Following the official launch of this year’s initiative at the Mass celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception at the Cathedral, each parish now has to find ways of implementing what has been proposed in its pastoral plan submitted at the December 8 Mass.

It is likely that some parishes will need to take a second look at their plans, which may have been hastily completed to meet deadlines. In addition, priests who are part of the Good Leaders, Good Shepherds programme have gone back to their parishes, after the January sessions, with a new vocabulary and tools to enable them to envision and to speak about the mission of the Church may want to become more involved in the process.

To make the plans work parishes will need to identify goals that are really significant, measurable and that will excite the imagination of the people involved. Can the information contained in the plan be easily translated into a list of SMART goals? Are they specific and measurable, motivating, attainable, relevant and time bound?

The need for goals to be motivating, capable of generating energy and enthusiasm cannot be underestimated. A major requirement at this stage must be for parishioners to be excited about what the parish is seeking to do. It is not enough for Parish Implementation Teams and pastoral councils to be hard at work while there is little engagement by the rest of the parish. The PITs need the participation of persons in the various ministries of the parish. At the Mass on December 8, Archbishop Edward Gilbert called for greater commitment and participation by everyone. “We are trying to build a Church that is alive,” he said, “by drawing on the commitment and talent in the archdiocese.”