2023-2024 Parish Focus: Nourishing Our Bodies, Souls, and Communities

Our parish focus for the year is in response to Pope Francis's apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel. In his encyclical, Pope Francis writes, "The parish is not an outdated institution; precisely because it possesses great flexibility, it can assume quite different contours depending on the openess and missionary creativity of the pastor and the community." As Pope Francis calls us to this missionary creativity, our response is to focus our efforts as a parish into meeting the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of our parishoners and greater Durham community. Additionally, having a parish theme for the year gives guidance for our 70+ ministries to all work in a common movement together. 

In 2022, the United States Council of Catholic Bishops launched a National Eucharistic Revival, focused on renewing the faithful's belief of the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This grassroots movement of faithful Catholic calls for a response to the gift of the Eucharistic in each person's own way. The ultimate goal of the National Eucharistic Revival is that each parish will experience profound renewal of the faithful. Holy Infant's focus for the year, "Nourishing our Bodies, Souls & Communities" is a direct response to the goals of the National Eucharistic Revival.

When choosing the theme of nourishing of our bodies, souls and communities, our efforts were guided by 3 John 1:2, calling us to be "as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit." At Holy Infant, we nourish our bodies though our signature hospitality and many fellowship events throughout the year such as our Pancake Breakfasts & Fish Fries hosted by the Knights of Cloumbus. As Catholics, we know that our souls are nourished by receiving the Eucharist, the true body & true blood of Jesus Christ, at the Mass.The greater Durham Community is also impacted by the good work of our 5 hunger focused service ministries, who work to meet the needs of our neighbors in need.

The circular logo you see around Holy Infant's signature cross is the process by which we intend to incorpoarte our parish focus into the experience of our parishoners. This process is based upon the four pillars of the National Eucharistic Revival: reinvigorated worship, personal encounter, robust formation, and send missionaries. 

Welcome: We believe that people need to feel welcomed and comfortable in order to have a personal encounter with Christ. Welcome events are low stakes opportunities for newcomers to engage in our community. Welcome events are also opportunities for parishoners to invite others to experience and enter into our community. 

Encounter: when people feel open and welcomed, their hearts are ready to encounter Christ. An experience with the presence of God usually occurs, but is not limited to, the liturgy, sacraments, and/or personal prayer. We hope that an encounter with Christ is so meaningful for a person that a fire begins within to deepen their knowledge of God. 

Deepen: An encounter leads to a desire to know more and fall more in love with God. We aim to enrich and develop the faith of our community through our Faith Development programming, which build upon the "encounter." We hope that a deepened knowledge of who God is and a love for God compels a person to bring Christ presence into the world through service. 

Live Jesus: Through a deepened knowledge and love of God based off a personal encounter, we are called to bring Christ's presence out into the world, especially by being of service to one another. Additionally, we are called to "live Jesus" by proclaiming the good news to all who we encounter,, and invite them into the fold. Thus, we are called to bring alongside others into this work, and accompany them through their own personal journey in becoming a missonary disciple. 

All ministries are invited to particpate in this movement of our parish through the following:

Think about how your ministry nourishes a person's body, soul, or community. Do you provide opportunities for fellowship and parish life? Does your ministry facilitate an encounter with Christ? Does your ministry feed people's souls with knowledge of God? Does your ministry work to meet the needs of our brothers and sister who are physically or spiritually hungry? Consider the ways in which your ministry participates in this focus of nourishment. 

Consider what area your ministry's main function is (welcome, encounter, deepen, live Jesus). By determining the main function of your ministry, you can better understand what stage the people you serve may be coming from, and have an idea what the next stage of formation may be. We should be conscious that none of the people we serve are stagnant- rather, we should be in pursuit of continual growth in our journey of becoming missionary disciples. 

Encorporate Holy Infant's Parish Prayer into your meetings. Consider using the prayer as an opening or closing for your minsitry's meeting. 

Prayerfully consider where you currently are in your life. Are you in a space where you can help provide nourishment to others? Are you in need of nourishment? 

If you are able to provide nourishment, think about your strengths. Are you a friendly, cheerful face who would want to welcome new parishoners to our community? You could join a fellowship based ministry or our hospitality ministry. Maybe you have a passion for the sacraments and might consider joining a liturgical ministry to help others encounter Christ at our weekly (or even daily) masses! Perhaps you have a passion for teaching or educating. You might consider becoming a catechist to our children, youth, or even adults! You might like to directly help those in need here in Durham and might consider participating in our Peace, Justice, and Human Concerns ministries.

If you are need of nourishment, we are here to help! Please contact our parish office so we can connect you with the best person or ministry to assist you.

As always, you cannot give what you have not already received so please consider joining us for mass and receiving the Eucharist as frequently as possible.