Resourcing Ministries

One of the ways in which we want to support the life of a faith community is by offering formation and resources for ministries which are at the service of the mission of Christ in your Parish and Families of Parishes.

What is Ministry?

Ministry is serving God and one another in the Church. The model of leadership in the Church is servant leadership as Jesus taught us:

“whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45).

What is a Parish Pastoral Council/Assembly?

Parish Pastoral Councils/Assemblies are “the presence of God in a given territory, an environment for hearing God’s word, for growth in the Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration.” (Pope Francis)

The Parish Pastoral Council/Assembly is a “faith-filled leadership group through which priests and people work together as co-responsible partners in furthering the mission of Christ in their own parish.” (Living Communion, Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference)

It is a faith-filled group, because Jesus and His mission are at the heart of why we gather.

“Let us rediscover with amazement the fact that God speaks to us, particularly through the Holy Scriptures.” (Pope Francis)

God speaks to His people through the Liturgy of the Word when we read the story of God’s relationship with us in Old Testament and New Testament readings during Mass. The scripture readings nourish us, and we are called to make God’s word our own.

Ministers of the Word are members of a ministry team which is exercised in the service of the gathered family of God at Mass, helping them to hear the living word of God, enabling them to begin pondering that word in their hearts and beginning to respond to it in prayer.

“The Eucharist is Jesus who gives himself entirely to us, feeding on Him and abiding in Him through Eucharistic communion – if we do so in faith – transforms our lives into a gift to God and to our brothers and sisters.” (Pope Francis)

When we gather for the Eucharist (the Mass), we gather as a family to celebrate our faith, to be nourished by God’s word, to offer thanksgiving to God the Father for all his gifts, above all the gift of his Son, and to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus.

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion serve the family of God by assisting with the distribution of Holy Communion during the celebration of Mass, and by bringing Holy Communion to the sick and homebound.