“The Parish in a diocese is the customary place where the faithful
gather to grow in holiness, to participate in the mission of the Church
and to live out the ecclesial communion.
The Parish, therefore, is a dynamic community of a center where
movements and groups energize it and are
in turn to be nourished.
In the Eucharistic celebration, the center of all life, the
faithful become especially united with Christ and
are sent to the service of the world.
We exhort all the lay faithful to enter intensely into the life of
their Parishes by the reading of the word of God, the celebration of
the Lord's Day, serving in Parish Councils, and by participating in the
various forms and activities of the apostolate"
(Synod of Bishops 1987)
The
Parish, then, is people:
who gather to grow in holiness
through the sacraments
and the word of God;
who gather to participate in the mission of the
Church;
who gather to live unity and community.
We, as Parish Community, look upon
Christ as a sign of
unity, as a sign of mission (calling us to be Apostles today in the
world).
We look upon Mary
as our model of unity and mission in
love.
We should not forget that the image
of Mary Queen of
Apostles, as we venerate it in our Parish, is at the Parish Church, as
constant reminder of our mission: to give Christ to the world
today.
At the end of the Eucharistic
Prayer the priest says:
"Through Him
(Christ), with Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all
glory and honor is Yours, almighty
Father, forever and ever".
This is also a reminder that:
we are to be bread broken for others;
we are
to be aware of the gift we are;
we have to overcome the limit (sin)
we
have;
we qualify ourselves through service.
How do we live out the love of
Christ in our Parish and
as Parish?
By building our Parish unity
on the celebration of the Eucharist becoming a Parish that celebrates
what it lives, a Parish
that lives what it celebrates.
By thinking Parish, and one
Parish going beyond the
individual chapels and areas, making our unity a celebration of our
individuality and diversity.
By coming together in the
Parish apostolate. We have
to be people in solidarity with our brothers and sisters.
The Parish offers outstanding
example of
community apostolate, for it gathers into a unity all the human
diversities that are found and inserts them in the universality of the
Church (AA, 10)
In this way our Parish is people
living in the
various areas, people willing to give of themselves and of their
talents to build up a community that worship, praises and serves the
Lord and His people in love and joy.
