Before doing or changing anything in your ministry, you need to know its purpose. Take a step back and look at the big picture. What is the reason for your ministry? Why does it exist? Take time to gain this necessary vision. It will provide motivation when the initial excitement of a new project wanes.
When thinking about the reason for your ministry, keep in mind its function in the larger Church. What is the purpose of the Church? Pope Paul VI gave us a clear answer: “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize…” (Evangelii nuntiandi, 14). As members of the Church, we need to be in touch with our deepest identity as sharers of the Good News.
If the grace and vocation of our Church is evangelization, we should do everything in our power to evangelize. Yet too often, our unstated goal (or stated goal) is not evangelization but involvement. We are satisfied if people show up, and we think reaching those who do not is beyond our means. It seems to be enough just to get people in the door, but this is not enough.
Though a newcomer is likely to feel welcomed at a well-organized ice cream social, he will not receive Christ’s Good News unless we have a larger goal for him than involvement. If we do not, our ministries will remain or deteriorate into mere clubs for people who are already committed Catholics.
Do not settle for an inward-focused, involvement-seeking ministry! The Church knows her vocation is evangelization because it exists to joyously share the Good News of the salvation, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ to those who have not received it. Our ministries must focus outward to: baptized Catholics who have not found abundant life in the Church; the unchurched who so often walk alone; the outright antagonistic who have yet to understand that they are loved by God. Our purpose can be nothing less than making God’s great gift in Jesus available to others through real relationships and loving explanations of how He has impacted our lives. “We love, because he first loved us.” (1 Jn 4:19). In order to truly love others, we must show them not only our own love, but the love of Jesus Christ. To fulfill our mission our ministries must reach out to the downtrodden and broken-hearted, to the people on the outskirts, to those who are empty inside, and to those who are laden with many burdens.
Refuse to be satisfied by serving only those who show up to your ministry’s door. Go out and bring good news to the poor (Lk 4:18) and the poor in spirit (Mt 5:3). This is evangelization.
Think and pray much about these things as a ministry team. In time, you will begin to have answers to the questions:
• Why does our ministry exist?
• What is the goal of our ministry?
• How is our ministry responding to Jesus’ call to make disciples?