Our Parish Staff were blessed this past week to have the opportunity to come together for both a spiritual and organizational retreat. It is a unique perk of working for the church that we can be fed together by both the living water of our faith as well as the collaboration of our work efforts. Thank you for your patience while we closed the offices so the staff could all participate equally in this communal time together.
One of the tools we used during our retreat was the Gallup StrengthsFinder. This assessment is a mix of personality test and career aptitude exam you would take in high school. Through 177 questions, it evaluated our beliefs, skills, and foci so we could see what we are best at, and most importantly, we could see the skills of the rest of our collaborators, our co-workers, so we can lean on them for their abilities. The power of this tool is to illustrate your strengths, not put you down based on your weaknesses. If you can grow your innate strengths given to you by God, you can achieve tremendous things. It was an eye-opening exercise for me, for sure. It helped me to see why I am motivated for certain tasks and excel at them, while at other efforts, I am not as open to engaging in. It helped me see that I need to work on collaboration more, and communication of ideas, not just my plans. Sometimes good managers are good leaders, sometimes not. I hope I can continue to work towards both with all of your support and the active participation of both the Parish Staff and Parish Family.
Luckily for all of us, Our Holy Father made it clear the week before that our church is not for the perfect:
At times we forget that for Jesus it is not a matter of easy, low-cost love. The Gospels reveal the first negative reactions toward Jesus precisely when he forgives a man’s sins (cf. Mk 2:1-12). It is a man who is suffering doubly: because he cannot walk and because he feels “inadequate”. And Jesus understands that the second pain is greater than the first, to the extent that He greets him immediately with a message of liberation: “My son, your sins are forgiven” (v. 5). He frees that oppressive sense of feeling inadequate. It is then that several scribes — those who believe they are perfect: I think of the many Catholics who believe they are perfect and scorn others … this is sad — several scribes present there are scandalized by Jesus’ words, which sound like blasphemy, because only God can forgive sins…
This is how sinners are forgiven. They are not just comforted on the psychological level, because they are freed from the sense of guilt. Jesus does much more: he offers people who have made mistakes the hope of a new life. “But Lord, I am but a rag” — “Look forward and I will make you a new heart”. This is the hope that Jesus gives us. A life marked by love. Matthew the publican becomes an Apostle of Christ: Matthew, who is a traitor to his country, an exploiter of the people. Zacchaeus, the rich, corrupt man from Jericho — this man surely had a degree in bribery — is transformed into a benefactor of the poor. The Samaritan woman, who had five husbands and is now living with another, hears the promise of “living water” which can well up within her forever (cf. Jn 4:14). This is how Jesus changes hearts; he does so with all of us.
It does us good to consider that God did not choose people who never make mistakes as the first dough to shape his Church. The Church is a people of sinners who feel the mercy and forgiveness of God. Peter understood the truth about himself more from the crowing of the cock than from his impulses of generosity, which swelled his chest, making him feel superior to others.
Brothers and sisters, we are all poor sinners, in need of God’s mercy which has the power to transform us and to give us back hope, and to do this every day. And he does! And to the people who understand this fundamental truth, God gives the most beautiful mission in the world, namely, love for brothers and sisters, and the message of a mercy which He does not deny anyone. And this is our hope. Let us go forth with this trust in the forgiveness, in the merciful love of Jesus.
– Pope Francis 8/9/2017 (http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2017/documents/papa-francesco_20170809_udienza-generale.html)
It is a great gift to be able to be free from the idea of being perfect, and instead focus on how to be the best person God made you to be. We have the mission to spread this joyous message to the world with our actions. I hope you see that love emanating from the Parish Staff as they use their strengths together to serve you.