are one Lord, one faith, one Baptism.”
As the year continues, may we serve Christ more. May God send his spirit to each of us to work for his Kingdom.
Santuario de San Antonio Parish 