VIRTUAL HOURS: KEY TO A FLOURISHING APOSTOLIC CHURCH
“It’s simply a letter about how we can draw closer to Christ, and there is no controversy in that,” Bishop Malesic said. “Let’s just pray 15 minutes a day; join a small group; invite your Catholic neighbors and friends together to have a cup of coffee and talk about ‘Why are you Catholic?’; ‘How can you become a disciple of Jesus?’ I think these are the basic things.”
-from a media interview
The Letter invites us to do five basic things: 1) read the letter, underlining key points, making notes, and then sharing our reflections with others, 2) spend at least fifteen minutes a day in personal prayer, 3) develop our spiritual support network, 4) share the story of our spiritual journey with others, and 5) articulate our specific missions in life to use our gifts to build the kingdom of God here on earth.
A Church that Flourishes both Personally and Communally
The framework of these five basic practices will produce unity in what we do in the diocese, in our parishes, and in our lives. Since the Letter emphasizes personal initiative in each practice, this framework will foster the richness and diversity of a flourishing Church. It is very simple. We are engaging in the same basic practices while at the same time being true to ourselves.
Each of us is responsible for reading the letter, interpreting it for our situation, and initiating conversations with others. The bishop is confident that we can find a way to pray that is best for us. He also thinks we might do better by developing our own spiritual support network rather than joining an existing group. Of course, the stories of our spiritual journeys will be unique. Likewise, our missions will be unique, tailored by our gifts, personal experiences and life situations. Our practices should generate much to talk about. Somethings we share will be very similar, but others will be very different.
In my experience diversity in spiritual support networks has been very desirable. During the 1980s when I lived in Toledo, I was a member of a mostly voluntary pastoral staff. My fellow volunteer leaders were very diverse in their backgrounds and talents: a housewife whose daughter had committed suicide headed a woman's group in the parish, a union shop steward headed the youth group, a couple who gave Marriage Encounter weekends headed our participation in the diocesan RENEW program, a Black woman who had received a state-wide award as a public school teacher led our social justice program, a maintenance supervisor for the local newspaper gathered a group of volunteer parish members to respond to the maintenance needs of the parish. As the planning and evaluation person for the largest mental health center in the county, I was asked to bring my skills both to the pastoral staff and parish council.
Essential to staff functioning was the fifteen to thirty minutes of prayer at the beginning of our bi-weekly meetings. Each of us took turns leading the prayer bringing to the group the diversity of our own spiritual experiences, and prayer styles. For example, our teacher member led using stories such as she told to initiate thought and reflection among her grade school students. I would bring liturgical music which I used as a background to the celebration of the Hours.
At that time, I did not encourage my colleagues to pray the Hours; the use of a breviary with its many ribbons was very intimidating. Now that there are a variety of websites with daily postings of Morning and Evening Prayer, my Saint Gabriel Hours blog enables anyone with a computer or smart phone to pray the Hours anywhere at any time they choose.
I value the diversity of prayer life such as was evident in my colleagues on pastoral staff. However, now that the Hours are readily available to celebrate anywhere, any time with anyone, discerning the place of the Hours in our lives is something that everyone should do even if they are well satisfied with their current prayer life. If people try out the Hours, we will have a common prayer experience to share and talk about.
Clerics are obliged to pray the Hours. Praying the Hours is an important part of the spiritually of many religious orders celebrated in different ways. Vatican II has emphasized that laity as well as priests and religious share in the universal call to holiness and the missionary dimension of the Church. The Hours should find a place with both of these.
Spiritual Practices
The spirituality of Saint Ignatius (the founder of Jesuits) emphasizes contemplation in action, finding God in all things. God may be found as much in the thoughts, insights, and emotions that arise from our daily lives as from those found during prayer, reading scripture, and study.
Ignatius wrote a small guidebook call The Spiritual Exercises. Each of the five spiritual practices featured in the Pastoral Letter may be considered as spiritual exercises if done in a prayerful manner.
By the terms Spiritual Exercises, we mean every method of examination of conscience, meditation, contemplation, vocal or mental prayer, and other spiritual activities, such as will be mentioned later. For, just as taking a walk, traveling on foot, and running are physical exercises, so is the name of spiritual exercises given to any means of preparing and disposing our soul to rid itself of all its disordered affections and then, after their removal, of seeking and finding God’s will and the ordering of our life for the salvation of our soul. |
Ignatius found it very difficult to talk with people about their spiritual experiences because these personal experiences are often very different. Ignatius found that he could communicate about spiritual experiences much better if he had each person mediate on the events of the life of Christ in the manner order that he had done during his thirty-day retreat. He found that how people respond differently to the same meditation points told him much about their relationship to Christ, and the movement of the Spirit in their thoughts, emotions, and lives.
Likewise, if we share our experiences of doing each of these five practices with family, friends, people in our parishes and around the diocese, we will learn as much about our relationships with God though our different experiences as through our similar experiences.
First Practice: Reading the Letter, then Sharing Our Reflections with Others
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I invite every Catholic in the Diocese of Cleveland to read this pastoral letter in its entirety, as I have written it with each of you in mind. Make notes and underline your copy of the letter; consider reading it more than just once. Then, meet with some other Catholics who have read this letter and discuss it in a small group. I would like this letter to be at the forefront of conversations around the diocese. (p.2) |
When I read the Letter, it was immediately apparent that the Letter was written personally for me. I have been developing this SAINT GABRIEL HOURS website of virtual resources for praying the Hours, Morning and Evening Prayer. Each of these takes about fifteen minutes. However rather than emphasizing quantity of prayer (e.g. praying both Hours, i.e. about thirty minutes a day), this website emphasizes quality of prayer (e.g. spending time on the hymns, psalms, and readings of the Hour) even though one might not complete the Hour within fifteen minutes.
2. Spend at Least Fifteen Minutes a Day in Personal Prayer
Chances are that most of us reading this letter desire to deepen our friendship with God, with each person of the Holy Trinity, and with each other. But so often as Catholics, and especially as Americans from a hard-working diocese like Cleveland, we tend to want to focus more on “getting things done” than with “being with the Lord” For many of us involved in parish life, implementing a program, publishing a policy, or promulgating a pastoral plan seems like a better use of our time and energy than deepening our friendship with God. ...as your bishop I am convinced that none of those things will matter or be effective if we are not serious about deepening our friendship with God.
I invite you, if it is not already part of your daily routine, to make time for God – at least fifteen minutes of prayer a day. Read some Scripture. Give thanks for the blessings you have received. Review your day with him. Share your dreams and your joys. Share your fears, sorrows, and worries. I am convinced that there is no moving forward for us as a diocese unless we first move forward in our friendship with the Triune God, who will then allow us to enter into deeper friendship with each other as Missionary Disciples, people who have been blessed and sent out with the Good News of Jesus, the Savior
I have already mentioned above that I encourage every Catholic in the diocese of Cleveland to spend at least fifteen minutes in prayer each day. It may not sound like much, but carving out fifteen minutes during which one puts aside everything else and dedicates that time to one’s relationship with God can be life changing. Again, if we compare our relationship with God to our other relationships, we know that we make time for the people whom we love most, and the people who love us most make time for us.
3. Develop a spiritual support network,
We all need a small circle of friends with whom we can share our faith, in order to grow in our faith. It is sort of thing should be happening within families, which are the original and most natural of small groups. Families are called “the Church at home.” Make sure Jesus is at the center of your family life.
Small faith-related groups allow us to recognize what is universally true about our Catholic faith in our particular situations. They allow us to share our faith with others in more personal, often more meaningful ways. thy allow us to share our stories with each other. Smaller groups provide the opportunity for us to receive and give support out of Christian friendship. They are where the Holy Spirit goes to work in given communities of faith, where people know each other more personally, at parishes, high schools, colleges, nursing homes, prisons, seminaries, and convents.
I am encouraging each Catholic in the Diocese of Cleveland to become part of some small faith-sharing group, whether it is formal or informal, a bible study, a book club, over a cup of coffee, at dinner, or in a breakfast club. Meet with each other to discuss the truths of our Catholic faith, the beauty of our belief in God, and the strength we have when we know we have become God’s beloved sons and daughters. Share what the Holy Spirit is doing in each of your lives. Don’t hide God’s action in your life from others. Share it!
I am asking pastors and parish leaders to see that such small group opportunities are available, but even more, I also ask parishioners themselves to take the initiative to create such small groups. This might be as simple as asking some of your Catholic neighbors to come over for a get-together. Maybe, at that time, share why you are a believer and what it means to you to follow Jesus. Ask your guests to share what their faith means to them.
Knowing and Telling One’ s Own Story
St. Athanasius said, “God became man so that man might become God.” Of course, we will never be God, in the strictest sense, but we are meant to be like God. In the eastern-rite
Christian churches it’s called theosis; in the West we call it becoming a saint or becoming holy. God became human so that we humans can become God-like, or holy, or saints who have been perfected by God. Jesus said it this way: “So be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48). Jesus came as one of us to make us one with God.
The ability to give personal witness or testimony to God’s action in our lives is critical
to the health of the Church of Cleveland. What is your story? What has God done in your life? How has your life changed because of your participation in the life of the Catholic Church?
Mission: Worship Evangelize, Serve,
Jesus said, summing up our duties to God, that first and greatest commandment is
this: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt. 22:37). When confronted by the devil in the desert, he said, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” (Mt. 4:10). Attentiveness to quality liturgy facilitates the full, active, and conscious participation of God’s people in worthy worship. We shouldn’t see other parishes as competitors, but as parts of the same
body, the Body of Christ. If one parish is known for celebrating the Liturgy of the Hours regularly, highlight that parish to everyone in that deanery and encourage others to visit and pray there. Collaboration within the deanery enables shared resources and eases the burden on limited pastoral staff.
Let’s ask ourselves how we can get the message of Jesus and his Gospel out into our
communities in a way that is authentic, orthodox, and inviting.
It is true that we live in an age saturated by screens and information, and that a majority
of young people spend a great deal of time on the internet and social media. We must ask
ourselves, are our parishes present online? Are we reaching out to our parishioners and potential parishioners online with the Gospel message? Have we consulted our younger parishioners to ask for their help as “digital natives” in this regard? If not, it is time we begin. ese are tangible ways we live out our call to be missionary disciples
The Holy Father explains, “Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: ‘We have always done it this way.’ I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style, and methods of evangelization in their respective communities” (EG, 33)
There is no doubt that Jesus spent much of his time with the poor. He was born in
poverty. He lived in poverty. In Matthew 25, he said that he was present in the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the imprisoned, and the sick.
I would like each and every Catholic in the Diocese of Cleveland to be able to identify
his or her mission of service in the world. . Each of you must identify a concrete mission, a place where you have been commissioned by the Lord to take his love through service to those in need.
The People of God are the front-line workers for Christ in our society. Your apostolate, owing from your baptism, is to transform those within your sphere, those you encounter on the journey of life. Your mission is fulfilled by being followers of Jesus in the world, especially serving those who don’t know Christ. It’s about loving those who haven’t been drawn to church, who don’t cross the parish threshold. Remember, our highest purpose is the salvation of souls. Our final destiny is to be made into saints. Use the gifts God has lavished upon you in ways that build the Kingdom of God on earth in the image of what the Kingdom of Heaven will be like: a place of peace, love, and joy.