Last week as I was working on formation materials for the Jesus Caritas Fraternity of Priests, I shared with my co-workers that through Bishop Hartmayer God has blessed me with my dream parish.  It is easy to be negative about the future of the Church, but our Faith Community by the grace of the Holy Spirit fills me with hope.  The good things that are happening in our parish allow me to dream big dreams.
 
I share many of the same dreams for the Church that Fr. Daniel P. Horan, OFM, a Franciscan Friar and an assistant professor of systematic theology and spirituality at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, expressed in a recent article that considered the possibilities that could unfold during this next decade. 

• He hopes during the 2020s Pope Francis will continue appointing bishops more focused on pastoral care and the concerns of the vulnerable than with managerial control and episcopal ladder with Bishops selected from among the local communities.
• He hopes during the 2020s we will see an awakening among the collective body of the U.S. bishops' conference to the "signs of the times," with faithful statements that decry injustices such as white supremacy and the crimes against humanity at our borders.
• He hopes during the 2020s we will see the church acknowledge and celebrate the gifts God has bestowed on lay and religious women, which have too often been subordinated or dismissed outright
• He hopes during the 2020s, if it is not already too late, we will see the church in the United States embrace the universal teaching of Laudato Sí, and lead the way forward here in terms of an integral ecological justice that responds to both the "cry of the earth and the cry of the poor."
• He hopes during the 2020s we will see priests and bishops and lay ministers finally learn not to politicize the sacraments or refuse Christian burial or use the Eucharist as a weapon for advancing one's personal agenda.
• He hopes during the 2020s we will see all people treated equally as children of God and not as members of an unequal society that treats unfairly some people simply because of who God has created them to be or whom they happen to love.(Fr. Horan’s full opinion column can be found in the February 7^th edition of the National Catholic Reporter.)

 
What are your dreams for your own spiritual life and for the future of our faith community and for the Church in general?  St. Michael Parish will be participating in a parish survey about discipleship conducted by the Catholic Leadership Institute!  We need your help.
 
Please help us by participating in a 10-15 minute survey online.  The survey can be accessed at www.disciplemakerindex.com beginning on February 24 ^th.  It will ask you to reflect on your own spiritual growth and enable you to provide feedback on our parish’s efforts to help you grow.  All responses will be confidential.  This information will be invaluable to our faith community as we plan for the future and strive to be the best disciples we can be.
 
If you don’t use the computer - there will be opportunities to complete the survey after daily and Sunday Mass and you can obtain a paper copy by contacting Delia Robinson at 912-786-4505.