Diocesan Pastoral Plan
Priority #2 of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan:
Make Every Sunday Matter
Sunday celebrations
“Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.” – Exodus 20:8
• Effective preaching; multi-faceted proclamation
• Beautiful music: promote through training, workshops, performances
• Excellent liturgy: full and active participation! (see Sacrosanctum Concilium: #14)
• Effective feedback re: homily, preaching
• Hospitality and welcoming
- Collect and share best practices re: hospitality, engagement
- Sunday gathering as opportunity for sending, outreach
- Sharing experiences, resources – from the rural to the urban
- Focus on significant sacramental celebrations, such as Baptism and Funerals
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.”
– Acts 2: 42-43
“Sunday is the pre-eminent day for the liturgical assembly, when the faithful gather to listen to the word of God and take part in the Eucharist, thus calling to mind the Passion, Resurrection, and Glory of the Lord Jesus, and giving thanks to God who has begotten them again, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead unto a living hope.” – Catechism of the Catholic Church #1167
“It is this mystery of Christ that the Church proclaims and celebrates in her liturgy so that the faithful may live from it and bear witness to it in the world: ‘For it is in the liturgy, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that “the work of our redemption is accomplished,’ and it is through the liturgy especially that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.” – Catechism of the Catholic Church #1068