In this still short period of time I am having the opportunity to get closer to a peculiar pastoral reality, which I did not know so directly before. I say peculiar and not difficult, because difficulty is a common feature today in all evangelization work.
If the faithful "no longer come
If there are some places where the characteristic of the "Church going out" that Pope Francis likes so much can be found, this could be one of them. For two fundamental reasons.
The first reason is that the people here live in scattered population centers; in reality, there are too many towns for too few people.
The second reason is that, with the exception of the confraternities, practically all forms of organized apostolate (apostolic movements, liturgical groups, etc.) have disappeared. This has happened even in the largest population center I serve, the town of Roa (with some 2,300 inhabitants), with the exception of children's catechesis and Caritas.
As for the confraternities, they are very numerous especially in this last village, but in general they are very detached from the life of the parish. It is in such a situation that the qualification of "Church on the move" would come into play. A characteristic of the pastoral attitude that has now become necessary is given by the realization that the faithful no longer "come": it is necessary to go out to meet them and take every opportunity to "be present".
In this regard, I have found that the most direct and effective way to achieve this goal is to visit the sick. They always appreciate it, and it also creates the opportunity for them to approach the sacraments and to get to know their families. Another advantage is that in this way the priest "forces" himself not to shut himself up in an office.
Too many tasks for the pastor
Unfortunately, and although it may seem otherwise, taking care of so many people takes a lot of time to perform administrative tasks that for a long time have been left too exclusively on the shoulders of the pastors: the care of temples, the administration of the little income, being aware of parish properties..., and of the heating, and the "supply" of small things and material that the liturgy demands.
In these tasks, I miss on the part of the bishopric the provision of lay personnel to take care of everything (but mainly the issue of conservation of temples), thus enabling the priest to put his heart and head only in the pastoral care of people.
Awakening evangelists
But visiting the sick is not enough. It is clear that we need new pastoral experiences that we call "first proclamation", going to the core of the Gospel, as the Apostles and the first Christians did. I would summarize it in the urgent need to awaken for everyone
the evangelizer within each baptized person. In this sense, I have set myself two tasks for the time being
The first is to get closer to the confraternities, to involve them more in the life of the parishes. We have organized periodic meetings of confraternities, which we hold every second Monday of the month. And in perspective is to go to the penitential confraternities, so that they feel more responsible for Lent and Holy Week. At the same time, we also meet with the Marian brotherhoods in the months of May and October. Evidently, all this in the largest of the towns I attend.
What pastoral problems arise in the smaller villages? In these, visits to the sick and elderly are always possible. The main difficulty is the number of Sunday Masses and the abundance of popular festivals.
To this day, each town continues to have its Sunday Mass (I am assisted by a priest who is in the diocese studying), because it has always been that way. Masses are celebrated every Sunday in towns between which the distances between them are derisory (only 5, 6, or 7 kilometers). It is not easy to find a solution, because of the strong resistance of the people to move: most of them are very old and argue that they have always had Mass.
I am planning to concretize the idea of holding a meeting with one or two people from each town, those who feel more connected with their parish, to make known the work that falls on the few priests, and for them to see the pastoral needs of this small territory. Most of them hardly know what is happening pastorally in the next village. And so, once we see the situation clearly, I hope to be able to organize together a pastoral care more coherent with the reality and more realistic with the possibilities. Besides, it may be the way to help each other.
The one-on-one
Very probably there could be many more initiatives than the ones mentioned above. Life takes you, and I try to keep up to date on pastoral experiences of New Evangelization, as is the case of the Alpha Courses, which could perhaps be carried out in this environment as well.
However, the method that never fails is the personal and informal encounter with people, in the street, in the markets or in the thousand and one occasions that living among them gives you. It is when you make friends with people that the opportunity to bring them closer to God becomes truly real. In the two years that have already passed, among the faithful of these parishes I have known more, many more, personal situations than, for example, in the four years I spent in a parish of Burgos of 7,000 inhabitants.
Here is one at the foot of the street. I try to find any excuse to go out, especially in summer.
You always meet someone you know, almost everyone you greet and they greet you. I approach the groups of older people sitting in the cool air. And, of course, the religious topic often comes up. Briefly, in passing, you are given the opportunity to say a word of clarification, an invitation, a word of encouragement, a joke, etc. But in this "street ministry" there is something else of interest. People do not come to the office for almost nothing. There are several people who, after meeting and greeting me on the street, ask me questions, a concern arises, etc. In this way I have made friends with the faithful whom I try to help on a regular basis in their personal situations that require guidance. Evidently, we have all realized by now that it is family problems that make people suffer the most. And even, oh fat miracle, I see myself with the boys and girls who have been confirmed in these two years. I say "big" because most of the parish priests say they don't even see them. I see them on the street, several of them, and I go up to them from time to time and greet them and remind them that God is also with them at Sunday Mass, for example. I try not to be a nuisance, not to be a "bad boy", as they sometimes say, neither with them nor with anyone else.
Because it turns out that on many occasions, upon seeing you, some people approach you and say more or less: "I wanted to talk to you, or to you.". And they expose to me their concern, or their problem. I understand, with all this, that even the figure of the priest awakens a certain interest. He represents the religious, sometimes the ecclesial, sometimes a trustworthy person, to whom one can tell problems that one would not even tell one's friends. It is not the ultimate pastoral marvel but, in the end, this way of meeting people is very effective, it gives wonderful opportunities to make friends and to have an "office in the street" where, even if only for a few minutes, you can really follow people's lives. Of course, there have also been more established friendships and the opportunity to delve deeper into the issues. To give just one example, this is the origin of the case of a person who is in the process of obtaining a marriage annulment. Since he told me his case, I saw, without being an expert, that it was a textbook case. It is going well, and he will be able to regularize his current situation. The same should be said of having been able to approach the life of the confraternities, a peculiar world that I knew nothing about. I am trying to make them more pastoral and to serve the evangelization of their members.
Light of the Holy Spirit
I believe that we will have to entrust these questions much more to the Holy Spirit, so that he may enlighten everyone, in order to find ways that will lead to a more effective pastoral care that is not reduced only to Sunday.
It should be kept in mind that other pastoral initiatives can and should also be carried out during the week. In due time, it will be necessary to take turns for Sunday Masses. And, if it is feasible, on Sundays when the priest is not present, it will be convenient to have celebrations of the Word.
parish priest in 11 towns in the diocese of Burgos
