Odds and Ends
All Things New Update
The “input” phase of the All Things New process ended on December 31, 2022. As I write this, the Archdiocese is preparing what they call a Par- ish Feedback Summary for Holy Redeemer (and every other parish in the Archdiocese.) These summaries are a compilation of the following da- ta:
1.) Listening session feedback
2.) Qualitative online survey feedback 3.) Quantitative online survey feedback
4.) Free form feedback (e.g. emails and letters from parishioners)
The Pastoral Planning Team will receive all these summaries on January 17, 2023 to review them for meetings starting January 23, 2023. I will get our Parish Feedback Summary on January 18, 2023 and will review it to see how well it repre- sents what I heard from all of you throughout this process. I then will have two days to respond to what the Summary says. The Pastoral Planning Team will then review all of the pastors’ respons- es as well.
To make sure that this process is totally transpar- ent, the Parish Feedback Summaries will be avail- able on the All Things New website on January 19, 2023. There will also be an article in the St. Louis Review. The Archdiocese does not intend to publish the appendices created from the pastor response survey, but I will give you an update on my response.
Two last thoughts. As you can see, this process has been intense, systematic and comprehensive. Some have tried to paint this strategic plan as slapdash and arbitrary. This has not been my experience with All Things New at all. Second, I have heard from many people that the Archdio- cese knew what they wanted to do from the very beginning – to put it bluntly, that the fix was in. Once again, this has not been what I have wit- nessed over the past few months, especially in my interactions with both the Archbishop and Fr. Martin. Will everyone be happy with the final outcome? No, of course not. But the process has been open and broad-based, and ultimately, I hope, will seek the best for every Catholic in our area.
As always, I will keep you all updated.
MLK Day
Every year when I was in the classroom, I would read for my students, in its entirety, Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream Speech. Writ- ten almost 60 years ago, it never failed to inspire me. It still does. Here are my favorite lines.
Ponder them this week.
We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.
We have come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now.
In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds.
…many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the con- tent of their character.
And when this happens, and when we allow free- dom ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestant and Catholics, will be able to join hand and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last! Thank God
Almighty, we are free at last!