Leadership
A New Normal by Fr. Mark Miller, c. pp. s., Leadership Team
At our last meeting of the incorporated members, there was great energy over the concept of the“ new normal” as described by Sr. Sandra Schneiders. Her reflections were first shared in Ireland where she spoke to the Religious Conference, expressing her ideas to this audience as a“ trial balloon” to see if her observations could be validated by the listeners. From her article and our own reflections, it seems to me that our membership has validated much of what she expressed. She states that understanding our vocation as“ religious” is not what we do but rather how we are. This is our struggle as we come to a new understanding of how we are to live community life and how we give witness to that within our ministries.
This has a history within our Community, since so many of our younger priests in the past served as associates to diocesan pastors, and in addition bishops often demanded that our associates live in the rectories rather than in mission houses. But Schneiders speaks of the“ new normal” within the context of culture. Have we maintained the posture of being a pioneer or that of a settler? Will we continue to maintain our way of life, even if it means going out of existence, or will we be open to creating something new that will respond to the realities that have come into being, both in culture and Church? Since then, I have thought about this“ new normal” in terms of how it applies to parish life and especially to a parish that has a school. It has become clear that we cannot continue to do business as we have if we hope to pass on this tradition of Catholic education to the next generations.
So what has changed from the past? Let us go back 50 years to see how people understood what it meant to be a Catholic. During that time, people by and large all understood that their lives were guided by the Six Precepts of the Church. The two most embraced were attendance at Mass on Sundays and holy days and giving of their time, talent, and treasure to support the parish. During those years, many Catholic schools also had religious sisters and brothers teaching which kept the financial costs of the faculty much lower than today. There was no need for tuition, since parents were very supportive, especially by living the kind of life that was being taught to their children in the classroom. What children were taught in the classroom was also being lived out within the home. That was the“ normal” in those days. So, what is the“ new normal”?
The“ new normal” is the change in the makeup of the faculty in a Catholic school, which has increased the total financial cost of running an educational institution. But the biggest change is how parents today experience the Six Precepts of the Church. No longer can we depend on parents to bring their children to Church on Sundays and holy days. No longer can we depend on parents who send their children to Catholic Schools to support the parish continued on page 5
January 2017 • The New Wine Press • 3