Today's Parish | Ideas and Inspiration for Pastors, Parish Ministers, and Leaders

By Mike St. Pierre

Just walk into your local Starbucks during the Christmas season and you’ll notice it. It’s a thoughtful, strategic system of getting people excited about the message of the season. You’ll find that it’s not just December that gets Starbucks devotees excited but other times of the year as well. Parishes can use the season of Lent in a similar way to get the people excited about a central message of Lent—the call to prayer.

1. Start with your parish staff
Parish staffs generally run the gamut when it comes to being prayerful. Some start their meetings with a prayer while others pray consistently and share their holiness with one another. Ask, what does Christ want from our parish this Lent? Remember that you cannot give what you don’t have, so let your staff go off for a day of retreat and brainstorm together what you can do for Lent. How will you help parishioners pray? Which new and simple strategies can you recommend? Funnel your ideas into three lists:

• general themes,
• weekly focuses,
• and simple action steps.

Finally, decide on one theme which has a focus on prayer. Ideas might include “Lent: A Journey of Prayer” or “40 Days to a Passionate and Prayerful Life.”

2. Use a three-part formula
Once you’ve decided on a general theme, add weekly focus. Use the Scripture readings for each week as an automatic source of ideas. Finally, add an action step to go along with each week. Here is a sample of what one parish did for Lent:

• General theme: Jesus the Source of all Prayer. This allowed the parish to discuss prayer, relationship with Jesus, and the mechanics of staying connected with him.
• Weekly focus: 1. The Poor; 2. Leaving the Crowds Behind; 3. A Personal Decision to Serve; 4. Waiting as a Virtue; 5. My Vocation; 6. Christ’s Call.
• Action steps: The week that focused on the poor featured a prayer card that everyone received as they left the church. The week that focused on service challenged every family in the parish to sponsor a child through an organization that helped disadvantaged youth.

3. Get the word out with style
Now that you’ve drafted your plan for Lent, think of three or four ways of communicating this to your parish. Never settle on one and only one mode of communication. Some don’t read the bulletin, and others don’t have Internet access. Why not have some posters printed that could be posted in the parish narthex and in local grocery store bulletin boards, barber shops, and, of course, Starbucks. Your posters should be color, of high quality, and include catchy appeal for younger parishioners. Another idea might be a Web site, separate from your parish site, which is solely focused on Lent. You could include some of the prayer ideas from the sidebar of this article or have parishioners share brief testimony about the ways in which they pray. Video clips of families in prayer might also be particularly inspiring.

4. Strike a balance between inward and outward
Be sure to balance your attention between the interior life and the needs of the poor. The temptation for many Christians is to focus solely on “me” and as a result forget those who have needs far greater than ours. This can result in too much belly-button gazing than the parish may want. Help parishioners be mission-focused by encouraging child sponsorship, giving generously to diocesan appeals, or promoting a trip to the local soup kitchen.

5. Focus on how instead of why
We know why we should pray, so let’s emphasize how to successfully pray. Give weekly suggestions in the bulletin, include suggestions in homilies, and sponsor workshops on centering prayer or the rosary. Put some new vigor in the promotion of First Fridays, and let those who benefit from it speak after Communion. In our fast-paced world, parishioners need simple how-tos and simple formulas for adding more prayer into daily life.

6. Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up
One of the best-kept secrets of the Billy Graham Crusade is the amount of time their staff puts into follow-up. Our parishes can do the same. Take attendance at workshops, build a database of eucharistic adoration attendees, and solicit volunteers who can help your parish follow-up after Lent. It may be as simple as a letter from the pastor or something more elaborate like an invitation to be part of a weekly prayer group.

Whatever you do this Lent to encourage prayer, be intentional and keep it simple. By following these simple steps, Lent is sure to be filled with graces beyond measure. TP

First Friday devotion
In probably June or July, 1674, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had a vision in which Jesus requested to be honored under the figure of his sacred heart. He also requested that Margaret Mary share frequently in Communion at Mass, especially on the First Friday of the month. Many Catholics make a regular practice of participating in Mass on the first Friday of the month as a result of Margaret Mary’s vision.

*This article appeared in the February 2008 issue of Today’s Parish.

Mike St. Pierre

Mike St. Pierre is the dean of students at Oratory Preparatory School in Summit, New Jersey. His blog, The Daily Saint, is popular with parish ministers around the country.