Winding down the Catechetical Year

This is the time of year in diocesan catechetical ministry when things begin to slow down - and the time to pick up all the little loose ends of things that have been set aside because of more pressing priorities.  It is time to finalize details of events for next year's calendar, to review safe environment training reports, and more. 

It is also time to reflect on the ministry. In the last year, I have had many opportunities to make a difference... even though at the time, it might not have seemed that was what was happening!  In an office with limited staffing, it can seem like there are so many tasks each day that I can never hope to catch up.

I look back and the moments I remember most are those in which I made contact with people who were trying to work out particular issues: the young mother who was ready, a bit belatedly, to put her 4th grade  son in religious education and needed to hear whether the options she was being offered made sense; the man who had recently felt the call to help start adult faith formation in his small rural parish, the harried DRE who needed advice on how to prepare a baptized, uncatechized older student for First Communion.  These and many other moments were ones when it was clear that I was fulfilling my mission - the reason I am in diocesan ministry - to be the human face of the Church - to help people navigate the "system", to make their lives easier by matching them to the strategies, resources and people that can help.

I find that when I can help at least one person every day, the other, less-pleasant tasks are more bearable.  It is those moments, when the phone rings, and like Jesus, who met people along the road as he was on the way to somewhere else, and stopped to listen to what they need, I listen and try to help that person put the pieces together, that makes it all worth it.