Father's Reflection 5.14.23

Sharing of Graces

One of the most unexpected graces of this last year involved hosting JP De Gance (president and founder of Communio) for dinner with our leadership and marriage and family teams this past Tuesday.  JP flew in from D.C. for a private visit and meal and truly filled my heart and soul in the process.  In attendance were Rod Winkler, Greg Renyer, Mark Nagely, Annie Deters (Parish Leadership Team), as well as Matt and Greta Heiman, Linus and Jan Grollmes, Mike and Christina Lierz, Christine Krebs (Marriage and Family Team - Scott Krebs, Eric and Claire Renyer were sorely missed), spouses were also invited (Rodney Deters, Jenny Nagely), Amber Roberts (parish staff), my dad, and a few parishioners from St. Gregory’s Parish in Marysville (who are also committed to Archbishop Naumann’s dream for using Communio to address marriage and family).  I am truly edified by the efforts of our leadership team, parish staff, and marriage and family team who give so much to help drive this mission forward.  They are all heroes in my book.  JP made a brief presentation on the state of marriage and family in the United States, the current trends for divorce, cohabitation, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and the near complete collapse of the transmission of the faith from one generation to the next in our parishes – all of which are tied to the brokenness surrounding marriage and family.  I believe that JP is a prophet with remarkable courage, for who else would ever dare to attempt to touch a 3-dimensional chess game with marriage, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls?  In lieu of all that is so broken.  Archbishop Naumann is also truly heroic for naming marriage and family as one of his three key initiatives.  And with prophets and pioneers like JP and his Communio team, I do believe we will see great fruit in this mission in the future.  Should we be willing to do the work.  We want our parishes to be known for being unapologetically Catholic on the one hand, and relationship experts on the other.  Only this will help to address all that is so broken in our culture today surrounding marriage and family.