Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
GARY – Bishop Robert J. McClory challenged the Diocese of Gary to embrace missionary discipleship in response to Pope Francis’ 2022 Synod on Synodality during an address to diocesan leaders on Feb. 6 at the Cathedral of the Holy Angels.
The immediate reply to his call to action was overwhelmingly positive.
“I loved it,” commented Katie Kordeck, a St. Thomas More parishioner from Munster who is a member of the Diocesan Council on Young Adult Evangelism, immediately after the Synod Celebration Mass and the bishop’s reflection. “(His talk was) highly interesting and highly motivating. It will be a lot of work, but it will be worth it.”
Father Ben Ross, pastor at St. Bridget in Hobart, said he has been involved in laying the Synod 2022 foundation “all the way through” numerous meetings and listening sessions in 2021, and found the bishop’s reflection “so very affirming.”
He has been working toward missionary discipleship with the St. Bridget Parish Council for the past year by “watching videos, hosting presentations on hospitality and moving toward more outreach,” said Father Ross. “We are poised to move forward.”
Packets containing a copy of Bishop McClory’s new Pastoral Letter, “We Proclaim Jesus as Lord!” and a blueprint for a “robust consultative process” that all parishes and diocesan institutions are invited to undertake were distributed to all priests, Diocesan Pastoral Council (DPC), Diocesan Council on Youth Evangelization, Diocesan Youth Council, Intercultural Ministry Leadership Team, Deacon Leadership Team and senior diocesan staffers at the Feb. 6 event.
Closing the diocesan part of Synod 2022, Bishop McClory asked each parish and diocesan institution to start a consultative process by a leadership team – parish council or ad hoc committee – to participate in a formation session, methodically work through a series of evaluation questions and produce an action plan by May 31.
“This is not just to check off a box for me,” the bishop said of the consultative process, pledging the support of himself and the Pastoral Center staff, including webinars and resource materials. He also pledged to resume the parish visitation schedule that former Bishop Donald J. Hying started after the diocese’s own 2017 synod, lead an assessment at the Pastoral Center, commit himself to reassessing the formats of parish councils and diocesan commissions established by the 2017 synod, and “review what financial resources we can allocate to pursue the parish plans.”
“I was really impressed,” responded Vivian Szyndrowski, of Chesterton, recently tapped as a representative from St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Student Center in Valparaiso to the DPC. “The bishop was wonderful; I liked how he made it personal and brought the discussion down to our parish level. I loved that he stressed evangelization – I’m attending the Diocesan Evangelization Training now and I see the need for it. We need to bring our parishioners back to church; St. Teresa is reestablishing bible study classes for adults and college students, and our youth groups are getting active again (after a COVID-19 pause).”
Deacon Paul Progar of Sacred Heart in Whiting looked to the bishop “for guidance on how we need to be disciples. I’m looking for the bishop to give us a head start, light us on fire.”
Michael Cornejo, a DPC representative from St. John the Baptist and St. Adalbert parishes in Whiting, said he will take back the bishop’s message to his parishes. “We need to convince the youth to come back to our churches. Getting children, both those attending parochial schools and those in public schools, more involved in the Mass and gravitating toward helping others,” is one of Cornejo’s goals.
The bishop’s reflection on Synod 2022 with an emphasis on continuing the work of the 2017 synod was just what Daniel Mauch, a parishioner at Sacred Heart in Whiting, was hoping to hear. “This is a chance for us to refocus and get good directions on where to go from here,” Mauch said. “The 2017 synod gave us a list of eight (ecclesial) goals, and now it is about the process and how to accomplish (those goals).”
An increase in community involvement, including support for the Whiting Food Pantry and providing a home for a local Catholic thrift shop, is promising, added Mauch, who would like to see “more direction and support from the diocese for parish initiatives.” Deacon Progar agreed that his parish has been “reaching out to be a more welcoming parish.”
SanDee Dziepak, a parish council member from St. John Bosco in Hammond who has been involved in youth ministry and as a catechist, came to the Synod 2022 event hoping to get young people “on fire for Christ.” She said she is anxious to “convince more youth to feel that they have a place in church, that they have a mission, too.”
Carol Bacon, of St. John, a new DPC representative from Holy Name of Jesus in Cedar Lake and a member of the parish’s 2017 Synod Leadership Team, said she has “been taking a look back at the parish’s 2017 synod plan at what we did well and what got stopped by COVID-19.
“I think the bishop gave us a simple explanation of where we were in 2017. I’m looking forward to reading his Pastoral Letter to see where we can go from here,” Bacon added. “I’m glad there is an emphasis on reaching out to the people in the pews that you never hear from. We had a funeral recently for a member of our parish, and no one really knew her, which was sad. How did she fall through the cracks?”
Deacon Michael Cummings of Ss. Monica and Luke in Gary said what interested him most about the bishop’s reflection was, “How do we reach out to people on the margins? It won’t just happen; we must be intentional about it. My wife went to Catholic schools and was never asked about becoming a Catholic. We do have Catholics who need to be evangelized, but we need to cast our nets out in a way that reaches not just Catholics.
“It’s important how you live your everyday life; when you are encountering people, they need to see you shining,” Deacon Cummings noted.
Father Theodore Mens, administrator at St. Joseph in Hammond, agreed that evangelization is important, “and we can do it. The emphasis on the Eucharist is absolutely necessary and a welcome sign. We need a new enthusiasm and new hope.”
In his concluding remarks, Bishop McClory called the Diocese of Gary “so well-poised to let people share (the Good News). Let us set Northwest Indiana ablaze with Jesus’ love.”