I grew up and discovered my vocation to the priesthood in the parish. The first seed of knowing the Lord came upon me in the parish. In other words, the discovery of the meaning and purpose of my existence as a human person created in the image and likeness of God started in the parish. While maturing in the awareness that the local Christian community of the Catholic Church is identified with the parish community, I learned how important my engagement in the parish community was because of its impact on me. Through my parish involvement, I discovered what I can do to live my faith concretely. As an altar server in our Basic Ecclesial Community, then as a choir member in the parish, and later as a seminarian constantly exposing myself to the parish experience with priests and the lay faithful, I realize that it is “an experience of heaven on earth.” Why do I say this? The extraordinary witnessing of the lay faithful and their life stories have motivated me to serve in the parish. I believe that such extraordinary and deep experiences of witnessing of the lay faithful actively involving themselves in the parish is not just because they have worked and contributed all their life in the parish, but even more because of the work of God in their lives, which is, first and foremost, the very foundation of our earthly life.

Parish life is founded on faith, hope, and love. These virtues, infused in each one of us at Baptism, the moment we enter as new members of the Body of Christ, make us merit a life within a divine institution, precisely because it is God whom we love and serve in the parish. On the other hand, the parish is an institution under human instrumentality. There cannot be a parish without a believing human community. This two-sided face of the parish, an institution that is both divine and human, is a community of people whose faith in the divine and imperfection as human beings meet and work together for the salvation of souls.

That is why the question for our meditation today begins with the recognition of this partnership between the human and the divine, coming together in an incarnate manner, in the parish community. Today, more than ever, both the Church and the Focolare Movement are going through moments of light and shadows; of the tendency of the human community to insist on authority and structure, and the forgetfulness of the presence of Jesus among us. There is a tension between giving so much emphasis to the human institution, and setting aside or even forgetting the divinity that forms an integral part of the parish community.

Given these conditions in most of our parishes today, if not all, what resources from the Focolare’s spirituality of unity and communion can we use to contribute to a new flourishing of the Christian community? Attached to this first question is the next question that will involve our attitude as agents of communion and evangelization in the parish: In what manner can we realistically deal with the challenges we are facing today in the parish and still convey a positive vision?

The ecclesiological reflection of the Second Vatican Council, together with the considerable social and cultural changes of recent decades, has resulted in various particular churches (dioceses) having to reorganize the way pastoral care of parish communities is given. This has made it possible to initiate new experiences, enhancing the dimension of communion and implementing, under the guidance of pastors, a harmonious synthesis of charisms and vocations at the service of the proclamation of the Gospel, which better corresponds to the demands of evangelization today. (Pastoral Conversion)

This is exactly what Jesús Morán introduces in answer to the question: What resources from the Movement’s spirituality of communion can we tap to contribute to a new flourishing of the Christian community? It is the pastoral work of Gestation, of “generativity,” which, for Jesús, is one of the meaningful concepts that pastoral workers have used in recent times, and Jesús saw this as having many links with the Focolare’s spirituality of communion.

Pope Francis, at the beginning of his Petrine ministry, recalled the importance of “creativity,” thereby “seeking new ways,” that is, “seeking how best to proclaim the Gospel.” With regard to this, the Holy Father concluded by saying that “the Church, and also the Code of Canon Law, gives us innumerable possibilities, much freedom to seek these things.” (Pastoral Conversion)

Jesús reminded us that our task, as pastoral workers, is not to look at the parish in a new light and new creativities by remaining on the approaches of TRANSMISSION, FRAMING AND CLASSIFYING THE ACTIVE WORKERS OF THE CHURCH IN PARISHES AND DIOCESES. This is when we focus on the numbers and statistics, and gain false confidence that the parish can always go ahead today in its evangelizing mission because there are still many pastoral workers to pass on various tasks like intellectual workers that will be involved in catechesis, physically active workers for the building up of projects and programs in the parish, etc. Sometimes, the extreme interpretation of such an approach is to transmit, frame and classify parish work and involvement according to how excellent a pastoral worker can do his or her work in the parish. The more baptisms, the better. The more cash offerings, the better. The more projects and renovations, the better. These are good resources, but we cannot deny that this level of confidence, believing in the parish’s creativity, is not enough. As pastoral workers, Jesús Morán is telling us to go beyond the superficiality of our disposition to be ministers of the Lord: to be servants, not managers and quality control inspectors.

Jesús Morán was very clear in telling us about imitating the action of Jesus. His encounter with the different kinds of people during his time shows that he chose diversity. He chose to go to the villages, to the cities where there was pluralism. For a parish community to go ahead, it needs to recognize the value of each individual member, each baptized person in the community, as having equal dignity as sons and daughters, brothers and sisters under one Father in heaven. Jesus Christ chose to minister in Galilee. All around were mixed neighborhoods where you could find everything. He preferred to be among people in places considered unclean. It is in these encounters with the different kinds of people that Jesus Christ generated something in them. For Jesús Morán, the pastoral approach of gestation is to reproduce what happened when Jesus met a person, who became involved in working for the Kingdom, without knowing what would happen next.

For example, did we know what concretely happened to the disciples of Jesus as they began their life of following Him apart from what was recounted in the Gospels? For Jesús Morán, where the disciples ended up in the Christian community did not matter. They were touched by Jesus and certainly, Jesus changed their lives, and they built the Kingdom in their own unique way. This is what gestation means. Jesus begins by sowing the seed in the person. Then, the person is given the freedom to explore and live out that seed in his or her life. As the seed gradually grows, developing into a fruit, it would eventually lead the person to become a new creation, a disciple of Jesus Christ in the community where he belongs. In a sense, we are all in this reality of gestation because our individual endeavors to profess our faith are inseparable from our community life. Our growth and development in pastoral work involves the need to recognize the important contribution of others for its fulfillment.

Jesús Morán saw this as a concrete manifestation of the presence of Jesus in our midst, the core of our pastoral care. If we intentionally manifest love among us, the presence of Jesus in our midst naturally manifests. This is precisely how the flourishing and continuous pastoral care of generativity begins to be seen. Our parish involvement is not a solo career where one competes with the other. Our parish engagement is mainly characterized by love, and so, it needs people, a community of believers, who are made co-sharers and co-bearers of that same love. In that way, Jesús Morán confirms that our task as agents of love and unity is not to withdraw to places, to comfortable situations and conditions far away from the people. That is why the presence of Jesus in our midst is manifested, felt, and witnessed by other members of the parish. We have grown accustomed to loving one another and always keeping Jesus at the center of our relationships. One very concrete example is when we see things together, when we decide all together, putting all things in common, our ideas, desires, plans and dreams for the community. When Jesus in our midst radiates and beats at the very core of each one of us, there can be no result other than goodness, order, peace, and reciprocal love.

But Jesús Morán puts a very distinctive mark that the spirituality of communion has put in our consciousness and will serve as an invitation for all of us today. This is the attitude of generativity, borne out of the foundational bond of love and unity brought about by our disposition to allow Jesus present in our midst to influence each fabric of our parish engagements. Jesús said: Wherever you are, generate the presence of Jesus, and then let God carry it forward. This is very important for us to dispose ourselves today. While we endeavor to become creative, generative and progressive, in a way that is according to the will of God and the Church’s teachings on faith and morals. And while these are being manifested in the bond of love and unity that is among us through Jesus in our midst, Jesús reminded us not to have that attitudinal disorder of expecting an immediate result, outcome, or response that is according to how we perceived and understood it.

Jesús illustrated this when he recalled his experience with someone who spoke to him after the funeral of his father. This person, after leaving everything he learned from the Church, wanted to go back to the roots of being a Christian, living concretely the teachings he learned in his study of theology. But he was puzzled and confused, saying that he did not know what to do, or how to go back. Jesús said that he needs to go back to the Gospel. In that moment, Jesús has become an agent or instrument for that person to gestate once again, to generate again, to grow and develop once again. This is always our call, and an invitation for us to imitate: Let us always go back to the Gospel as our starting point for every pastoral approach of generativity, for every engagement that involves creativity and how to go ahead. Now, the attitude that Jesús Morán illustrated completes that process of approaching a situation with the attitude of generativity. He said, “Because there was Jesus in our midst during the funeral,” this person was able to reflect and be touched in the core of his very being where God resides. But Jesús was clear in saying that he does not know what will happen next to that person. Maybe he won’t see that person again, maybe he will not have an update from that person again. But the point is, something happened, something was lit up, enkindled, and then, let God carry it forward. This is the pastoral approach of generativity.

In the final part of this meditation, Jesús brings us back to the first human model and prototype of one taking the pastoral approach of generativity, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesús said that today, pastoral care is either Marian or it is not pastoral care. Mary was the perfect model of one who allows everything to unfold and flourish, letting everything happen, even if she did not know what awaited her in doing this. Her attitude of gestation, of generativity, allowed her to completely trust in God, letting him bring his plan to fulfillment. Being generative and creative doers of love and unity, our attitude has, in a sense, a Marian character. We generate the presence of Jesus like Mary. For generative pastoral care to transforms all relationships, as Margaret Karam would say, first, we must begin among ourselves.

So how do we proceed in this pastoral approach of generativity? The answer is simple, but we need a lot of inner strength and prayerful disposition to realize it: We should transfigure all relationships with love. This is how communities are revitalized. We always begin with the Gospel message, the source of our pastoral inspiration and action; then, we love and make ourselves one with those we are working with in the parish, and those we are serving in the community. If everyone naturally manifests and lives out such love, then it becomes easy to adopt a generative attitude, recognizing inspirations and desires to concretely put the faith into practice, and becoming creative evangelizers in the implementation of pastoral programs. Everything is done with a genuine desire to work for the good of the community. Thus, reciprocal love and unity are made possible, and the presence of Jesus is shared by all.

Finally, Jesús Morán said that “the vocation of the world is to be the front line of the Kingdom. And the only way to conquer the world is to bring love into it.”

Chiara Lubich used to say that “the world is moving towards unity.” But we need people who truly believe in “may they all be one,” people who believe in this “impossibility” of the Gospel. People who believe in it seriously, who live it every day and who see how from this belief in the “impossible” of the Gospel, things are born, things happen! We need people who truly desire that love and unity flourish in the parish community, but at the same time, people who are not attached to expectations and results. This is the pastoral approach of generativity. Let God’s kingdom unfold and flourish after we generate the seed of the Gospel.

Fr. Leonard Jay I. Rabuya

The author is a priest of the Diocese of Digos (Davao del Sur). He is currently Spiritual Director for First and Second Year seminarians in the Discipleship Stage at the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary in Manila. Fr. Leonard is also studying for his Licentiate and Master’s in Philosophy in the same university.