From the Perspective of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and the Council of Religious

Bishop McRaith, Father Mills, Father Meredith, priests of the Diocese of Owensboro I can only say how privileged I am to be here with you tonight. It's one of those experiences that if my mother had told me that I would be addressing the presbyterate of the diocese, I honestly would have laughed at the thought of it. My father would have laughed at the mere mention of the idea.

For many years I served as the vocation director for my province of the Christian Bothers. My job brought me to many grammar schools and high schools and often required me to tell my vocation story. Part of the story recounts my dialogue with my father when I introduced the idea of becoming a brother. We were talking about what happens after high school. I mentioned that I wanted to be a teacher. His idea, up to that time, was that I would go to a local school for engineering. Graduate. Begin working with the company he worked for. Get married. Buy a house. Have the standard 2.5 children whom he could tease and spoil — in that order — and live to grow old. This idea of being a teacher was more than he could handle. He said, "A teacher? You have to be smart to be a teacher." Then I really surprised him. I said, "I don't want to be a teacher teacher, I think I want to be a brother teacher." Then he really laughed! He said, "All the brothers I know (and he knew many of them from parent/teacher conferences) are holy. They get up early in the morning to pray and go to Mass. You get up early enough to be late for school. I don't think this will work."

So, you see, he really would be enjoying this moment. Here is his son, the average student who never like to speaking front of visiting relatives, speaking to an assembly of priests - holy and learned men of God — way beyond any dream I — or my Dad — ever had. Yet, I so welcome this opportunity, if for no other reason, than to say thank you to each of you on behalf of myself and Brother Tim for your warm, open, generous welcome to the two of us into the diocese.

Both Tim and I served on the national board of the National Religious Vocation Conference at the same time that the bishop was the liaison between the Bishops Committee on Vocations to NRVC. Sr. Cathy Bertrand, the executive director of NRVC, thought it would be a good idea to have the bishop attend at least one board meeting each year to get to know the board members and provide some input into our discussions. For several years this meeting was held at St. Raphael's in West Louisville. As is the custom at St. Raphael's there was the hayride. On this particular evening, with the bishop at the reins, the wagon was stopped near one of the barns so that the riders could look over the fields toward the rising moon. 1, however, had taken a seat on the opposite side of the wagon and was sitting facing a pile of manure. The bishop asked "Ken, when are the Christian Brothers coming to Kentucky?" I quickly responded, "As soon as you get this wagon away from this pile of manure!" Well about three years and many meetings later, Tim and I found ourselves in Sebree/Providence.

We can both honestly say that it has been a wonderful three years of learning, stretching, growing, laughing, crying, loving and serving. All of which have been enhanced by your acceptance, assistance and encouragement. For this we heartily thank you.

Like yourselves, Tim and I have come from a tradition; are present to the people of the diocese; and look to build the kingdom here in our midst. Our tradition is a bit different than yours perhaps, but it mandates that we work on behalf of the materially poor; educate the individual as to his/her dignity as a person and a son/daughter of God; promote peace and justice in the world today; and prepare for the joy of the eternal banquet.

When were getting a feel for the diocese and investigating some of the possibilities, Glenmary Father Tom Charters told us that this would be a "ministry of presence" for us. I think we took that to heart. Tim and I really try to be present to our people and the people of the diocese in any way we can. We show up everywhere! I sincerely believe that it was through this presence that I was asked to represent the Council of Religious on the Diocesan Pastoral Council.

Having spent a year on the DPC, I was elected as it President. Talk about jumping onto the deep end of the pool!

I'm not even going to pretend to tell you what the DPC is; how it came to be; how it works. You are the ones who have given birth to it; nurtured it; watched it grow; and continue to care for it. Having regard to the past: it is yours you own it. Looking forward to the future how can we continue to nurture it, strengthen it, help it grow? I am edified at every DPC meeting to hear the people talk about their church, the parishioners in their parishes; their priests and bishop. If you ever need a dose of "good news" or a shot-the-arm, come to DPC meeting — or better yet — to the DPC retreat in August. Come and listen to the people talk about what's going on in their churches. Come listen to the people talk about God working in their individual lives. Come listen to the people talk about the effect of the priests on their lives.

At our August meeting we spent some time looking at the past and dreaming of the future. We asked each DPC member, and the bishop, to take a look back at the past and to identify areas where the diocese had done well. Having regard to the past DPC members celebrated:

•Efforts being made at adult education.

•The vocation effort over the past several years, particularly the success of Called By Name, where over 200 men and women were identified by their fllow parishioners as exhibiting some of the gifts suited for ministering to others as priest, and sister and oh, brother, too. •Efforts in religious education including the development of a certification process for religious educators; the religious education convocation; initiation of the family based program of religious education called Loaves and Fishes.

•The success of RENEW 2000 and the excitement of many for the Small Christian Community experience.

•The continued development of the Catholic schools.

•The development and/or enrichment of programs for family life: Marriage Encounter; Retrouvaille; Engaged Encounters; Bereavement Programs; and your support of family life.

•The Pastoral Council structure and system: Parish Pastoral Councils; Deanery Pastoral Councils; Diocesan Pastoral Council

•Social Ministries

•Stewardship

•Youth Ministry

•Worship

•Hispanic Ministry

•Communications

•Young Adult Ministry

•Ecumenism

•Spirituality

It seems to me that with regard to the past, there is strength in our faith communities, and a desire to continue to grow in that faith. It has struck me that there is an overall simplicity in the areas identified by the members of the DPC as "successful." The simplicity lies in this: "love God, love your neighbor." I'd say you're doing something right.

We've all read the reports of the "vocation crisis" in first world countries. I'd be less than honest if I were to say that our community doesn't catch itself looking over our shoulders to see who's back there and kind of wonders what's in our future.

But there are choices. We can choose life or we can choose death. We can continue to hold on to what we know, what we have been doing for years and years, what we are comfortable with; what we like. Or we can investigate new possibilities, new solutions, new adventures, new visions.

If we were to do an informal poll of you this evening, I wonder how many of us would acknowledge that we are tired? How many of us have more to do than we have time to do it? How many of us have difficulty with the simple word: NO. Brother Tim and I live in a small town and read a relatively small town newspaper: The Henderson Gleaner. We are amazed at the demand on the priests in our deanery for funerals and weddings — never mind all the other responsibilities involved in parish life. We are very aware of the number of your membership that wear multiple hats; administer two, or three parishes; have administrative positions in the diocese as well as parish responsibilities.

As we look forward to the future we need to investigate and embrace new models and dimensions to respond to the need of the faithful. Let me share with you the approach we, the Christian Brothers, have adopted.

Every six years we have a General Chapter where brothers from all over the world gather together to look at where we have been and where we are going. It is from these meetings that we generate our seminal documents — our Constitutions and Acts of Chapter. Or that was what we used to do. At the last chapter, which was held in South Africa — the first time in our 200 year history that it wasn't in either Dublin or Rome — the brothers decided that, instead of revising the Constitutions, they would set directions for the future. They carne up with four directions. Briefly stated they are: We will embrace our internationality; we will work at the margins; we will grow through our fragility; and we will cherish the entire Edmund Rice family (Blessed Edmund Rice is the founder of the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers in Waterford, Ireland in 1802). In other words, we will act as a whole, not as many separate units; we will only begin new ministries that are involved directly with the materially poor; we will acknowledge our fragility and work through our weaknesses to be a healing presence in the church; and we will not be insular in our effort, but rather will reach out and welcome all who desire to work with and through the charism of Blessed Edmund: professed members, associates, volunteers.

So why mention this to you, the presbyterate of the diocese? Could this be a model of your future? Could there be some direction for your future also?

No, you are not international. But there does exist an entity greater than the parish. One of the most satisfying elements of the work Tim and I are doing in Webster County is introducing our people to the fact that there is a greater church outside of the county. I have seen it in the wide eyed amazement of our youth as they experience CLI or Camp L.I.F.E. or TEC. We see it in the eyes of our adult parishioners as they experience diocesan celebrations such as the Chrism Mass; Pentecost 2000, deanery pastoral councils, RCIA celebrations, liturgical training, family life programs, etc. And when a few individuals experience the greater church, they are very active in getting others to experience the same.

How can you think beyond the parish boundaries? How can you assist the faithful to experience the greater church of the diocese? How can the resources of the diocese - including personnel - be more effectively used to bring the message of the gospels to a greater number of people?

We Christian Brothers have taken our commitment to work with the poor to the extreme that we will not engage in any new ministry that does not bring us into direct contact with the materially poor. That will not be the case for you. But when you study the charism of the diocesan priest, what is essential to you that no one else can provide? I would suggest that it is your pastoral care of the faithful of the diocese. Not the temporal care of the institutions. The people are in need of the loving, caring, forgiving, healing presence of Christ working through your hands. It is always so evident to me that your care for the people is more important to them than the landscaping in front of the church or school. People first. Tap into the expertise and talents of the members of the parish for all but the essential ministry to the people.

It was a leap of faith for us to commit to the poor you don't build retirement funds by working with the poor. It will be a leap of faith for you to turn over much of the temporal administration of the parishes to the laity.

Grow through your fragility. Take care of yourselves. Attend to the needs of your personal growth, especially in the affective aspects of your life. As I read of the activities of the priests in the Central Deanery, I ask "when do they get a day AT When do you take time to regroup, physically, emotionally, spiritually? What does renewal mean to you?

Reach out to those who have the expertise and are willing to help. I think one of the clearest messages I hear from the DPC is that the laity is willing to be involved. They have distinct ownership in the church. It is their church. They look to you for leadership, for counsel, for spiritual guidance. But they are justifiably proud of their role in parish life, social action, religious education, small Christian communities, youth ministry. They can maintain the buildings, balance the checking account, make prudent investments, coordinate programs, and participate in lay ministries as defined by the documents of Vatican II.

They want to be a part of the Church of the Diocese of Western Kentucky. They are eager to assist you in any way you can imagine. But they must feel as though they have ownership in the enterprise. There is a enthusiasm to work "with" you, not to work "for" you. And part of the reality is that things cannot keep going the way they are. The Church does not belong to the bishop, priests and religious. The Church is the people. Reach out to them with the very simple message of "love God, love your neighbor."

And where do the members of religious communities fit into this? This is another "hat" that I am humbled to wear. As president of the Council of Religious I am sensitive to the role of religious men and women in the diocese.

The Council of Religious represents women and men in religious communities who are ministering in the diocese. We are essentially a support group for the religious. The nature of religious life in the Church has been to respond to the needs and signs of the times. Some of the more noted religious were probably not some of the "favorites" in the local churches. St. Francis must have made more than a few bishops and priests uncomfortable as he set out to renew the Church. Mother Teresa had more than a few people scratching their heads as she chose to work with the dying poor in the streets of Calcutta. Edmund Rice turned more than a few heads when he sold his prosperous business and invested in the education of the Catholic poor towards the end of the Penal Law era in Irish history.

Push the envelope. Work with those whom others choose not to work with. Move to the edges. This has been the movement of religious life since the beginning. To do otherwise would not be faithful to the founding visions of the holy women and men who pioneered in their ministries.

In this day and age when we can easily become comfortable with the status quo, women and men religious constantly need to be reminded of their commitment to poverty, chastity, and obedience. It is with this in mind that the Council of Religious operates within the diocese. We basically look to do three or four programs a year to support, enrich, educate and challenge our membership.

In late summer we gather to pray and to celebrate each other. For the past two years we have gathered for a picnic and prayer in some public place. It is a low key gathering meant to refresh both body and spirit.

Each year we host a celebration of the jubilees of both religious and diocesan priests. It is a time to thank those who have spent so many years in service to the diocese and to community.

The leadership conferences of men and women religious encourage their members to be in dialogue with the local bishop. We are extremely fortunate to have a bishop who really does not need a formal appointment to meet with the religious working here. He knows us each by name. But we do ask to meet with him for some formal dialogue as to how we can serve in the church of Western Kentucky. The Council of Religious serves to facilitate these dialogues.

And finally, the Council seeks to provide some form of input to educate, inform and challenge the religious of the diocese. Frequently, leadership of each community will provide much of this for their membership. But the diocesan council feels that it is important for us to provide these opportunities to those men and women ministering in this local situation so as to respond the immediate needs of our membership.

We religious are blessed to be able to minister with the presbyterate of this diocese. As we seek to be faithful to the charisms of our communities, we share with you the passion and zeal to minister to the people of the diocese in building the kingdom here in Kentucky.

Having regard to the past — the faithful of the diocese can certainly thank you for bringing us to where we are today.

Looking forward to the future — both the laity and the religious of the diocese look to work side-by-side with you to spread the good news: Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again! Thank you and God bless you all.

Continuing Education for Clergy, Diocese of Owensboro

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