Pastoral Plan
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CELEBRATING OUR FAITH,

ENRICHING OUR COMMUNITY,

SHARING OUR GIFTS

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Goal #5 of St. Perpetua Pastoral Plan:

IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS TO AND AMONG PARISHIONERS AND PARISH GROUPS/MINISTRIES 

                  Channel surfing is probably something most of us do – going from one television station to the next. Our life can be like that too. It’s called “compartmentalization.” One channel is family life. Another is our job. A third is our Church. Another is our political life. Another is our social life. Everyday we switch from one channel to another, often times failing to connect them together. Our vocation as Christians calls us to be followers of the Lord wherever we are and wherever we go. The first reading from the prophet Amos gives us a snapshot of some merchants in a synagogue service, bored to death, waiting for the service and the Sabbath to be over so they can go back to cheating and shortchanging people. That was their version of “compartmentalization.” They separated their religious duties from their business and work life and both of those from their family life.

                  In fact, our faith ought to affect and influence everything we do. As citizens we uphold the principal of separation of Church and State,  but as people of faith we know that our life in this world is shaped and molded by God’s Spirit. That Spirit permeates all of life. The Holy Spirit inspires us to recognize the dignity of every person we encounter. Through the Spirit’s guidance we strive to use our gifts, even our checkbooks, to make a difference in the lives of other people. The Spirit reminds us that this world is not ours to exploit and that there is a limited supply of resources needing to be shared with all God’s children. Neither politicians nor voters can put aside our religious values when we confront the moral issues in our world or enter the ballot box. In our personal lives, when difficult days come our way, when poor health threatens our wellbeing, it is God’s Spirit that urges us to seek the help we need and to turn to others for support. We don’t live in boxes separated from one another. We are inter-connected. The fabric is a whole piece, not little remnants.

                  The Church helps us in so many ways to bring a sense of cohesion and integrity to our lives. Each week, as pastor, I’m privileged to work with and speak to so many inspirational parishioners. I’m encouraged by their dedication and enthusiasm for their children and their families. Juggling demands on their time and multiple commitments, parishioners are still able to offer their services for the good of the community. There are parishioners who struggle with personal challenges and health problems, yet do so with deep trust in God.  Each of us is lucky to be a part of our Catholic community. Our Sunday worship brings us in touch with the Lord in a profound and sacramental way. Even if we don’t read the Bible on our own at home, together each week we get to hear the Word of God that both challenges and strengthens us. The community experience we have by being together at worship is something that many people have lost and that we in the Church appreciate so much.  The Eucharist is a tangible way of becoming one with Christ.

                  Beyond our time of prayer and worship, our parish life touches so many other dimensions. Christian Education in our school and in our Faith Formation programs embraces hundreds of families. Social outreach from our parish has bettered the lives of thousands of people over the years. Each month I receive letters of heartfelt thanks from the many helping agencies in Contra Costa you support through out Outreach Ministry. Today it was a thank you phone call from a board member of the Youth Homes that we support. There is a variety of social and fun events, like the upcoming Oktoberfest. With all the good things that happen here and the grace that abounds, we should be proud to call this our parish home.

                  It’s no wonder then that Goal #5 in our Pastoral Plan mandates that we share the good news and good work going on at St. Perpetua’s. Goal #5 states: Improve Communications to and among Parishioners and Parish Groups/Ministries. We’ve discovered through our interviews and surveys that many parishioners are unaware of the opportunities and accomplishments of their own community. The Pastoral Council is asking us to change that and to do everything possible to communicate more widely and effectively using all avenues, both within the parish and to those outside the parish. We saw some wonderful examples of that communication in the past couple weeks. The Lamorinda Sun recently had a very nice article featuring Mike Meo, one of our college age parishioners who went to Bogotá, Columbia, after graduating from De Las Salle. Mike wanted to work with the poor and broaden his horizons before starting college. The San Francisco Chronicle had a beautiful article last week about our Garden of Learning and Mike’s mother Monette Meo who is the mastermind behind it. A featured article on the front page of the Catholic Voice this week described the solemn profession of vows that took place at St. Perpetua’s two Sundays ago with accompanying photos.

                  It takes time and effort to coordinate that kind of publicity. That’s why the strategy for Goal #5 states: “Develop a Communications Committee entrusted with the task of enhancing both the internal communications and external public relations of the St. Perpetua community.”

Our office staff does an outstanding job in publishing the bulletin fifty-two weeks a year, but at our town hall meeting many members said that the best way for them to find out about parish events and happenings is through personal e-mail. Others said we should update our parish data base to find out member’s specific areas of interest and do an audit finding parishioner’s skills so we can utilize our human resources more effectively. This past Tuesday committee chairs and ministry representatives met for our annual calendar review. Our focus was on Goal #5 – Improving Communications. They agreed that we should make this one of our immediate priorities.

                  In order to do that I’d like to ask your help today. We have a parish e-mail list, but I don’t think it’s very inclusive. There are many members whose email we don’t have, and some of the emails we do have are incorrect or have been changed We’d like to be able to communicate with you more effectively, economically and easily. In the corners of each pew you’ll find a form to fill in. I’d ask those at the ends of the pews to pass them down your row. The card asks you to fill in your email or emails (if husband and wife each has your own). As the form states, this is only for use within our office in communicating pertinent parish information. We can update our list and be able to reach more people. We are also soliciting members for a Communications Committee. If you have some of the skills that would be beneficial – computer technology, writing and journalism skills, graphic design -- we’d ask you to consider joining the committee or helping us to form one.  Or there might be someone in the parish you can recommend. You can place the form in the collection basket or hand it to me as you leave church today. If you prefer you can bring it next week or drop it off at the office.

                  I do realize that some folks don’t use or have access to a computer and, of course, we’ll still publish a bulletin and send out mailings when necessary. But I think some sobering facts can motivate us to implement Goal #5:.

                  • It used to take 38 years to reach a market audience of 50 million by radio advertisements. It take 4 years to reach the same number today.

                  • In 1984 the number of internet devices was 1,000. In 1992 there were 1 million. In 2006, there were 600 million.

                  • We live in exponential times: The first commercial text message was sent in December, 1992. The number of text messages sent and received today – in one day -- exceed the population of the planet.

                  • The Internet started being widely used by the general public in 1995.  In 2005, 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. met online.

                  • 2.7 billion searches were performed on Google this month. [To whom were those questions directed B.G. – “before Google?”

                  • More than 230,000 new users signed up for MySpace yesterday. If MySpace were a country, it would be the 8th largest in the world.

                  • While predictions 15 years out are hard to do, experts tells us that in 15 years a $1000 computer will exceed the computing capabilities of the human race.

                  We’d like to be as resourceful as the clever steward in today’s gospel and use every means at our disposal to make the Good News come alive for our parish and beyond.              While technology is used by the “children of this world” (using the gospel term) for many purposes, some of them meaningless and superficial, some even addictive and immoral, as “children of the light,” we want to use it to fulfill our parish mission of “Celebrating our Faith… Enriching our Community … and Sharing our Gifts.”

[based on Sunday Scriptures:              Amos 8:4-7; Lk 16:1-13]

                                                                                                     Father John Kasper, OSFS