A Church Constantly Renewed

“Preserve in the midst of your people, we ask, O Lord, the spirit with which you filled the Bishop, Saint Charles Borromeo, that your Church may be constantly renewed and, by conforming herself to the likeness of Christ, may show his face to the world.” 

These words from the opening prayer for the Feast of St Charles Borromeo, which the Church celebrated on Wednesday, struck me as a wonderful expression of the spirit of renewal that is taking hold in our parish. 

St Charles Borromeo lived in the sixteenth century, a time of significant upheaval and reform in the Church. Following the Council of Trent, he devoted himself to implementing its reforms, seeking to renew the life of the Church through better formation of priests, greater participation in the life of faith and a renewed commitment to the Gospel. Not everyone welcomed these changes. There were people who preferred things as they were, who were comfortable with familiar ways of doing things and who found the prospect of change unsettling. Yet Charles persevered, convinced that the Church must continually allow herself to be renewed if she is to reflect the face of Christ to the world. There is something very familiar about that sentiment! 

Here in our parish, and indeed throughout the universal Church, we are still living through a period of renewal flowing from the Second Vatican Council. More than sixty years after the Council, we are continuing to discover what it means to be a Church in which every baptised person recognises their responsibility for the mission entrusted to us by Jesus. 

Vatican II called us to recover a deeper understanding of the dignity and responsibility of every baptised person. The mission of the Church is not something belonging exclusively to priests, religious or those employed by the Church. It belongs to all of us. Through baptism, we share in Christ’s mission and are called to make disciples, helping others encounter the love of Jesus in order to become his followers. 

This has profound implications for the way we understand our purpose in the parish so that everything we do contributes to the mission Jesus has given us. We are not here to simply provide religious services for those who already belong. We are here to form disciples who, having encountered the love of Christ, are eager to share that love with others in our 130,000-person parish.  

I am conscious that many people in our parish have already caught this spirit of renewal. I see it in the generosity of those who step forward to serve, in people willing to try new things, in the enthusiasm of those who invite others into our community, and in the growing desire to share what God is doing in their lives. I see it in people who are beginning to understand that their faith is not something to be maintained, but a relationship with Jesus that should continually grow and bear fruit. For all of this, I am enormously grateful. 

Of course, not everyone will have experienced or embraced this renewal yet. And that’s okay. Change can be uncomfortable. We are naturally inclined to hold on to what is familiar, particularly when those familiar ways have served us well for many years. Sometimes we can prioritise the preservation of what we know over the growth of what matters most – a dynamic, living, overflowing relationship with Jesus. 

The prayer above, however, reminds us that the Church is called to be constantly renewed. Renewal is not change for the sake of change. Nor is it about abandoning everything that has gone before. Rather, it is about continually conforming ourselves to the likeness of Christ, allowing him to shape our hearts, our relationships, our priorities and our mission. 

Ultimately, this is not my vision for the parish, nor is it simply the latest direction or initiative of the Church. It is Jesus’ invitation to every one of us. He calls us to become more fully the people he created and redeemed us to be. My hope is that we will continue to embrace this spirit together. Not because we have everything worked out, or because change is always easy, but because we believe that Jesus is alive and continues to lead his Church. There is still so much more that God wants to do in and through us. 

May the Lord preserve in our parish the spirit with which he filled St Charles Borromeo. May we never become so comfortable with the way things are that we lose sight of what God is calling us to become. And may our continual renewal, individually and together, enable our parish to show the face of Christ to the world. 

With peace and love – Fr Josh