Spiritual Life
Spiritual Life Commission 2009 Year-End Recap
This year our focus has been on three basic areas.
Firstly, A review of the music program was taken. Some concern had been made over the introduction of too much new music. Rob Lepage has worked hard at both introducing new music gradually and not introducing too much new music. This concern was also communicated to the folk group. With Rob as our new director of music in the parish he has taken this year to review the "parish repertoire". A third area of work has been trying to better coordinate the music groups. Some changes have been made (the Hispanic Pastoral Council now schedules the Hispanic Mass music groups) and some lessons have been learned.
Second, we have attempted to provide information on local Masses and Confession times. Because it has been a year of Pastoral Planning with four area churches closing on or about January 1, we did not finalize this listing. Over the next few months Father Brian and Liz DeVillez will work on a better listing for our deanery (including W. Springfield, Agawam, Feeding Hills, Southwick and the Hill Towns). This can then be formatted into a brochure that can be placed in local chambers of commerce, hotels, etc. It also can be distributed on-line or posted on web pages. A third method of distribution is through bulletins (e.g. when a holy day approaches, include other area church's holy day schedule). Some of this has been done already, but we eagerly work towards a complete listing.
The largest area of work has been in Liturgical Ministry renewal. Heads of Ministries have stepped forward with the hope that this will continue to be a big help in the future. Procedures for Readers and Extraordinary Ministers of Communion were reviewed and updated. An Evening of Renewal was held on March 30, 2009 (this was a make-up date due to a snowstorm early March). Those involved in different ministries who were not present that night were sent the information by mail. As with any church ministry, ongoing updates and support will be needed for the ministries to continue to grow and serve well.
Next Year's Agenda
Our agenda this year largely consisted of addressing survey responses and working to improve the liturgical life of the parish. The final year of our mandate (2010-11) will be spent planning and organizing the liturgy(ies) for the 150th anniversary of the parish in 2012. Father Brian suggested in our planning for next year that we include the organization of a major liturgical celebration in order to practice for the major one that we are responsible for the following year.
As a group, we agreed to consider the following items over the summer, with the goal of discussing specific year-long objectives at our first meeting in the fall:
- Work with Evangelization Commission on encouraging a more welcoming environment.
- Work with Faith Formation Commission on fostering a sense of decorum and attentiveness at Mass, including the training and encouragement of parents in promoting these attitudes in children.
- Plan ways to observe the Year of the Priest as a parish.
Next year meetings will be scheduled on Monday evenings at 6:00 p.m. during the months of September, October, November, February, March, and April.
Spiritual Life Commission