In 2021, the Diocese of Superior Maintenance to Mission initiative was rolled out. The premise of this initiative stemmed from the great commission of Jesus Christ to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”
To ensure that our diocese was united with Bishop James P. Powers’ focus for this initiative, priests and deacons were formed in evangelization and the call to “make disciples” the first year. As the second year rolled around, we invited priests and deacons to form parish or cluster evangelization teams and begin to form our parish leadership in a deeper understanding of evangelization and discipleship. In the spring of 2023, Bishop Powers published his pastoral letter on evangelization, “As the Father Has Sent Me, so I Send You.” Thus, our mission is to follow the guidance of our shepherd, our bishop.
Along with this mission statement and direction for evangelization in our diocese, the steps to carry out this process were laid out in the document “Parish Discipleship Pathways,” which is found on the diocesan website. We’ve been given our direction and the tools to begin the journey.
Bishop’s pastoral letter tells us that we need to make big changes. Those big changes are not necessarily structural, but more cultural. As he states, “The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. Over the past few decades we have persisted in maintaining our structures and programming, hoping for different results. Why? We kept going to the well of the tried-and-true, not because we were crazy, but because at one point it seemed to really work! Things have changed. There are no simple or quick fixes. The decline of the practice of the faith in the Western world over the past half-century or more is due largely to massive cultural changes. As Pope Francis puts it, ‘Ours is not an age of change, but a change of the ages.’” (2)
What we are currently doing to share the faith is not working like it used to. One of the ways we evaluate if something is working is to look at data. Data helps us to gauge effectiveness and progress. For us as Catholics, one of our most important indicators of vitality is reception of the sacraments. They are a key to the formation and spreading of the faith. Thus, we looked at baptism, confirmation and marriage numbers over the past 30 years. In the Diocese of Superior during this time, we’ve seen an annual drop in these numbers across the board: 987 fewer baptisms (a drop of 66%), 813 fewer confirmations (a drop of 68%), and 550 fewer marriages (a drop of 84%). To put this in context, roughly 20 to 30 years is one complete generation. We’ve lost well over half a generation in our diocese. This is just the sacraments.
So, what is this something big that we need in regards to change? That something big is a cultural change. We need to help current Catholics, fallen-away Catholics and all others understand who Jesus Christ is, why he is important to have in our lives, and what he has given us in the Blessed Sacrament. As Bishop Powers says, we cannot keep doing the same thing over and over, and hoping that people miraculously get the message. St. John Paul II called for a “new evangelization” to reignite the faith of a world that seems to have lost it. He said that this evangelization must be marked by new methods and renewed ardor or passion.
We have had the most wonderful opportunity to see a spark of that fire over the past couple of years with the National Eucharistic Revival. It has been a phenomenal opportunity to bring our missional focus to the heart of what we as Catholics believe. We have seen a true flame of desire for renewal in Christ’s body, blood, soul and divinity. Since 2020, we have experienced a resurgence of Mass attendance and a deeper desire for holy and sacred Mass celebrations. More and more people in our diocese are lovingly adoring Christ in adoration. We’re experiencing that joy of our faith in so many locations.
Bishop Powers has iterated time and again that the Eucharist is and must be the heart of everything we do, as the Second Vatican Council put it, “the source and summit” of our faith. As we continue to roll up our sleeves and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into a deeper commitment to missionary renewal, let us be inspired and freed to do so with the great peace that Bishop Powers’ letter invokes:
“My hope is not to arouse a sudden burst of activity around the diocese. Rather my hope for us is to stir up a desire to say ‘yes,’ like Mary, to receiving the love of God in a fruitful way. The coinciding of this initiative with the National Eucharistic Revival is a providential gift that grounds us in this posture of receptivity. For it is through the great gift of the Blessed Sacrament that the Lord will sanctify, nourish and send us. May Mary and St. Augustine our patron and all of the saints and angels intercede for us.”
