56. PASTORS OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES

Look after yourselves and everyone the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be like shepherds to God's church. It is the flock that he bought with the blood of his own Son.

Parishes are included among the apostolic works of the Congregation, provided that the apostolate which the members exercise there is in accord with the purpose and the nature of our institute, and provided also that the small number of pastors requires it. These parishes of the Congregation should consist, for the most part, of the really poor, or should be attached to seminaries where confreres give pastoral formation.

Once Saint Vincent asked: "Why restrict ourselves to a particular place and limit ourselves to one parish, if our mission is the entire world?" He also said "a missionary has no boundary for his labor other than the whole world." Saint Vincent did not favor the Congregation having responsibility for parishes. Although he saw many inconveniences with them, he did not exclude them absolutely. He established conditions for accepting them. Today, many missionaries work: as pastors of parishes. Statute 10 accepts parish ministry as a way to fulfill the ends of the Congregation of the Mission if a particular pastoral situation meets the required conditions.

1. SUITABLE PASTORS OF A CONGREGATION

The Church describes the person of a parish priest who is the pastor of a local Christian community in this way:

The pastor is the proper shepherd of the parish entrusted to him, exercising pastoral care in the community entrusted to him under the authority of the diocesan bishop in whose ministry of Christ he has been called to share; in accord with the norm of law he carries out for his community the duties of teaching, sanctifying and governing with the cooperation of other presbyters or deacons and the assistance of law members of the Christian faithful.

2. ALL PARISH PRIESTS OUGHT TO ACT WITH A MISSIONARY SPIRIT

The decree Christus Dominus encourages parish priests in their pastoral activity in this way: "The care of God's people ought to be animated by a missionary spirit, in a way that reaches out to all those who live in the territorial parish." The current law of the Church broadens this idea:

The pastor is obliged to see to it that the word of God in its entirety is announced to those living in the parish, for this reason he is to see to it that the lay Christian faithful are instructed in the truths of the faith, especially through the homily which is to be given on Sundays and holy days of obligation and through the catechetical formation which he is to give; he is to foster works by which the spirit of the gospel, including issues involving social justice, is promoted; he is to take special care for the Catholic education of children and of young adults, he is to make very effort with the aid of the Christian faithful, to bring the gospel message also to those who have ceased practicing their religion or who do not profess the true faith.

3. THE MISSIONARY AS PARISH PRIEST

Those confreres entrusted with the pastoral care of parishes must never forget their duties as missionaries nor should they pass lightly over the words cited in our Constitutions concerning authentic Vincentian parish ministry. The Declarations of the General Assembly of 1974 point out to us the characteristics of a Vincentian parish:

The Assembly includes parishes among our Congregation's apostolic activities, as long as our apostolate in them is consonant with the end and nature of our institute. We wish, therefore, to recommend certain principles for the establish-ment of provincial criteria. Our parishes should, for the most part, be de facto made up of poor persons, or annexed as a necessary pastoral ministry to colleges and seminaries directed by the confreres. A temporary contract, subject to constant review, should protect each confrere's basic availability. Community life should be possible for confreres engaged in parish work and we should strive to establish a 'continual mission' in our parishes for the building up of small Christian communities.

***** If through obedience I have agreed to work as a parish priest, do I undertake this ministry to fulfill the missionary demands of my vocation?

***** Does parish ministry help or hinder my missionary spirit?

***** Are our parishes really in a state of "continual mission," i.e., are our parishes reaching out to everyone?

PRAYER:

Lord you renew your servants with food and drink from heaven. Keep us faithful as ministers of word and sacrament, working for your glory and for the salvation of those who believe in you. Grant this, Lord Jesus Christ, you who live and reign with the Father and Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.