This is the edited text of the Keynote address given by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP at the Parish renewal conference at Liverpool Catholic Club 2 August 2024.
In the fifth century BC, King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) of Persia was looking for a new consort, and ordered all the most beautiful women of the land to join his harem. A Jewess named Esther caught his eye and he made her his queen. But in his name the Prime Minister, Haman, ordered the execution of all the Jews. Esther was forced to decide whether to risk the king’s wrath by speaking up against the royal command or keep silent and survive. Her beloved uncle Moredcai counselled that inaction would achieve nothing, and suggested that providence had made her queen precisely “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). Esther asked the entire Jewish community to fast and pray for three days, then she went to the king to plead for her people against the antisemitic Haman. The king got rid of his henchman but was reluctant to rescind the genocidal order because Persian laws, once proclaimed, were absolute. A new order was issued, however, permitting Jews to defend themselves against anyone who sought to implement the bad law. To this day the festival of Purim is celebrated in memory of the deliverance of the Jews from this and subsequent attempts to annihilate them. Esther’s vocation for such a time as this and her willingness to respond is, of course, the theme of this year’s Parish Renewal Conference.
For such a time as this: our parishes
While the population of the Archdiocese of Sydney has been fairly stable over the past 20 years, Mass attendance has declined: in 2001 nearly one in five Sydney Catholics attended weekly Mass; by 2016 it was one in eight; and in 2021 just over one in ten. Granted that the Covid pandemic dampened the 2021 numbers and there has been some upswing since, that Sydney Mass attendance has long been higher than the rest of the country, and that some parishes and chaplaincies boast practice rates double or triple the average, there is still no cause for complacency. We must never get comfortable with nine out of ten Catholics being disconnected from hearing the Word of God and receiving the sacraments of salvation. And what about “the sheep not yet of this fold”? (Jn 10:16)
Whilst we must stem the bleeding from our pews and evangelise those far from the Church, ‘bums on seats’ isn’t the only pressing issue. There are other, less obvious factors to be addressed, like the reality of those with links to some parts of parish life, who ‘fit’ Mass or other Church activities in when that’s convenient in their busy life, but do not regard then as priorities.
If our parishes are to be communities of the faithful, enriching lives, transmitting faith, reaching out to our neighbours in evangelisation and service, this requires concerted effort of all, not just the clergy, religious and a few volunteers. Many have pointed to the need for greater collaboration between priests and people, parishes and schools, chaplains and school staff, if parishes are to be powerhouses of evangelisation, devotion and care. In this new era we are challenged not just to re-energise but also to reimagine the parish, its purposes and plans, inner life and outreach. And we still have to deal with the unglamorous stuff—the admin, compliance, safeguarding, WHS, fundraising, maintenance and garbage—if the core mission of nourishing and growing disciples is to be supported. Doing all this well, without burning out our clergy and volunteers or comprising the core mission, is another serious challenge.
For such a time as this: gifts and opportunities
I’ve described some of the challenges of a time like this. But what about the gifts and opportunities for the Church in Sydney? Amongst our greatest strengths is surely our faithful, 577,000 of them in the Archdiocese and some more in greater Sydney, constituting ours the most religious and Catholic part of the country, many of them people of deep faith, hope and love. Many lay faithful are ready, willing and able to play their part in the new evangelisation. Many are willing to profess their faith publicly, as when 15,000 walked with Christ this past Corpus Christi. We also have around 250 diocesan and similar numbers of religious clergy in the Archdiocese, more youthful on average than elsewhere, ready to lead the renewal of our parishes as they unpack our Archdiocesan Mission Plan, Go Make Disciples. Our ethnic communities and new ecclesial movements, alongside our families, parishes and schools, are wells of evangelical energy. We had a thousand young people from Sydney at the last World Youth Day, testament to our effective youth ministries. Our Sydney Centre for Evangelisation conducts many excellent formation programmes each year and they are over-subscribed. We have large and thriving institutions and agencies, reaching out to our community through education, health and aged care, welfare and pastoral care. Above all, we have Jesus Christ and in Paul’s words, “If God is on our side, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31)
If these are some of our gifts, where are the opportunities to apply them? Well more than two million people live in the territory of the archdiocese: that’s two million potential saints! We need to identify, evangelise, catechise, form and support the future Esthers, Dominics, Mary MacKillops and Eileen O’Connors to follow Christ and lead others to him. At this conference you’ll workshop these opportunities. But it starts with each of us acknowledging that for such a time as this, I have been called. It’s exciting and daunting, yet we continue to trust: that faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to move mountains (Mt 17:20); that for God all things are possible (Mk 10:27); and that all things work together for the good for those who love Him (Rom 8:28).
Divine-human collaboration
In last Sunday’s Gospel (Jn 6:1-15) Jesus charged his disciples with feeding the five thousand. Practical Philip answered that it would take more than six months’ wages to buy enough bread to give each one a morsel. But Jesus asked only that they offer what they had. A boy produced five barley loaves and two small fish. The apostles got the crowd seated and composed, distributing the bread and collecting the leftovers. They did their bit, and a miracle happened. Not just a miracle of human sharing, though that was impressive enough. But a miracle big enough to be reported six times in the Gospels, big enough to swell the number of Jesus’ followers and call for him to be made their king, big enough to occasion his extended catechesis on the Bread of Life. If we do our bit, Jesus will multiply our efforts. Grace is the great multiplier.
When today’s saint, Dominic, and his little band of preaching brothers and praying sisters, began preaching to those captive to a false Gospel, he could not have guessed where it would lead. When he died, only six years after his order was approved, there were already 300 friars in twenty priories around Europe and four convents of nuns. Less than three decades later, there were 10,000 priests, 3,000 novices, students and brothers, and they were providing prelates, priests, professors and preachers for the whole Church. Saints galore followed.
Likewise for Esther, who saved her people from disaster. Both were able to act, not because their powers were great and their problems small—quite the opposite—nor because they knew the outcome in advance, but because they knew they weren’t acting alone. When the Blessed Virgin gave her great Yes at the Annunciation, she didn’t know what the future held in store for her, but she knew Who held her future in His hand. Trusting in God, these Christians committed themselves in faith and humility to doing what they could. It’s an important blueprint for us, especially in times of uncertainty and obstacles. We might not feel equipped for the challenge; we might be tempted to postpone to a more favourable time. But God doesn’t choose the perfect to carry out his work or make everything easy: he chooses Esthers and Dominics and each of us precisely for such a time as this, to help carry out his mission. And Emmanuel, God-with-us, promises to be with us until the end of the age (Mt 1:23; 28:20; cf. 6:25-34; Jn 3:16; 14:16-17; 16:33).
Divine-human communication
But divine teamwork requires that all-important ingredient, prayer, if we are to know what God wants of us. Although St Dominic wrote no treatise on prayer, we have a 13th-century illustration of him praying nine different ways. He was said always to talk to God or about God. His successor, Blessed Jordan, said Dominic would dedicate his day to his neighbour, preaching and saving souls, and his evenings to God, conversing with him as the wellspring of all he did. He took seriously the counsel of St Paul to “pray without ceasing” (1Thess 5:16) and prayer was his weapon of choice, more powerful than any sword or any rhetoric, in his great project of evangelisation.
Esther knew, too, that before she could act on behalf of God’s people, she must sit at his feet and allow him to take control. Consumed by anxiety, she fasted and prayed “O my Lord, you alone are our God, help me for I am alone and have no one else” (Esther 14:3-5). In petitioning God we are ‘humble beggars’ (to use the words of St Augustine), giving witness to our belief that he is our Creator and that “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). This loving Father wants us to seek him at all times and to lay our hopes and anxieties before him, knowing he will hear our cries.
But prayer can be difficult amidst the hustle and bustle of our age, the endless distractions, the temptation to think ‘doing things’ is what matters, and to treat prayer as a luxury that can be postponed to a more opportune time. That’s activism, not Christianity. When a busy and self-important ecclesiastic confided in Mother Teresa that he was struggling to find an hour a day to pray, she said she very well understood—and that he must pray two hours each day instead! Encountering Christ in his word and sacraments, in his priest and community, above all in his most precious Body and Blood, is the most urgent thing in a time such as this.