October 19, 2025: The Essence of What it Means to be the Church
Dear Fellow Parishioners of Our Lady of Divine Providence Family,
One of the challenges of working for a two-millennia-old institution is that mindsets change slowly. I often think that the Church has not yet adjusted to the 20th Century, specifically in our awareness of “horseless carriages” (aka cars). Currently, there are 56 parishes within a 20-minute drive of our parishes, and all of them have Mass at basically the same time. Even in our own family of parishes, we have two or sometimes three Masses a few minutes down the road from each other. Given that we can drive to Mass, it makes sense to use our resources better by adjusting the Mass schedule. This will also have the added benefit of more vibrant worship due to fuller churches. Once we finally adjust to the 20th Century, we will be able to catch up to the 21st Century more quickly. Consider, if we haven’t adjusted appropriately to automobiles yet, how can we address artificial intelligence (aka AI)?
The 21st Century will present many challenges for us. If other developed countries are any indication, we will continue to see increased secularization and automation. Most of our donors are aging, and most of our donations will disappear in a few years. Of course, a miracle could occur to change current trends for the better. We can and should pray for that, but it is prudent to budget conservatively. We need to start tightening our belts now, in anticipation of the financial famine that we can predict. In a few years, we will have only a fraction of the money and people that we have now: we are quickly approaching a donor and donation “cliff.” The longer our parishes wait to combine resources, the steeper the cliff will be, and the farther the fall when we reach it.
We can find renewed strength and purpose in unity. So, we need to focus on the things that unify us as Catholics, the things that remain the same, regardless of time and place. As Catholics, our most important treasures include the liturgy, the sacraments, the Church’s hierarchy and magisterium, and our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. A Protestant mentality focuses on just “me and Jesus,” but a Catholic mentality fosters an awareness of unity that incorporates all of us into the Mystical Body of Christ: The one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. The Second Vatican Council reminds us that the Catholic Church is the sacrament of salvation (Lumen Gentium 48), and it is the duty of all Christians to be devoted to the Blessed Virgin (Lumen Gentium 52, 54). She is our Mother, the Mother of unity, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. If we are close to Mary, we can have boundless and radiant hope.
Our participation in the planning process of Beacons of Light is an invitation to rediscover the essence of what it means to be the Church, to rededicate ourselves to what it means to be truly and vibrantly Catholic. As the apostolic Christians taught and believed - such as Ignatius of Antioch, who was a disciple of the Apostle John – the Church is where the bishop and the Eucharist are; these are the guarantee and the reality of the Presence of Christ. We who receive the One Bread of the Eucharist are made One Body in Christ, and the degree and health of our participation depends upon the extent of our personal appropriation of Christ’s redemptive work in the liturgy, and our personal lives of prayer and penance. This is the teaching of the Popes, such as John Paul II and Pius XII in their writings Redemptionis Sacramentum and Mystici Corporis Christi. I would encourage all of us to read and study these teaching documents of the Church, because their timeless wisdom can guide us as we negotiate our path through the challenges of meeting our missionary moment.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Henry Hoffmann
