Great Commission Parish
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age (Mt. 28:19-20).
In the two verses above, our Lord bestows upon the Church His very own three-fold mission.
Like Himself, who, as Priest, Prophet, and King, sanctified, taught, and shepherded His flock, so too, in these concluding verses of the Gospel of Matthew, He commands His Church to do the same.
This Tres Munera, or three-fold office of Christ and His Church, constitutes for our parishes both their greatest aim and challenge, for like the three legs of a stool, this three-fold mission stands or falls together.
One-Thirds Parish
There was a time in my career when I had the great privilege of traveling the country better to understand the challenges and opportunities within parish life.
In doing so, I quickly found a predictable pattern: each parish could be placed within one of three categories.
The first category is what I call a “One-Thirds Parish.”
These are parishes that take up the task “to sanctify,” which includes sacramental preparation and administering the sacraments, but without any other substantial parish-wide ministry, whether it be ongoing faith formation or evangelization.
These parishes would complain (more or less explicitly):
The only thing that our parishioners do is go to Mass.
But the reason why all their parishioners do is “go to Mass” is because that is all they see their parish doing.
It is the parish itself that only goes to Mass. The parishioners are merely imitating the life they see modeled by their parish.
What is missing in a One-Thirds Parish are those two other components of the Great Commission.
Two-Thirds Parish
The second kind of parish is a Two-Thirds Parish.
A Two-Thirds Parish not only administers the Sacraments but also provides parish-wide, ongoing faith formation. These parishes see themselves as teachers, following the words of our Lord, who said:
Go therefore…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (Mt. 28:19-20).
In the Protestant Churches, this element of the Great Commission is more commonly understood and (dare we say) implemented.
For example, I remember visiting a Catholic parish in southwest Kansas and seeing a clear difference between it and the Non-Denominational Church across the street, just by their street signs.
On the Catholic street sign was detailed, as one would expect, all the available Masses for Saturday and Sunday, but nothing more.
On the other hand, the sign across the street, along with displaying the service times, listed an additional day & event: a Wednesday bible study.
To be a member of that Non-Denominational Church meant that one could not only attend a weekly service but also an additional parish-wide, ongoing faith formation event.
And although I have come across Catholic parishes which offer regular and ongoing, parish-wide formation events, they are far from the majority.
These Two-Thirds Parishes have a complaint as well, their complaint is:
But it’s always the same people who come to our faith formation groups.
And the reason for that is that they lack a third and final day, which is also the third and final aspect of the Great Commission: Evangelization.
The Three-Day Workweek
Even if a parish is administering the Sacraments on Sunday (and its Vigil), providing faith formation on Wednesdays (or another day of the week), it would still be missing the mission “To go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt. 28:19), without a day of evangelization.
This day, as a scheduled event, can take place on Saturdays (for example), such is the case with parishes that work with Sent Evangelization.
This third day completes what is lacking in the One and Two-Thirds Parishes by ensuring that not only its faith formation groups continue to grow and see new faces but also that those receiving the Sacraments have a missionary opportunity beyond the Mass to share those graces which they have received.
By providing the sacraments, ongoing faith formation, and regular evangelization, these parishes can truly be called Great Commission Parishes.
This Three Day Workweek (or something analogous to it) is sadly quite rare among our Catholic parishes, yet not as difficult to implement as we might think.
Fidelity & Fundamentals
Ultimately, the fruits of such a method are out of our hands; in the words of Mother Teresa, “God has not called us to be successful but faithful.”
At the same time, it’s hard to see how a parish would not be successful if it were merely faithful to this threefold task given to it in the Great Commission.
This is the road laid out for our parishes by our Lord; it may not be easy to traverse, but it is easy to understand.
So, let us pray for our parishes.
Let us pray that they may have the faith and courage to take up their three-fold task and, in turn, witness the fruit our Lord bestows on those parishes faithful to His Commission.
