The bishop came to our parish this morning for his Synod Day visit. He is spending a day at each of the parishes this year to go over the work that they have done for the Synod and what the still have to do. One of the huge messages that he is leaving with the parishioners is that failure is all right. We do not always succeed at everything that we do. As long as we learn from what did not work and are able to reformulate what we might need to do, we will be okay.
The parishioners that participated in the day today — Pastoral Council, Synod Implementation Team, Synod Goal Champions, et cetera — felt good about the visit and what he shared with them. The bishop was very affirming of all that we have done and of the plans that we have for going forward.
It was a long day for many of us but an especially long day for the bishop. He began the day at 9:00 a.m. for the beginning of the Pastoral Council. At 11:00 a.m., we moved to the Solar Room and joined the Synod teams. There, we met as well as had lunch. At 1:30 p.m., the bishop was on his way to visit parishioners in the hospital. At 2:30 p.m., he had Mass at Med Inn and visited those who could not attend Mass. Afterwards, he went to visit shut-ins as well as a parishioner in hospice. He finished the day by celebrating the 5:30 p.m. Mass for the parish. He’s got to be one tired person!
To all who have been working on our Synod initiatives and to all who work in our various parish ministries, many, many, many thanks!
