April 2, 2023 - Pastor Message
04/30/2024THE YEAR OF MISSION
THE MISSION TO ACT (cont.)
“By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears rotten fruit. A good tree cannot bear rotten fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:15-20).
As we have reflected together these past weeks, Christian action consists in three steps: planning, executing, and evaluating. Having looked at planning and executing, we conclude our reflection by looking today at evaluating. People often overlook this important step, but, without it, how can we be sure that our actions are achieving their goals and bearing fruit? And if our actions are not bearing fruit, what, if anything, can we do to change that? These are the vital questions that a good evaluation can help answer.
There is no one way to evaluate our actions, and we need to adapt our evaluation methods to the type of action. On the individual or family level, a less formal method is most often sufficient. But on the level of parish ministries, groups, and activities, with a wide variety of individuals and their own personal goals and agendas involved, a more formal, shared process of evaluation, focused on our common goals, is more helpful.
Whatever method of evaluation we employ, our focus is on the “Why?” question of our action plan. Why did we do this action? What goal were we trying to accomplish, and what fruit were we trying to bear? The “why” should be tied directly into our mission as disciples of Christ. Action that is truly Christian always seeks to serve the mission of Christ, which, on the parish level, is expressed in our parish mission statement. On the most basic level, then, our evaluation seeks to answer the question: Did this action accomplish the goal of serving the mission of Christ and our parish?
Generally, though, we want to dig a little deeper than that, because the ultimate goal of our evaluation is to help us plan further action in the service of Christ, to learn from the successes and shortcomings of our present action so we can achieve even greater success in future actions. So other questions we may ask might be: How did our action best serve the mission of Christ? What really worked? How did our action fail to serve the mission of Christ? What didn’t work? What could we change about this action, or what other actions could we take, to better serve the mission? The answers to these questions will naturally flow into a new action plan, thus beginning the cycle of planning, executing, and evaluating all over again as we keep progressing toward the goal and keep bearing better and better fruit.
A final note on evaluation - a truly useful evaluation requires honesty and humility on the part of the people involved. We need to honestly assess the successes and failures of our actions by checking our pride and personal agendas at the door. We do not criticize people; we evaluate actions. The good will, God-given talents, and genuine effort of all involved are taken as a given, which means whatever methods of evaluation we employ begin best with expressions of gratitude to God and the people for their willingness to serve and their hard work. So allow me to conclude our series on Christian action by doing exactly that.
Thank you, heavenly Father, for giving us the gift of your Son, who calls us to your service and empowers us with his Spirit to further his saving mission. Thank you for the many hard working people of St. Boniface, who, as individuals, families, and parishioners, seek to faithfully carry out that service in so many ways. Bless our efforts with bountiful fruit and guide us to always seek to bear even more through honest, humble evaluation and generous commitment to Christian action, all in your name. Amen.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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